The Qatar Natural History Group

Introduction | Lecture Programme

Also see: Qatar's Natural History: An Introduction by Frances Gillespie

Introduction

Copyright © Iain Macdonald

Qatar's Natural History Group (QNHG) is an active group that runs regular field trips in Qatar and to destinations abroad. Its field trips have even been known to discover new species - see Qatar Sea Slugs.

The Group was founded in November 1978 to 'bring together people with an interest in the natural history of Qatar and the Gulf', and the inaugural meeting was held in the grounds of the National Museum. Celebrations were held in the same place to mark the Group's 20th and 25th anniversaries, and next year sees the 30th anniversary of the Group.

Note: We are no longer updating the Qatar Natural History Group's schedule as the group now have their own website: www.QNHG.org.

Copyright © David Gillespie

Although based in Qatar, QNHG has an international membership. Its annual subscription of QR 30 per adult (including any children under the age of 18) is the lowest of any of the natural history groups in the Arabian Gulf states. Its interests cover not only all aspects of natural history but also the culture, history and archaeology of Qatar, and talks are sometimes given on other places of interest to members.

Meetings take place between October and June, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. They are held at 7.30 pm in the gymnasium of the Doha English Speaking School. An illustrated talk follows the announcements, and there is a small lending library of books available to members.

For more information about the QNHG, contact the PR Representative, Frances Gillespie, at gillespi@qatar.net.qa

QNHG Field Trips

Copyright © David Gillespie

There is a field trip on the last Friday of each month to places of interest around Qatar. The trips are usually led by people who have some knowledge of a particular region or subject, e.g. amateur or professional geologists, botanists, archaeologists and so on. There are also camping trips and star-gazing expeditions from time to time. A charge of QR 10 per vehicle is made for field trips. Children are welcome on the trips provided they are kept under parental control at all times.

There are a number of ‘sub-Groups' within the main organisation, depending on who volunteers to organise them! One of the most popular is the Ramblers Group which goes out and about on Friday mornings. Members can indicate on their membership form which of the activities they are interested in, and their names will then be added to the e-mail lists for those sub-groups. In recent years there have been various overseas trips per year during the long Eid breaks, organised with the help of local travel agents. These have included visits to Syria, Iran, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, India, Kenya and Turkey, and have proved highly popular.

Our field trips typically:

• Occurs on the last Friday of the month and starts around 10.am from a well known place in the outskirts of Doha.
• The meeting place and a short field trip description will be distributed either in the monthly newsletter or on a separate email sent out at least one week in advance.
• When we meet up the members pay 10 QAR to QNHG per car to participate in the trip.
• Yellow stickers or equivalent are handed out to be placed on the inside of the back door windows to help distinguish participating cars from other cars on the road.
• Field trip leaders and participating cars will drive out to the location in convoy(s) together.
• The end of the trip is typically somewhat flexible so that some may leave early and some late and people typically drive back to Doha individually.

2007/2008 Tentative Field Trip List

Northern Forts. Al Zubara, Al Rekayat and other forts of NW Qatar. October 26th.

Shark teeth. Fossil shark teeth of Eocene Midra Shale, SW Qatar. November 30th.

Starry Night. Barbecue, Christmas carols at Singing Dunes bonfire. December 21st.

Sheik Faisal's Museum - and walk in the gardens afterwards. December 28th.

Camel Track & Oryx farm in Al Sheehaniya. January 25th.

Camping out. Green fields of Western Qatar, campfire, watching stars. February 29th.

Jazirat Um Tais National Park. Tidal flats and barier island. Geology and biology. March 28th.

Inland Sea. Through the dunes to the Inland Sea. Swim and have fun. April 25th.

Boat trip. Anchor at exotic beach, swim, snorkel, play and have fun. May 30th.

International Field Trips

Vienna and Budapest | Jordan

Trips to Vienna & Budapest, Yemen and Jordan are offered through Mannai Travel to the members of the Qatar Natural History Group. A few places are still available, but are filling up quickly. Contact David Paul (david.paul@mannai.com.qa) at Mannai Travel (455-8761 or 559-9701) if you have any questions or wish to make a reservation.

Vienna & Budapest

A six-day programme in Vienna and Budapest includes a full day excursion to the most romantic part of the Danube Valley (Wachau) to see Durnstein Castle where King Richard 5 -the Lionheart was imprisoned, Krems (the old wine merchant town), and the baroque Benedictine Abbey of Melk. A relaxing boat trip offers great views of the countryside.

A city tour of Vienna the next day includes the Museum of Fine Arts and Schonbrunn Palace. In Budapest the group goes by bus to the Danube Bend to visit Szendentre, the old town and Skansen in Visegrad, the Fortress and Royal Palace in Esztergom and finally the Basilika and Royal Palace. The tour returns to Budapest by boat.
In the Castle District, the group visits the National Gallery and the Museums in the Palace as well as Mathias Church and Fishermen's Bastion. The tour continues by funicular down to Adam Clark Square. The group walks to the Pest side by taking the Chain Bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in continental Europe.

Next, the tour takes in Carnuntum where the Archaeological Park takes the visitors back to the Roman world with exciting insights into the world of archaeology. The group takes in the National Park in Donau-Auen to see the Riparian Wetlands (the last, huge untouched wetlands in Europe) situated between the metropolises of Vienna and Bratislava.

The price per person (sharing a twin/double room) is QAR 5859 plus QAR 560. A person occupying a single room pays QAR 6940 plus QAR560. The package does not include lunch or dinner. In Vienna the group stays at the Beta Hotel and in Budapest the Mercure Duna.

