IEW Awards Ceremony with ENHG Patron, Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan

As we process all the memories, excitement, sights and activities from the annual Inter-Emirates Weekend, we want to first savour the awards ceremony that was addressed by the UAE Minister of Tolerance and ENHG patron, Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan.

Since the UAE is currently celebrating the ‘Year of Zayed’ to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founding father, it was touching to hear Sheikh Nahayan say that "it is entirely fitting that your group’s celebration of its fortieth anniversary is occurring in the Year of Zayed because our nation’s founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, is, of course, our country’s most prominent naturalist. He had a love of nature. "

Peter Hellyer, a Lifelong Member and former ENHG Chair, has also spoken of how the late Sheikh Zayed liked to be kept informed of any and all natural discoveries in the country, including those of the early ENHG, whom Sheikh Nahayan described as “a small but illustrious band of people consumed by wonder, burning with curiosity, oblivious to hardship, and enchanted by nature.”

"The work of the Emirates Natural History Group," Sheikh Nahayan added, "contributed to Sheikh Zayed’s decision in 1993 to form a Federal Environmental Agency." The country’s concern for the environment has intensified under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Nahayan also stressed that Sheikh Zayed always maintained that living in balance with the environment had literally kept previous generations alive in the region, and quoted him as saying, “With God's will, we shall continue to work to protect our environment and our wildlife…It is a duty, and, if we fail, our children, rightly, will reproach us for squandering an essential part of their inheritance, and of our heritage."

During the dinner, Sheikh Nahayan presented the Sheikh Mubarak bin Mohammed Award for natural history, which he created in honour of his late father, to Dr. Peter Magee, the Director of Archaeology for the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. Dr. Magee has been active in UAE archaeology for over 25 years, excavating at Muweilah (where he welcomed some ENHG and DNHG groups), at Tell Abraq (where he also welcomed ENHG/DNHG visitors) and elsewhere. His work has been published widely in academic journals, and his book 'The Prehistory of Arabia’ has become a standard work.

Sheikh Nahayan also presented the Bish Brown Award, named after one of the ENHG’s founders, to Keith and May Yoke Taylor, in recognition of their many years of service to the Group’s outreach activities. Valerie Chalmers, a long-term supporter of the Dubai Natural History Group, was presented with a Lifetime Membership in absentia. We will hear their stories in subsequent posts, and how they “lead the way in educating us all about our more-than-human world,” to borrow from Sheikh Nahayan’s speech.

To conclude, His Excellency said, “I know that you will continue to venture into the open air determined to observe even the tiniest organisms honestly and accurately. You will find connections. You will help us all to understand and respect our more-than-human world. You will excite in us a love of nature. I admire your passion and am honoured to be your Patron."