Dubai residents are being invited to have their mobile phones at the ready to join an international effort to document urban wildlife and deepen understanding of biodiversity.
The annual City Nature Challenge got under way on Friday, with nature-lovers from hundreds of cities invited to photograph and record wild plants, animals and fungi using the iNaturalist app.
Dubai's debut in the major conservation campaign, which runs until April 28, was announced at Expo City Dubai and is being led by the Terra Pavilion in collaboration with Emirates Nature-WWF. The data will feed into an international database used by scientists and conservationists to track species.
"The City Nature Challenge is present in over 650 cities, and it's the very first time that Dubai is participating," said Sheena Khan, head of environment programmes for education and culture at Expo City Dubai. Cities such as Singapore, Cape Town and Tokyo have secured their spots on the leaderboard in previous years. The aim is to log the highest number of observations, species and participants – turning a simple walk into a step towards global recognition.
"We are expecting globally to have over three million observations or data points collected and over 100,000 citizen scientists – so people like you and I – participating to engage and notice nature." The target for Dubai is 5,000 new research-grade observations on iNaturalist.
No experience needed – just a phone and curiosity
At heart, the challenges are about making conservation accessible. Citizen science, Ms Khan says, is a simple but powerful way for members of the public, regardless of age or occupation, to contribute to conservation by cataloguing and collecting their observations. "It can be flora, fauna or fungi," she explained.
"You don't need to know what it is," Ms Khan told The National. "The technology behind the application can help identify what it is, and then on the back end, there's a bunch of scientists that are verifying that data." Participants can join from anywhere – be it a park, balcony or backyard – and simply start snapping.
"One of the best techniques, I find, is to sit on a bench and let the nature come to you. So sit back and spend time just peacefully in nature," said Phillip Dunn, senior manager for sustainability, education and culture at Expo City Dubai. "Take pictures of it, upload it. And that's part of the science."
Urban nature in focus
Dubai's urban environment may seem unlikely terrain for wildlife, but Mr Dunn explained that arid cities are their own kind of ecosystem. "Arid cities are a different animal, right? A different creature altogether … because in many ways, they are creating some nature that wasn't there before."
On Friday morning, Terra kicked off the four-day event with a guided "bioblitz" around the Expo site, encouraging residents to begin documenting native flora and fauna. Among the finds: butterflies, pollinators, the purple sunbird, paper wasps and Arabian red dwarf honeybees.
“Nature doesn’t start at the edge of a forest – it’s all around us,” added Arabella Willing, head of conservation outreach and citizen science from Emirates Nature-WWF. “This initiative empowers people to become scientists in their own communities. The data collected has real-world impact.”
Data that shapes cities and global science
The biodiversity data collected is open-source and contributes to global conservation efforts, including the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
"When a scientist sits down to do an IUCN assessment, they use all of the data that's accessible through literature, and that data includes a search of iNaturalist for citizen science data," Ms Khan said. "Scientists can't do it alone, so they need the help of us, citizens and residents."
Mr Dunn said that the data also informs local urban design. "If we know what's here, we can use cities to be catalysts." Mr Dunn and Ms Khan explained that such data can help urban planners know how best to design cities to help support global biodiversity.
Participants are encouraged to enter a social media competition by tagging @visitterra.ae for a chance to win tickets to Terra and be featured in an exhibition.
Mr Dunn hopes the initiative will spark long-term behavioural shifts. "For the longest time, people thought a beautiful garden was a sculpted hedge – but maybe the new aesthetic is a little wild patch," he said. "A little wild area can attract a lot of wildlife."
How to take part
- Download the free iNaturalist app
- Join the City Nature Challenges 2025: Dubai
- Photograph and upload any wild species between April 25 and April 28
Final global results will be announced on May 5. In the meantime, Ms Khan hopes people across the UAE will step outside and help show the world what nature looks like in Dubai.
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 4 (Salah (pen 4, 33', & pen 88', Van Dijk (20')
Leeds United 3 (Harrison 12', Bamford 30', Klich 66')
Man of the match Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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.”
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