Yemen

The eight-day tour visits the Old Souq and the museum in Sana'a. Taiz sightseeing includes:
Radaa, Al Amaria School, Damt, Jibla n Ibb, Jabel Saber, and Al Sharafia Mosque. Numerous spots are visited in the area around Sana'a; Zafar, Bayt al Ashwal, Manakha, al Hajarah, Bayt al Amir, Husn al Haimy, Jumah, Wadi Dhahar (attending a wedding festival), Thula, Hababa, Shibam, Kawkaban, Zakati, and Bukur.

The tour price is QAR 4790 plus QAR 500 and covers twin accommodation plus breakfast and all other meals except lunch on two days. The group will stay at Taj Sheba or Movenpick in Sana'a and in the Sofitel in Taiz.

Jordan

This seven-day tour takes in Jerash (with a local, English-speaking guide) and Um Qais. En route to Petra, the group visits Madaba, Mt. Nebo and Kerak. The full-day tour of Petra includes an 800-meter horse ride (a five-hour, English-speaking guide is available on site). Guests will be transferred to Wadi Rum for a 1 ½ hour Bedouin jeep ride inside the wadi. Tours of the Desert Castles of Amra, Azraq and Kharraneh and a swim at the Dead Sea Spa are included.

The price of the tour is QAR 3520 plus QAR 570. This includes sharing a twin room with breakfast and lunches. Air fare and taxes are subject to change without notice. Any upward revision will result in an increase in tour cost.

Starry Night in the Dunes

Starry Night in the Dunes: Friday 21st December 2007

This time-honoured event, when members gather at the singing dunes for an afternoon of fun, feasting and seasonal songs, has beenheld every year for over 20 years. Recently we have combined with members of the Doha Players to make it an even better occasion. As dusk closes everyone gathers beside an enormous bonfire to join in the singing and listen to musicians perform on an improvised stage, but before that Santa Claus is present in his grotto [a tent] to receive visits from the younger members and hand out goodies. Details and a map will be sent out nearer the time.

Birding

Any birders or twitchers might want to check out http://www.tommypedersen.com which carries reports and detail of birding sites in the UAE. Qatar isn't usually mentioned, but it'll give you some idea of what's in the neighbourhood. Anyone want to take on the QNHG Birding Group?

Lecture Programme

October 3rd 2007, 7.30 PM
Speaker: Renee Hughes, QNHG Chairman
QNHG: A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME!

The speaker for October will be Renee Hughes, the Chairman of the Qatar Natural History Group. Although relatively new to Qatar, she has spent approximately 19 years in the Middle East, and since arriving in Qatar has spent most weekends in the desert. Her talk will be on Qatar, the presentation will focus on some of the historical sights as well as some of the stunning flora and fauna. She will also include photographs of some of the venues of up and coming field trips to show you what you will be missing out on if you don't sign up

November 7th 2007, 7.30 PM

Speaker: Dr. Mark Beech, Head of Division

Cultural Landscapes, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH)

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE EXPLOITATION OF DUGONGS IN THE ARABIAN GULF

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large marine mammal which, together with the three species of manatee, is one of four extant members of the order Sirenia, the only fully-aquatic herbivorous mammals. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae. It is also the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of at least 37 countries throughout the Indo-Pacific. Although the majority of dugongs live in the northern waters of Australia, the Arabian Gulf maintains the second largest population group in the world.

Like all modern sirenians, the dugong has a fusiform body with no dorsal fin or hindlimbs, instead possessing paddle-like forelimbs used to manoeuvre itself. It is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth.

The dugong is heavily dependent on seagrasses for subsistence and is thus restricted to the coastal habitats where they grow, with the largest dugong concentrations typically occurring in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays, mangrove channels and the lee sides of large inshore islands. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for grazing and uprooting benthic seagrasses.

Although the dugong is today a protected species they have been exploited by humans as long as 7500 years ago in the Arabian Gulf. Dugongs were primarily hunted in the past for their meat and hides. This paper discusses the archaeological evidence for their exploitation. It highlights the sites and locations where dugong remains have been discovered and provides a historical synthesis of the relationship between human populations and dugongs in the region.

Urgent conservation requirements are required today to protect the existing population of dugongs within the Arabian Gulf. This can only be successful if all the Gulf States co-operate with extensive networks of marine protected areas to endure its survival.!

December 5th 2007, 7.30 PM

Speaker: Peter Harrigan

SAUDI ARABIAN ROCK ART

In its historical perspective, the creation of the political borders of the Arabian peninsula is just the tiny fraction of the time line that stretches back to when prehistoric human activity in the region first began to etch and carve symbols and images on rock faces. Using these present day boundaries as a marker, with over 2000 known rock art sites, Saudi Arabia boasts one of the worlds largest corpora of rock art.

The country also has one of the world's least known repositories of prehistoric art and inscriptions. Scattered along the mountains of the Hijaz to the fringes of the Empty quarter significant finds are still being reported and surveyed with encouraging signs of more open scholarship, research and debate on what was until recently a topic that was largely shunned and bypassed.

Peter Harrigan has travelled to many of the sites and written and presented on Saudi Rock Art and here provides an overview of the remarkable heritage that still poses many unanswered questions.

Read a review or buy a copy of Discovering Qatar, by Frances Gillespie, Gulf Times journalist and former chair person of QNHG.