Dear ESO Members & Friends,

Welcome to the summer edition of the ESO Newslet-ter. Although summer time in Oman is quiet, it has been quite the opposite for ESO! We attended several international and regional conferences and also won His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informat-ics Award 2010 for our website. We also hosted a quiz night during the Holy Month of Ramadhan. It definitely looks like an exciting couple of months ahead with ESO planning a beach clean up on the Damaniyat is-lands.

Putting together this newsletter is a challenge on our resources, therefore we’re asking for any volunteers to help us with content, translation and graph-ic design. Please contact ESO on admin@eso.org.om if this is something that is your area of expertise.

Yours sincerely,

ESO marked the completion of the first year of a four year research project lead by Dr. Mohsin Al Amri, ESO Board Mem-ber and ESO Frankincense Project Lead-er. The project aims to ensure the sus-tainability of frankincense trees. Frankin-cense, once valued as highly as gold, has been the main source of income for farm-ers and the only known exported product in Dhofar.

Cont …. Pg.2

Letter from the President Inside this issue:

Feature Story 1

Members Corner 3

ESO News 5

Frankincense

Project

Concludes

First Year of

Research

ESO Newsletter

1

2nd

Issue May—August, 2011

H.H. Tania Al Said

2

Frankincense Project Concludes First

Year of Research

The research project is important because there has been close monitoring on the growth pattern of frankincense in the past few years and researchers noticed that the cutting of the trees to collect frankincense has been harsh often leading to the degen-eration of the tree beyond repair. ESO’s research aims at determining the right fre-quency of cutting to retrieve a good yield without harming the trees. The research project is important because there has been close monitoring on the growth pat-tern of frankincense in the past few years and researchers noticed that the cutting of the trees to collect frankincense has been harsh often leading to the degeneration of the tree beyond repair. ESO’s research aims at determining the right frequency of cutting to retrieve a good yield without harming the trees. To date, about 180 trees have been sampled in four identified areas in Dhofar, which were then classified and tagged according to the circumference of the trunk. A part-time technician has been trained directly by Dr. Mohsin to help build local capacities and ensure the sustainabil-ity of frankincense farming. An important component of the project is to disseminate this information to the farmers, the relevant authorities and the local communities. This will ensure that the primary livelihood of the Dhofar farmers is sustained for future gen-erations and the importance of safeguard-ing the Frankincense tree is realised. In addition, ESO is also using weather sta-tions to study the potential impacts of cli-mate change on the growth pattern of Frankincense trees.

HSBC Oman have sponsored the first year of the research project and have committed to supporting the second year yielding to its relevance in maintaining the Omani culture and heritage and protecting the Sultanate’s natural treasures.

Feature Story

Did you know …

Frankincense is a valuable oleo-

gum-resin harvested by tapping the

wild Boswellia sacra tree which is

without doubt the most famous plant

of Oman and its resin formed the

basis of trade in ancient civilizations

as long as 7000 years ago.

Souk of Ideas Grasps

Member’s Attention

ESO hosted its second Member’s Forum on May 17 where members were introduced to 17 potential programmes that they could support and that ESO would consider adopting as part of its five-year strategy. A panel discussion consisted of repre-sentatives from the public, private and NGO sec-tors including: HH Sayida Tania Al Said-President of ESO, Mr. Khalid Al Haribi-Managing Director at Tawasul, Mr. Amor Al Matani-OLNG Deputy Gen-eral Manager and Deputy CEO, Dr. Hatim Al Shan-fari-Oman Economic Association and Mrs. Habiba Al Marashi-Chairperson Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) who was unfortunately unable to at-tend the event however had sent in her remarks.

Following the second forum, ESO invited those members who signed up to support the pro-grammes to an informal gathering on June 12, 2011 at the PDO Oil & Gas Exhibition Centre. Many of those who attended were enthusiastic to be a part of the process and lead the different pro-grammes into fruition.

