The crucial role AI is playing in tackling the poor state of the world's biodiversity has been highlighted at an Abu Dhabi event.
Experts who spoke to The National at the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress offered real-world examples of how AI had helped, but also warned it was not a silver bullet.
Skylight – an AI-driven monitoring and analysis software platform – for example, works by analysing millions of automatic identification systems generated by ships daily and hundreds of thousands of satellite images each week. The AI then combines all the data to help maritime agencies identify events and patterns of interest in often vast and remote seas.
This is all the more pressing given that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing causing up to an estimated $23.5 billion economic losses annually, according to the UN.
“What AI is doing is filtering through all of that big data,” said Gregg Casad, monitoring, control and surveillance adviser for Skylight. “And finding those incidents and saying, 'here's something of interest that you might want to look at,'” he said.
“A human could look at it, but there's just so much. Where do you start? The sheer fact is we're never going to have enough ships, we're never going to have enough planes and we're never going to have enough boats to go out and patrol all of that.”
Another company harnessing the power of AI is the UAE climate tech venture Nabat, which works with the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi to restore thousands of hectares of mangroves in the UAE. Nabat uses AI to assess satellite images and other data before drones are sent to seed the ground.
“We are not trying to compete with natural regeneration,” said Taha Ghaznavi, chief product officer at Nabat. “We are trying to extend the boundaries of ecosystems – to reverse the damage that has been done.”
Mr Ghaznavi said about 80 per cent of site restoration projects fail for reasons including poor site selection, cost and time overruns because of the manpower needed, and even injuries. But AI and drone delivery of seeds can help, he said, as they pinpoint specific areas and people are not wading through mud and disrupting ecosystems. Seed survival is put at between 30 and 50 per cent after six months, but he said it is complex.
“Our AI is ecology-trained,” he said, calling it “tech with muddy boots” – he says the company has more ecologists than technologists. It is very much a human-machine partnership and it should remain this way.”
The event in Abu Dhabi showed the pressure the natural world is under. The latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which was issued on Friday, showed that more than a quarter of the animals, plants and fungi assessed are at risk. The reasons for this are manifold, and include climate change and habitat loss.
Wildlife trafficking is part of the problem, with a 2024 report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime stating that more than 4,000 species are affected. Another AI-driven solution to try to tackle this was also showcased in Abu Dhabi. Earthranger was developed in partnership with Save the Elephants and other conservation groups.
Global populations tracked include 25 per cent of elephants, 10 per cent of rhinos and 50 per cent of scimitar-horned oryx, according to a presentation given at the congress. This enables the monitoring of unusual events around camera traps, such as unwanted human activity or the presence of endangered animals, in a much more efficient way than is possible by sifting through scores of photos individually. It also zooms out to identify broader patterns and could help predict future events.
“Imagine a camera hidden in a tree,” said Jes Lefcourt – director at Earthranger. “We are monitoring 24/7 and can also see long distances and see in the dark. And if a human walks by in one of these very remote places that people generally shouldn't be, then it will send a signal up to the cloud.”
This alerts the dashboard in an operations room, allowing officers to send rangers to the site immediately. Hundreds of sites across the world from South Africa to Kenya have camera traps that are integrated into Earthranger looking for poachers. Mr Lefcourt didn't want to give out sensitive details about locations, but said poaching could be “reduced significantly” using this.
AI, therefore, is analysing data and alerting people faster than could be done before but is it overhyped? “There are many examples where you see AI that's been added to a press release and question whether or not it is even using AI, but I think there's also an enormous amount of potential that we haven't even realised,” said Mr Lefcourt.
Both Skylight and Earthranger are part of the AI2 umbrella – a Seattle based non-profit AI research institute founded in 2014 by the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. When asked if AI was truly making a difference, Mr Casad said: “It absolutely is. These tools are providing people in the field with information in a time frame that they can act on.”
Others were also showcasing the power of AI at the IUCN. Eric Schmidt, executive director of the US non-profit Wildlife Protection Solutions, outlined how its technology can also defend against poaching.
Its AI-driven software scans more than 75,000 images a day from cameras and CCTV among others in protected areas to identify threats and can then send alerts to rangers or wardens through SMS or WhatsApp, reducing reliance on time-consuming direct observation.
“On an almost a daily basis [it is] catching intruders coming into places that they shouldn't be,” said Mr Schmidt. “[I’ve had] people in the US monitoring cameras on the app and they see something that looks suspicious, hit a button in the app that automatically alerted the local warden in Africa who said, ‘yes, indeed, that is a poacher’, and then he activates his response team,” he said.
“So it's kind of a cool scenario where the technology also helps unite people around the world in a conservation effort and a positive outcome.” Mr Schmidt cautioned, however, that AI is just a component of the efforts to tackle possible shady activity.
“You need really strong people processes to take the data that it is presented to you and act on it,” he said. “If you just put it out there and expect it to make a difference, it won't.”
There is also another environmental side to AI. Data centres that house servers can lead to electronic waste, they consume water and use increasingly large amounts of electricity often generated by fossil fuels, which create warming greenhouse gases.
This is a point noted by Joe Walston, executive vice president for global programmes at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global conservation organisation active in more than 50 countries.
“We will have extraordinary achievements, through AI, in food production systems and clean technologies, on reductions in pollution, and on the crucial decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation,” he said. Mr Walston said it would also produce tools that create “novel forms of pressures on the environment” and make “vast demands on energy production”.
“It will come down to human ingenuity, collaboration and human goodness to ensure that the balance is in nature’s favour.”
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
liverpool youngsters
Ki-Jana Hoever
The only one of this squad to have scored for Liverpool, the versatile Dutchman impressed on his debut at Wolves in January. He can play right-back, centre-back or in midfield.
Herbie Kane
Not the most prominent H Kane in English football but a 21-year-old Bristolian who had a fine season on loan at Doncaster last year. He is an all-action midfielder.
Luis Longstaff
Signed from Newcastle but no relation to United’s brothers Sean and Matty, Luis is a winger. An England Under-16 international, he helped Liverpool win the FA Youth Cup last season.
Yasser Larouci
An 18-year-old Algerian-born winger who can also play as a left-back, Larouci did well on Liverpool’s pre-season tour until an awful tackle by a Sevilla player injured him.
Adam Lewis
Steven Gerrard is a fan of his fellow Scouser, who has been on Liverpool’s books since he was in the Under-6s, Lewis was a midfielder, but has been converted into a left-back.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
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Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
Abu Dhabi Card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 1,400m
National selection: AF Mohanak
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 90,000 1,400m
National selection: Jayide Al Boraq
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 100,000 1,400m
National selection: Rocket Power
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh 180,000 1,600m
National selection: Ihtesham
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,600m
National selection: Noof KB
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 2.200m
National selection: EL Faust
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
