We end week 12 of the iNaturalist World Tour in the United Arab Emirates. The top observer is @trcarlisle with observations clustered around the most populous city of Dubai. You can read more about @trcarlisle in this Observation of the week post about her Long-tailed Blue butterfly sighting. There are several other top observers with observations clustered around Dubai including @gtonen, @luoycy, @aishathani, and @mattrempel. The other big cluster of top observers is on the eastern edge of the UAE along the Gulf of Oman. Here, the observations of top observers such as @fadiyaghmour, @john_pereira Ecologist, @ahabib, @jackyjudas, and @sami-majeed are clustered. There is a small cluster of top observers around the second most populous city of Abu Dhabi including @dominik_melisa and others.
The number of observations per month has a consistent spring peak which was higher in 2019 than previous years.
@sammyboy2059 is the top identifiers and leads in bird IDs. @rajibmaulick leads in insect IDs and @trcarlisle leads in plant IDs. Thanks to other top identifiers such as @sethmiller and @cliygh-and-mia.
What can we do to get more people in the United Arab Emirates using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.
@trcarlisle @fadiyaghmour @john_pereira @ahabib @jackyjudas @sami-majeed @sammyboy2059 @sethmiller @cliygh-and-mia @rajibmaulick
We’ll be back tomorrow in Uganda!
Comments
I am glad to have watched a gradual increase in the number of iNaturalist observers over the years, together with a general willingness for observers to help each other with identifications in a part of the world in which the flora and fauna have still not yet been fully described. I am especially grateful to @john_pereira and @jackyjudas for their ongoing assistance to me in this regard, and they are not the only ones. As I am no longer resident in the UAE, I hope to see my current status as top observer there overtaken soon!
I do know that the UAE has a keen and well-established community of natural history enthusiasts, with natural history groups established in the four most populated cities: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Fujairah, as well as an excellent independent network of bird-watchers and recorders. As for universities and other scientific institutions in the UAE, they largely enjoy government support for ecological research and conservation efforts, offsetting the rapid and too-often untrammeled pace of industrial development in the region. I believe this is more than mere lip-service, as federal and regional authorities in the UAE are keenly aware of the concern shown by the country's founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, for environmental conservation and are committed to preserving this aspect of his legacy.
In general, this provides fertile ground for recruitment of more UAE users to the iNaturalist platform.
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