From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Jul 04 2009 - 21:32:26 EDT
Excerpts: "So, they are interested in our proposal as the concept of
camel farms could help them to tackle this problem," Dr Boer said.
An American company interested in alternative fodder crops, has sought
more information on the proposal, as it is keen to find out the
possibility of applying it in one of the North East African countries
such as Kenya, Ethiopia or Eritrea.
"We are now trying to get the proposal translated into Arabic, hoping
that overcoming the language barrier would create awareness among the
target audience about the necessity of setting up camel farms," the
official stated."
Expert stresses Unesco plan to establish camel farms
By Bonnie James, Gulf News
Sunday5/7/2009July, 2009, 12:15 AM Doha Time
The lack of response from Qatar and the rest of the Arab world to a
novel proposal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (Unesco) for establishing camel farms to combat
desertification is surprising, an expert has said.
"However, we have had responses from Australia and the US," Unesco Arab
Region's ecological sciences adviser Dr Benno Boer, who is based in the
UN agency's Doha office, told Gulf Times.
It was little over two years ago that 'A proposal towards combating
desertification via the establishment of camel farms based on fodder
production from indigenous plants and halophytes,' was published by
Unesco Doha.
The proposal with ecologist Marc Breulmann as principal author was
developed under the supervision of Dr Boer and nine other authors.
They were microbiologist/veterinarian Ulrich Wernery, virologist Renate
Wernery, animal nutritionist Hassan El Shaer, animal
scientist/nutritionist Ghaleb Alhadrami, rangeland ecologist David
Gallacher, conservationist/ecophysiologist John Peacock, plant
taxonomist and economist Shaukat Ali Chaudhary, and ecologists Gary
Brown and John Norton.
"In the Arabian Peninsula, rangeland biodiversity and animal production
exist in a delicate balance," it is pointed out in the proposal which
explains that increases in the livestock population has resulted in the
rapid depletion of the native plant biodiversity by grazing,
particularly the palatable species.
Over 90% of the total land area is suffering from some form of
desertification, and 44% is severely or very severely degraded.
Camel densities that exceed the ecological carrying capacity have been
shown by many researchers to be a major threat to desert ecosystems.
Reduced camel numbers on open rangeland could redress desertification by
allowing vegetation to recover from overgrazing.
"A prototype camel farm should encourage owners to move most camels from
open range into intensive farming, and initiating such farms where
camels are fed on native desert or salt tolerant plants may help further
the restoration process of the ecosystem," according to the proposal.
In hot environments camel farms have several advantages over cow farms,
Dr Boer explained.
Cows need an air-conditioned environment to produce 25 litres of milk a
day, failing which the output will be less than five litres.
However, camels which are indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula and
adapted to the hot and dry desert environments can produce four times
more milk a day.
"Though we approached dairy companies and environmental stakeholders in
Qatar, including the ministries and the erstwhile Supreme Council for
the Environment and Natural Reserves, (with the proposal) nothing
happened," Dr Boer recalled.
The query from Australia was based on the background of the feral camel
problem there. "The camels, brought in by the Afghan settlers, have
resulted in a huge feral population of the animals," he said.
The absence of any natural predators has also contributed to the
proliferation of the camel population which is having a big impact on
the natural ecosystems in Australia.
"So, they are interested in our proposal as the concept of camel farms
could help them to tackle this problem," Dr Boer said.
An American company interested in alternative fodder crops, has sought
more information on the proposal, as it is keen to find out the
possibility of applying it in one of the North East African countries
such as Kenya, Ethiopia or Eritrea.
"We are now trying to get the proposal translated into Arabic, hoping
that overcoming the language barrier would create awareness among the
target audience about the necessity of setting up camel farms," the
official stated.
Unesco Doha office is in consultation with the National Commission of
Unesco in Kuwait about the initiation of a Gulf Network for Arid Land
Ecosystems (GNALE).
"We want to send those people from Kuwait, interested in GNALE, to
Dubai, where Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has established a
modern camel farm producing 8,000 litres of milk per day," Dr Boer said.
The vision is also to discuss co-operation between the Central
Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai and GNALE in Kuwait to conduct
experiments or studies into the proposal.
"For example, they can test certain indigenous desert plants and see how
the camels are performing when they are fed with them.
"Another study would be to put these plants into a laboratory analysis
and see how much fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and trace
elements and fibre are contained in them," he said while adding that
this should happen after summer this year.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2
<http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=30117
8&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16>
&item_no=301178&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----