(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) The protection of the country's environment is a task in which everyone should play their part, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, said today.
He was speaking at a ceremony to mark the presentation of the annual Sheikh Mubarak bin Mohammed Prize for natural history.
"The founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed, may God bless his soul, was an advocate of environmental conservation long before it became fashionable," he said.
"That commitment is continued by his successor, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ably backed by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces , and by Their Highnesses the Rulers and Supreme Council members."
"As Sheikh Zayed himself noted in his address on the occasion of the UAE first Environment Day, protection of the environment is not just a task for Government. It is something in which everyone in the UAE, citizens and expatriates, should play their part," Sheikh Nahyan said.
"All of us who live here face the challenge of how to make sustainable use of our environmental resources. That requires innovation, awareness and research. Only through that can we hope to reach the vision that Sheikh Zayed laid out for us: a country where progress and sustainable development for the people go hand in hand with the protection and conservation of our environment and the plants and wildlife that live within it," he added.
The two prizes were presented by Sheikh Nahyan in his capacity as Patron of the Emirates Natural History Group, ENHG. Founded in 1976, it is the UAE's oldest environmental organisation.
The Sheikh Mubarak bin Mohammed Prize for natural history for 2015 was presented to Dr Richard Hornby, partner in Abu Dhabi-based Nautica Environmental Services and a former chairman of the ENHG, for scientific research and publication on aspects of UAE wildlife.
A second prize, the Bish Brown award, named after the ENHG founder, was presented to Sonja Lavrencic for her efforts to promote awareness of the UAE's environment. A member of the Dubai NHG, she has for many years organised field trips into the mountains and deserts to study local wildlife. PH
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