Please keep a look out for our next Member’s

Forum

Port of Salalah hosts Member’s Forum On July 11, ESO arranged a meeting for its mem-bers residing in Salalah. Dr. Mehdi Jaaffar, Vice President of ESO and Dr. Mohsin Al-Amri, Board Member of ESO attended the meeting along with two staff members from ESO. The event was held at the premises of the Port of Salalah, one of ESO’s corporate members since 2007.

A short presentation was given to the members about ESO’s latest achievements and the method-ology in which ESO is putting together the Socie-ty’s next five-year strategy that involves a participa-tory approach and strategic re-engagement with its members. The presentation generated a lively dis-cussion on the means and ways to enhance ESO’s role in Salalah by organising regular community outreach activities and expanding the membership base. As a result of the meeting, ESO’s Members

in Salalah join together and meet on a regular ba-sis coordinating activities with ESO’s support.

ESO hosts Ramadan Quiz

Night

During the Holy Month of Ramadan, ESO invited members and non-members to take part in a quiz night. All proceeds raised during the event were dedicated towards supporting ESO’s projects. The National Bank of Oman and the Radisson Blu Hotel were the main sponsors of the event that hosted 70 participants. Dr. Mehdi Ahmad Jaaffar, Vice President of ESO welcomed the guests and praised their enthusiasm and participation. At the end of the evening the winning teams were award-ed with gifts donated by Eco-Buzz, Brand Café and Mars GCC. A great time was had by all!

3

Members’ Corner

Volunteers Participate in ESO’s Turtle… “The timing could not have been better. The first week of August Roxanne, Marwa, Stijn and I went to Masirah Island to volunteer for ESO. This is two months after the peak nesting time of the logger-head turtle that generally occurs at the beginning of June. The chances of seeing hatchlings crawling out of the sand and making their way to the sea were high.

The ESO Turtle Conservation Project has been on-going for several years on Masirah Island. The ESO team currently consists of Andy Willson and special-ly trained rangers that continuously survey the beaches. On Masirah Island Green Turtles, Hawks-bill, Loggerhead and Olive Ridley turtles nest. Dur-ing our time on Masirah, we only came across Log-gerheads.

Andy explained the basics of the lifecycle of turtles before we went on our first night survey. These sur-veys are mainly to identify the number of turtles that make their way up the beach and how many of the-se females were successful in nesting. This is done by counting the tracks that go up and down the beach and determine whether there are any nests related to these tracks.

The night was dark as clouds hid the moon and our eyes were working hard to make anything visible. After having crossed several tracks we saw a Log-gerhead turtle moving up the beach. Patiently we waited for her to dig a deep hole. We positioned our-selves at a certain distance behind her. When she completed the digging we approached her and start-ed counting the eggs while they were being laid: more than 100. We took 10 warm and slimy eggs to weigh and measure for the statistics and put them back again. We measured the adult’s carapace along the centreline (up to 1m curved) and at its wid-est section. I found it very impressive to see this large animal so close by and to see it working hard and spend long hours preparing the nest, laying the eggs and then covering the nest. After hours on a dark and windy beach it was time to go home and analyse the data.

The next morning we were on our way to the beach at 5am. Just before sun rise you could see hatch-lings coming out of their nest and an occasional late female adult making her way back to sea. The hatchlings come out based on the fall in temperature

of the sand overnight. We saw some hatchling com-ing out naturally, for other nests we had to dig to help the hatchlings finding their way up and out. The nests are hard to spot, but can be recognised by the trained eye. Andy pointed out what to look for and soon we were able to indicate them too. At these locations we started digging and mostly we were rewarded by seeing tiny heads popping out of the sand. Soon the hatchlings moved out, over and on top of each other, it is a real struggle. From the nests that we dug out usually a small number of the hatchlings had already come out on their own, so we helped the remaining 20-30 hatchlings out.

It is hilarious to see them moving their flippers fanat-ically. Once out of the sand they turn in the direction of the sea and race for the water. Again this is labo-rious work and therefore you really hope they will survive. First the stretch to the water and then the travels through the surf is risky, as birds can easily pick them up.

