The coronavirus has extended its unwelcome influence to some unlikely locations, including the stirring, windswept steppe of Mongolia.
There, an organisation that conserves what is described as the world’s last truly wild horse has suffered the collapse of its main revenue source – tourism – because of the pandemic.
In 2019, more than than 18,000 foreign tourists visited the Hustai National Park to the west of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. Last year, 280 arrived.
Help is at hand in the form of a $13,000 (Dh47,742) grant from Abu Dhabi's Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund in its latest round of awards last month.
"We can cover at least three months' salary and some of the expenditure for the petrol, and buy a new motorcycle for one of our rangers
The Hustai National Park Trust, which manages the park’s conservation work, is one of dozens of organisations to have received a coronavirus-related grant from the fund.
“We can cover at least three months’ salary, some of the expenditure for petrol and buy a new motorcycle for one of our rangers,” said Dashpurev Tserendeleg, the trust’s director.
The Przewalski's horse was close to extinction in the 1970s because of competition with livestock, hunting and intrusion into their habitat.
But the park now hosts 400 individuals and Mongolia more than 500 - the most anywhere in the world.
Entrance fees, accommodation charges and other tourism income accounts for more than four-fifths of the revenue of the self-financing trust, so lockdowns hit its finances hard.
A survey by the Mohamed bin Zayed fund indicated that many other conservation organisations have been similarly affected.
Last year, the fund contacted more than 300 grant recipients and found that more than two-thirds had been hit by the pandemic, with 57 per cent enduring financial difficulties and more than one-fifth planning to cut jobs.
As well as losing tourism revenue, grants from governments or zoos that support field conservation dried up, the fund says. Income has fallen when it was needed most.
Nicolas Heard, the fund’s head of fund management, said it was extremely important that there was Covid-related support.
“Threats, particularly poaching, bushmeat hunting and resource use have increased at a time when patrolling and monitoring was reduced,” Mr Heard said.
“The short-to-medium term threat to global wildlife is significant.”
The fund has now made two rounds of Covid relief grants to help groups conserving everything from frogs to iguanas to fish. The first round was awarded in December.
Other Covid-related grants awarded last month will help, for example, to conserve red colobus monkeys in Kibale National Park, Uganda; the Bornean orangutan in Indonesian Borneo; the Malabar waterlily in India, and the El Oro parakeet in Ecuador.
Since it was launched in 2009 with an initial endowment of $25 million (Dh91.82m), the fund has made 2,152 grants to conserve 1,402 species or subspecies. The maximum grant is typically $25,000.
At the Hustai National Park Trust, some tourism-related staff took 20 per cent salary cuts, and there have been financial reserves to draw on, but the organisation faces continued pressures, with visitor numbers highly unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.
The numbers of domestic and foreign tourists coming to the park, building healthily every year over the past decade, fell from 31,189 to 7,291.
The horses – named after Russian explorer Col Nikolai Przewalski – have a large head, thick neck with a distinctive mane. They have never been domesticated.
It is seen as crucial that rangers should continue their work as normal because they are helping numbers of Przewalski’s horse, reintroduced to the area in 1992, to keep growing.
There are now more than 400 in the park, up from less than 100 during the 1990s.
Mongolia hosts two other populations of the species, which are now also present in China, Russia, Kazakhstan and Hungary.
In the park, the animals face competition for forage by grazing cattle and domestic horses, which also create a risk of interbreeding.
Also, in the spring people come into the park to collect red deer antlers that can be sold, an illegal activity that increases the risk that campfires may start fires that devastate forest or steppe areas.
During the peak foaling months of May and June, rangers check on the horses every morning and evening, which should increase the number of young that survive.
Rangers also move livestock out of the park and collect data that should be useful for conservation work. As a result of the efforts of the park and others in Mongolia, the International Union for Conservation of Nature changed its listing from "extinct in the wild" to "critically endangered" in 2008 and then to "endangered" in 2011.
“The main outcome of this grant is that we can continue our daily protection and research activities for a certain period without financial problems,” Mr Tserendeleg said.
“It means there will be no delays and [interruptions to] our continued effort to save Przewalski’s horse. Continuing our activity is very important for this endangered species.”
Looking to the long term, Mr Heard said the pandemic had highlighted the extent to which hands-on conservation in poorer nations that are rich in biodiversity is dependent on foreign support.
“Funding models based on international travel may not be as feasible as previously thought, and [there is] the potential to lose conservation capacity that has not even had a chance to start,” he said.
As an example, he suggested that young people interested in conservation may not be able to find funding and end up in non-conservation jobs.
Meanwhile, Mr Tserendeleg is now looking ahead to a time when greater numbers of tourists can return and the trust’s finances can regain a stable footing.
“At the moment we only hope,” he said. “At the moment, the government is saying on June 1 we open our borders … We’re ready to receive the tourists. Hopefully, it will be much better than last year.”
How the UAE protects the environment - in pictures
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESplintr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMay%202019%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammad%20AlMheiri%20and%20Badr%20AlBadr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20and%20Riyadh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epayments%20%2F%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10%20employees%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%20seven-figure%20sum%20%2F%20pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eangel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Series information
Pakistan v Dubai
First Test, Dubai International Stadium
Sun Oct 6 to Thu Oct 11
Second Test, Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tue Oct 16 to Sat Oct 20
Play starts at 10am each day
Teams
Pakistan
1 Mohammed Hafeez, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed, 8 Bilal Asif, 9 Yasir Shah, 10, Mohammed Abbas, 11 Wahab Riaz or Mir Hamza
Australia
1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Mitchell Marsh, 5 Travis Head, 6 Marnus Labuschagne, 7 Tim Paine, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jon Holland
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
WORLD CUP SQUAD
Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Angelo Mathews, Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
