BAYAN SOUM // Life was made miserable by the Brandt's vole in the Bayan soum district.
Although only 15 centimetres in length, the rodent wreaked havoc on herders by burrowing through the steppe grasslands where livestock grazed.
The Bayan soum municipality turned to pesticides, a costly option for a community dependent on land.
A solution presented itself in 2006 when 250 artificial nests were erected on the steppe for saker falcons, buzzards, kestrels and ravens as part of a raptor breeding project involving Environmental Agency - Abu Dhabi.
Studies of five nests show the falcons each eat 24 voles a day.
"Before the project this was the worst area for the rodents," says Guasendorg, the soum (district) leader. "The project has been here for the last five years and since this time the pasture has grown because the rodent population is very good.
"Before we used pesticides; now we will never use them again."
Livestock is life in Bayan soum. Over half of the soum's 650 families live in the countryside and breed cows, camels, horses, goats and sheep.
It is a typical demographic for Mongolia, where 40 per cent of the population are nomadic. The soum's 1,011 herders live in gers made from sheep's wool, and eat mutton and dairy products from their herd.
Most earn an income with the sale of cashmere wool, and from meat and home-made dairy products.
Livestock also attract the Brandt's vole, which prefers the short grass where animals graze. Herders regard the vole as a threat to their livelihood.
"It is a very old culture, the nomadic culture," says Guasendorg, who like many Mongolians uses one name.
Thanks to the artificial nests project, the rodent population has been stable for the past three years.
"Of course we want more raptors because they will keep benefiting nature, and if the pasture is good it's good for the nomadic herders."
The soum saved on pesticides, which cost up to 10 million tugrik (Dh29,750) a year.
A trapper's permit costs 14.5m tugrik, of which the province receives a portion. Last year's sale of three birds from the soum made 3.5m tugrik.
Now the project has expanded to an area of 10,000 square kilometres, its success will depend on the support of local soum rangers and herders.
"All the people here are rangers," Guasendorg says.
"All people here watch the nature. Here, everybody knows about saker. The falcon is very strong bird, people like it."
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