After having dug out the nest and freed the hatch-lings their carapace is measured (approximately 40mm) and they are weighed (15-20 g). We then carried them to the sea. It felt good to help them have a good start in life. The final exercise was to collect all egg shells and remaining eggs and hatch-lings from the nest. This was tiresome and some-times smelly work. We counted how many hatch-lings were successful or undeveloped and how many eggs had not hatched or were deformed. To-gether measuring the distance to the high water line and the depth of the nest (and other factors) this could provide an indication of good nesting condi-tions.

The early mornings and night work were worth every minute. It was a great experience and I hope I’ll be able to assist in this survey again. I know more about turtles than when I arrived at Masirah Island. I will spread the word so people get to know more about these wonderful and unfortunately (critically) endangered species. Oman is unique in having so many turtles nest on its shores. I profoundly hope this can be protected, not only for the people of Oman but also for the rest of the world.”

Corine de Zeeuw

...Research on Masirah Island

''I loved my time on Masirah Island! I had a great experience and opportunity to learn and I also had a chance to use knowledge I had gained from working in the ESO office. I felt very lucky to be able to go at a time when we could see both nesting females at night and watch hatchlings scramble from their nests at dawn. We measured and weighed the hatchlings, counted eggs, did data entry for night surveys and even designed ID guides for cetacean strandings. It felt very rewarding to be able to be involved with the project and volunteering with people that were so enthusiastic about the conservation of turtles!''

Roxanne Whelan

Above: Marine Team &

Volunteers measured

and counted eggs from a

turtle’s nest

Right: Measuring the car-

apace of the young

hatchling before it starts

its journey to the sea

Members’ Corner

ESO wins Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics

Award

Just one year after launching our website, ESO received the 2010 Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informatics Award for being rec-ognised as the finest website among civil society organisations in the Arab world that exceeded all criterions of the award.

On May 25, 2011 Dr. Mehdi Ahmed Jaaffar, Vice President of ESO attended the award ceremony and received the award on behalf of ESO. The award ceremony for His High-ness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Infor-matics Award 2010 was held under the aus-pices of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The ceremony was attended by top state officials with His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, representing HH the Amir and pre-senting the informatics awards to the win-ners.

This year, the award celebrates its 10th year anniversary and its 5th year of extending the award to organisations in the Arab region outside of Kuwait. The intention of the Award is to measure the quality of websites according to meticulous criteria including the content, design, technicalities of the website and the services it offers.

According to the Award Director, Dr. Khalil Abdullah Abul, 3,330 websites had been selected, and evaluated for the awards, of which 953 were Kuwaiti. He also said that 162 people had volunteered in organizing this year’s awards ceremony, of whom 145 were from Kuwait and 17 were non-Kuwaiti, noting that the voluntary team comprised of representatives from 15 international bod-ies.

The judges who are also volunteers are nominated from around the Arab world and are chosen based on their specialisation in the field of IT and the internet. Although ESO did not apply for the award, nonethe-

less, it was among thousands of civil socie-ty websites that were selected simply by browsing the internet. The websites that got through the initial filtering process were then screened thoroughly by different sets of judges. ESO’s website was among the three finalists and consequently was cho-sen by the final panel of judges and award-ed for the civil society category. It is the first time an organisation from the Sultanate is awarded by the Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah award.

NOW & THEN

ESO attends IUCN Conference in Kuwait

From May 2-5, 2011, decision makers, civil society and research institutions gathered in Kuwait for the IUCN 2011 Regional Conservation Forum, which is organized by IUCN (International Union for Conser-vation of Nature) – Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA), co-hosted by the Kuwait Institute for Sci-entific Research (KISR) and co-funded by IUCN, KISR and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advance-ment of Science (KFAS). The theme for this region-al forum was: Climate Change and Biodiversi-ty: Climate Change, Threats and Opportunities for Biodiversity and Ecosystems that aims at shaping the environmental agenda in the West Asia region.

