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The Centre transformed a wasteland into a wetland restoring the indigenous ecosystem.
#AgaKhanAward #Sharjah #WasitWetlandCentre
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
The Centre transformed a wasteland into a wetland restoring the indigenous ecosystem.
#AgaKhanAward #Sharjah #WasitWetlandCentre
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NewsTranscript
00:00Wasit Wetland Center, Sharjah's pioneering environmental protection project, has won
00:09the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2019.
00:13Wasit Wetland Center in Sharjah is a design that transformed a wasteland into a wetland
00:18and functioned as a catalyst for biodiversity and environmental education.
00:24This area has a very big and interesting history as it was started as a waste area
00:30where all the dump and sewage waters come up.
00:34Because of these sewages, all the underground water came out with some food ready for the
00:40birds.
00:41The migrating birds just came here and nested, started to breed and they became like a big
00:48family here.
00:49The process of renovation for this area started in 2007 where all these trees, the damascus
00:57trees, surrounded the area to protect these birds inside.
01:00After that, in 2015, the center came out again with teaching methods for the children, for
01:07the families, for the school children, for the people outside, for everyone, to teach
01:11them on how the IPA processing the breeding and taking care of these migrating birds.
01:18And while its indigenous ecosystem has been restored, it has also proven to be a popular
01:23place for visitors to appreciate and learn about their natural environment.
01:28As a training center in a wetland area, we are the first in the Gulf region.
01:34We started this training center from the idea of His Highness Sheikh Sultan to transfer
01:40everything from inside to the public outside.
01:43We are playing like a role of connection.
01:45We need to connect the outside people to the biodiversity system inside.
01:50We need to educate people how to, if they saw them outside, how to take care of them,
01:55not to hurt them, not to hunt, try to hunt them.
01:59So this center is playing a vital role to just educate them.
02:05Wasit Wetland Center is part of a much larger project to clean up and rehabilitate an ancient
02:10chain of wetlands along the coast.
02:13The center aims to provide information and education about this unique environment and
02:17to encourage its preservation.
02:21You can find some mostly 60 kinds of migrating and endangered species that are really around
02:29the world.
02:30So we are taking care of them and to breed them.
02:32The architecture of the center uses the existing topography of the site to minimize the structure's
02:37visual impact.
02:39Wasit Wetland Center was one of the 20 projects shortlisted early this year for the award.
02:44Altogether, six projects from around the world have been declared winners to receive the
02:49award.
02:50The six winners of 2019 Aga Khan Award will share the US$1 million cash award.
02:55The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is one of the oldest major awards in the field of
02:59architecture.
03:00It selects projects from slum upgrading to high-rise green buildings that not only exhibit
03:05architectural excellence but also improve the overall quality of life.
03:09Irish Eden Belleza for Gulf News.