Conserving endangered wildlife on Sir Bani Yas Island. Located off the coast of Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas Island is home to a number of endangered Arabian wildlife species, including the Arabian oryx. Gulf News visits the island to see how conservation and eco-tourism are helping to promote the reintroduction of many endangered species back into the wild. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00Located 8 km off the western coast of Abu Dhabi and occupying an area of 87 square kilometers,
00:17Sir Baniyas Island is one of the largest natural islands in the United Arab Emirates.
00:22Originally developed as a wildlife reserve in 1971, today Sir Baniyas continues to serve
00:29as a nature reserve and safe haven for Arabia's endangered species.
00:34The island started in the early 70s, it was started by the late Sheikh Zayed.
00:39He then had a dream to turn the island into a wildlife sanctuary and in that way display
00:46the richness of and the diversity of wildlife in the UAE and in the Middle East to his people.
00:51So he was a great conservator in his time and he had this vision to turn Sir Baniyas
00:58Island into an Arabian Ark, which he actually achieved.
01:03The island is true to its name a desert island, so all the trees and plants on the island
01:09was established by the late Sheikh Zayed.
01:11He also then started bringing in animals from all over the world and all over the UAE.
01:18First and paramount was the saving of the Arabian Oryx.
01:22Arabian Oryx at that stage was declared extinct by the IUCN in the wild and there was very
01:27few numbers in captivity in the world and to a large extent Sheikh Zayed pioneered that
01:33here on Sir Baniyas.
01:35The island is home to a variety of endangered species, some of which are extinct in the
01:40wild and the conservation team on Sir Baniyas are dedicated to ensuring the survival and
01:46continued breeding of these animals and, where possible, the reintroduction of certain species
01:52back into their natural habitats.
01:55Currently we have in the region of 13,000 animals on the island.
02:01The central part of the area, 4,100 hectares, that is the Arabian Wildlife Park where a
02:08lot of the species are free ranging.
02:11We have several species of animals, for instance we've got the reticulated giraffe, they were
02:16brought in from East Africa.
02:18Currently we have 38 of the reticulated giraffe.
02:22All the reticulated giraffe currently in zoological gardens in the UAE actually originated
02:29from Sir Baniyas.
02:31We've got the Arabian Oryx, we've got a herd of around 500 on the island at the moment
02:34and it's our flagship species.
02:36The status of the Arabian Oryx has come from critically endangered to vulnerable, which
02:41just shows that the effort in the UAE, which currently holds the biggest number of Arabian
02:47Oryx in the world, has been tremendously successful.
02:50To continue our breeding program and to ensure that we remain at the forefront in breeding
02:55the animals and also be part of the relocation program, that is where these animals are being
03:01taken back to their natural habitat in the Lebar Desert.
03:06We've already contributed 70 females from Sir Baniyas, from our breeding herds, towards
03:10that.
03:11We've got the Somali subspecies of the cheetah and we've bred successfully on the island
03:17and hopefully we can breed again with them.
03:20They are free-ranging, meaning that they walk around on the island in an Arabian wildlife
03:24park and they hunt for themselves and they take care of themselves in a most natural
03:31way.
03:32Other animals that we have here, of course, is the sand gazelle and the mountain gazelle.
03:36Both of them, the subspecies we have here, are locally endangered species.
03:40We also have the Simetound Oryx, a species that is currently extinct in the wild.
03:46We've got a very large herd of the Simetound Oryx on Sir Baniyas and we're currently working
03:51with the Environment Agency on plans within the next two or three years to look at reintroducing
03:57those animals back into their natural habitat in Northern Africa.
04:03As part of the late Sheikh Zayed's Greening of the Desert program, several million plants
04:07and trees have been planted on Sir Baniyas Island, while care has been taken to maintain
04:13a natural desert environment for the wildlife to flourish.
04:17In order to create a balance, we need to have some desert areas for desert species on the
04:23island.
04:24Some areas are just not good enough to grow anything on it and those areas are left to
04:29return back to the original desert.
04:31We're giving a little bit of assistance here and there, but for the rest we're just letting
04:35nature take its place.
04:36We try to ensure that the transition between the island and the landscape on the island
04:43and the coastal zones are very natural.
04:47That's where the mangrove plantations come in and that's where it's protecting the coastline
04:51of Sir Baniyas and also ensuring that species and fish around the island are protected and
04:57that they have a safe haven where they can come to.
04:59The biodiversity, the different species that we are seeing that are coming in from outside,
05:06the bird life has trebled in recent years.
05:09Everything is expanding and it's becoming a self-sustaining natural environment and
05:15we are just there, the custodians, and we are there to manage it and direct it because
05:20it's too small to be left to its own devices.
05:23We are living on a desert island, so predominantly we are actually feeding the animals.
05:28We buy the food in from an outside company who delivers it here and the animals are being
05:33fed on a daily basis to ensure that they have sufficient sustenance and that we keep
05:39them in prime condition.
05:41We have to manage it, we have to direct it and we have to ensure that we practice sound
05:47conservation strategies and principles and that we do the necessary research on these
05:52animals and on the work that we are doing to ensure that we always employ the latest
05:57techniques and technologies.
05:59With a focus on nature-based tourism, Sir Baniyas Island has three Anantara resorts
06:04offering visitors a host of ways to get back to nature and enjoy the sights and sounds
06:10of the island.
06:12It's an important local destination and the Emirati people have been visiting the island
06:18for many, many years but commercially in terms of hotel access only in the last six years.
06:25The island is something that the UAE people really treasure and I think that the rich
06:31cultural history of the island is something that we want to preserve and so I think it's
06:36very important that the people visit the island and understand the importance of Sir Baniyas
06:41and the history of the UAE.
06:43Conservation has to pay for itself and if it cannot pay for itself it's got no future
06:48and one way to make conservation pay for itself is through tourism and eco-tourism such as
06:53what we have on the island here is hugely important because not only does the people
06:59come here and enjoy the wildlife and enjoy a piece of nature which was created here,
07:05they also have the opportunity to take this outside somewhere else.
07:08With a host of achievements behind them, the conservation team on Sir Baniyas Island remain
07:13dedicated to providing a nature-based tourist destination where endangered wildlife can
07:18continue to live and thrive.
07:21What has happened on Sir Baniyas is very much a showcase for the rest of the world, what
07:28can happen on a small little island and how much conservation can be done here and it's
07:33our legacy that we want to be part of a global conservation programme to ensure that endangered
07:39species are protected and bred successfully.