ESO has been a member of the IUCN since 2009 and has participated in several forums to represent Oman and the environmental issues unique to the Sultanate. Dr. Mohsin Al Amri, board member of ESO attended the forum which was held under the patronage of the Director General of Kuwait Insti-tute for Scientific Research (KISR) Dr. Naji Al Mu-tairi and in presence of H.E. Sheik Ahmed Al-Abdulla Al-Sabah, Minister of Oil and Minister of Information in addition to a number of key policy makers, civil society representatives and interna-tional and regional experts.

The forum created a platform for networking among IUCN members and partners in West Asia to ex-change experiences and share best practice on nature and biodiversity conservation, climate change impacts on ecosystems and opportunities that will pave the way for shaping a sustainable fu-ture in the region. The forum also provides an op-portunity for capacity building for environmental, scientific and developmental institutions.

ESO was invited to participate at this year’s International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Norway from June 1-8, 2011. This is the third year that ESO attends the event and the first time it has been asked to present recent findings on its Renaissance Whale and Dolphin Project.

Since joining in 1980, Oman is the only IWC member country in the Arabian peninsula and is one of the very few countries that has an on-going research programme in the entire northern Indian Ocean. Oman was represented at the Commission Meeting by the IWC Commissioner in Oman. As a result of the recent findings from the Renaissance Whale and Dolphin Project on the unique and isolated population of the Arabian Sea Humpback Whale, ESO was specifically requested by the IWC Secretariat to attend this year’s Scientific Committee meeting whereby Marine Expert Robert Baldwin presented the most recent information on the Arabian Sea Humpback Whale, the Bryde’s, Blue and Sperm Whale, as well as several dolphin species.

ESO’s research has revealed that the region hosts a very unusual cetacean fauna, largely due to its geographic position and oceanographic conditions. Consequently, the Project has generated strong interest among the international, scientific and conservation community about the cetaceans of the region, as well as their habitat. Conservation measures are now a top priority on ESO’s agenda in-cluding monitoring the interaction and threats to large whales from shipping traffic and bycatch.

Renaissance Whale and Dolphin Project

commended at IWC Meeting in Norway

ESO participates in International Visitor

Leadership Programme in the USA

In May, Omar Al Riyami, Volunteerism and Membership Manager represented ESO at the International Visitor Leadership Pro-gramme (IVLP) which is a host programme provided by the Bu-reau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Department of State. Since its establishment in 1940 the IVLP seeks to build mu-tual understanding between the US and other nations through carefully designed professional visits to the US for current and emerging foreign leaders. Each year over 4,500 IVLP participants from all over the world are selected by US Embassies to travel to the US to meet and confer with their professional counterparts. ESO was invited to take part in the “Parks, Biodiversity and Eco-tourism Management” Programme. Omar was one of 21 partici-pants from all over the world that visited National Parks Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Department of Agriculture (US Forest Service Interna-tional Program), National and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, US Department of State (Bureau of Oceans and International En-vironmental and Scientific Affairs) and the Monterey Bay Aquari-um.

In July, Dima Radwan, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Manager attended a conference in Hurghada, Egypt hosted by the Arab Federation for Youth and Environment on “The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Environmental Awareness”. The conference was an opportunity to network with other environ-mental civil societies in the region and discuss topics including policies of civil society in the field of environmental awareness, environmental issues including the objective system of environ-mental education and successful experiences in the field of envi-ronmental awareness.

NOW & THEN

ESO attends Environmental Awareness

Conference in Hurghada

WELCOME ON BOARD

New Corporate Members

(May-August 2011)

Dear ESO Members & Friends,

To become a corporate member, your company can join by completing our online membership form. Corporate member-ship fees are 1000 Rials per annum. Membership fees are used to provide seed money for specific projects, including scientific research, media and public awareness campaigns. ESO provides public recognition for its corporate members on its website and newsletter.

Contact us:

Environment Society of Oman, P.O. Box: 3955, P.C: 112 Ruwi, Muscat Sultanate of Oman

Tel: +968 24482121 Fax: +968 24486876 Website: www.eso.org.om