The Coordination Committee for the Conservation of the Arabian Oryx, CCCAO, will be hosting their 5th meeting to assess progress towards achieving the mission of the regional initiative, to enhance regional coordination and communication, and introduce the future strategic roadmap of the General-Secretariat.

The committee meeting will be organised by the General Secretariat for the Conservation of the Arabian Oryx, GSCAO, hosted by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, EAD, with invited senior representatives from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

The meeting, taking place on 12th May at the Dusit Thani, Abu Dhabi, will further develop the collaborative efforts of the General Secretariat, highlighting the revamped website and the future strategic roadmap. The meeting will discuss the newly developed five year action plan to enhance implementation of the regional strategy for the conservation of the Arabian Oryx, focused on four priorities including herd management, genetic and small population management, diseases and other veterinary aspects, and reintroduction and rehabilitation.

It will also bring together results of the 2013 Arabian Oryx disease survey following responses received on veterinary aspects of Oryx collections from 25 collections, covering 54 sites, across the member states of Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, with a total of 9,706 Oryx in all surveyed collections.

Among other key highlights for this year's meeting will be the National Reporting Template for member states, which was developed to gather information annually from all states on their local initiatives, assessing progress towards the implementation of the conservation strategy, and enhancing communication and information sharing.

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of CCCAO and Secretary-General of EAD, said, "Our collective goal to re-establish a free-ranging population of Arabian Oryx in the region is a challenging endeavour. Together and through the Arabian Oryx Secretariat, we managed to coordinate our regional long-term efforts to sustain Arabian Oryx populations for future generations in the range states. This was achieved through knowledge exchange among the members to attain the highest possible standard of conservation for the Arabian Oryx."

"These successful regional conservation efforts resulted in achieving international recognition and changing the status of the Arabian Oryx, from "Endangered" to "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but we still need to work more closely to implement the regional conservation strategy through local initiatives and encourage all range states to share knowledge and expertise and actively participate in the regional effort to protect this emblematic species," Al Mubarak added.
Source: WAM