Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has completed its mission to relocate 25 scimitar-horned oryxes and 25 addax antelopes to Chad.
It plans to send another 25 oryxes in February and all of the animals will be released into the wild.
The programme is part of one of the world’s largest reintroduction programmes.
Launched in 2014, it is intended to create a self-sustaining herd of more than 500 scimitar-horned oryxes in the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Wildlife Reserve, which occupies 77,950 square kilometres.
In 2000, the species was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
The first ones to be relocated were released into the wild in 2016 and have adapted well to their surroundings.
In 2017, another heard of 75 scimitar-horned oryxes arrived in an operation led by Chad’s Ministry of Environment and Fisheries and the Sahara Conservation Fund.
This year, 60 new calves have been born, bringing the number in the wild to about 400.
This particular breed of oryx can survive for months or even years without drinking water. A grazing animal, it derives most of its daily moisture intake from plants.
The second phase of the programme concerns the critically endangered addax.
This arid-land antelope is very well adapted to living in the Sahara, and rarely needs to drink water to survive. But its impressive horns, meat and hide are attractive to poachers, and the animal’s population has plummeted during the past century.
The first group, of 15 animals, was reintroduced in 2019, followed by 25 in 2020. Fifteen calves were born this year.
“We will always continue the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed, who pioneered the SHO reintroduction programme, the first of its kind anywhere in the world,” said Dr Shaikha Al Dhaheri, secretary general of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
“It is saddening to see species becoming extinct and we at EAD [the agency] will do everything in our capacity to reverse this.”
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has darted 18 wild scimitar-horned oryxes and fitted them with satellite tracking collars. This has enabled the agency to monitor the species behaviour, including reproduction.
“Next month, we will be releasing both scimitar-horned oryxes and addaxes in Chad in collaboration with our partners, who are truly invested in ensuring the project’s success, and we are on track to establish a herd of 500 of the oryxes in the wild.
“Our efforts will continue next year, and we are expecting the birth of more calves, which will help to increase herd sizes and curb the rapid decline of these species.”
Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, first noticed the rapid decline of scimitar-horned oryxes in the wild during the 1960s.
He ordered the creation of a captive breeding programme, to be piloted in the UAE. The animals were housed on Sir Bani Yas Island, where their number eventually exceeded 1,000.
Their conservation is supported by several prominent global partners, including Chad’s Ministry of Environment, the EU, the Sahara Conservation Fund, the Zoological Society of London, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Marwell Wildlife, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute and Fossil Rim Wildlife Centre.
Critically endangered species: in pictures
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
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2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
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2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
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2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
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