Wasit Wetland Centre
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Wasit Wetland Centre
Wasit Wetland Centre is a conservation area in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It preserves an area of a type of wetland (sabkha or salt plain) once common along the western coastal plains of the UAE and consists of a visitor centre with viewing points to both captive and wild birds, as well as extensive areas of dunes, mud flats, salty lagoons and freshwater pools. Located in the northern Sharjah suburb of Wasit, the centre runs along the Sharjah/Ajman border. The centre comprises of protected habitat and has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2019. The centre, which was opened in 2015 by the ruler of Sharjah, Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, is operated by the Environment and Protected Areas Authority of Sharjah Government and conducts golf-buggy tours around the extensive preservation area, which features a number of hides or observation points. An active educational program is maintained, encouraging visits from local schools. The centre also offers an on-site café, ...
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Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital of the eponymous emirate. The emirate shares legal, political, military and economic functions with the other emirates of the UAE within a federal framework, although each emirate has jurisdiction over some functions such as civil law enforcement and provision and upkeep of local facilities. Sharjah has been ruled by the Al Qasimi dynasty since the 18th century. The city is a centre for culture and industry, and alone contributes 7.4% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates. The city covers an approximate area of 235 km2 and has a population of over 800,000 (2008). The sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in the emirate of Sharjah without possession of an alcohol licence and alcohol is not served in hotels, restaura ...
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Glossy Ibis
The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Distribution This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, from where it spread to North America. The glossy ibis was first found in the New World in 1817 (New Jersey). Audubon saw the species just once in Florida in 1832. It expanded its range substantially northwards in the 1940s and to the west in the 1980s. This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas w ...
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Aga Khan Award For Architecture
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community development and improvement, restoration, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment.Aga Khan Award for Architecture
." ''ArchitectureWeek'' 9 January 2002.
The award is associated with the (AKTC), an agency of the

Greater Flamingo
The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. Taxonomy The greater flamingo was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. It was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo (''Phoenicopterus ruber''), but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species. The greater flamingo has no subspecies. Description The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo, averaging tall and weighing . The largest male flamingos have been recorded at up to tall and . Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking. Chicks are cover ...
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Pink-backed Pelican
The pink-backed pelican (''Pelecanus rufescens'') is a bird of the pelican family. It is a resident breeder in the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa and southern Arabia; it has also apparently extirpated in Madagascar. Taxonomy The pink-backed pelican was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the other pelicans in the genus '' Pelecanus'' and coined the binomial name ''Pelecanus rufescens''. Gmelin based his description on the "red-backed pelican" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work ''A General Synopsis of Birds ''. Latham had been sent a specimen from West Africa. The specific epithet ''rufescens'' is Latin for "reddish". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Description It is a relatively small pelican, although by no means is it a small bird. Its length is fro ...
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Grey-headed Swamphen
The grey-headed swamphen (''Porphyrio poliocephalus'') is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, but was elevated to full species status in 2015; today the purple swamphen is considered a superspecies and each of its six subspecies groups are designated full species. The male has an elaborate courtship display, holding water weeds in his bill and bowing to the female with loud chuckles. The grey-headed swamphen was introduced to North America in the late 1990s due to avicultural escapes in the Pembroke Pines, Florida area. State wildlife biologists attempted to eradicate the birds, but they have multiplied and can now be found in many areas of southern Florida. Ornithological authorities consider it likely that the swamphen will become an established part of Florida's avifauna.Pranty, Bill, Kim Schnitzius, Kevin Schnitzius, and Helen ...
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Marbled Duck
The marbled duck, or marbled teal (''Marmaronetta angustirostris'') is a medium-sized species of duck from southern Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia. The scientific name, ''Marmaronetta angustirostris'', comes from the Greek ''marmaros'', marbled and ''netta'', a duck, and Latin ''angustus'', narrow or small and ''-rostris'' billed. Distribution, habitat and breeding This duck formerly bred in large numbers in the Mediterranean region, but is now restricted to a few sites in southern Spain, southern Italy, northwest Africa and the broader Levant. Further east it survives in the Mesopotamian marshland in southern Iraq and in Iran (Shadegan Marshes - the world's most important site), as well as isolated pockets in Armenia, Azerbaijan, South European Russia, western India and western China. In general the species has nomadic tendencies. In some areas birds disperse from the breeding grounds, and have been encountered in the winter period in the Sahel zone, so ...
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Grey Heron
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows. Standing up to tall, adults weigh from . They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown. The birds breed colonially in spring in "heronries", usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-gree ...
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Northern Bald Ibis
The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (''Geronticus eremita'') is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, is non-wading, has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill. It breeds colonially on coastal or mountain cliff ledges, where it typically lays two to three eggs in a stick nest, and feeds on lizards, insects, and other small animals. The northern bald ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa, southern and central Europe, with a fossil record dating back at least 1.8 million years. It disappeared from Europe over 300 years ago, although reintroduction programs in the region are underway. In 2019 there were about 700 wild birds remaining in southern Morocco, and fewer than 10 in Syria, where it was rediscovered in 2002 but where their number declined in the following years, maybe to zero. To ...
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Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971. Every three years, representatives of the contracting parties meet as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), the policy-making organ of the convention which adopts decisions (resolutions and recommendations) to administer the work of the convention and improve the way in which the parties are able to implement its objectives. COP12 was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 2015. COP13 was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in October 2018. List of wetlands of international importance The list of wetlands of international importance included 2,331 Ramsar sites in May 2018 covering over . The countries with most sites are the United Kingdo ...
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Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi
'' , spouse = Jawaher bint Mohammed , issue = Azza bin SultanMohammed bin Sultan, Crown Prince of Sharjah Bodour bint SultanNoor bint SultanHoor bint SultanKhalid bin Sultan , house = Al Qasimi , father = Mohammed bin Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi , mother = Maryam bint Ghanem bin Salem Al Shamsi , birth_date = , birth_place = Sharjah, Trucial States , place of burial = Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi ( ar, سلطان بن محمد القاسمي; born 2 July 1939) is the sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah and a member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates. He has ruled Sharjah continuously since January 1972, apart from a six-day period in June 1987, during an attempted coup led by his elder brother Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi. Early life and education Sultan's mother was Maryam bint Sheikh Ghanem Al Shamsi (1915–2010). He has four brothers and two sisters: Khalid, Sheikh Saqr, Abdul Aziz, Abdull ...
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Ramsar Site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) ** es on inorganic soils: *** Permanent (herb dominated) (Tp) *** Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (shrub dominated)(W) *** Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (tree dominated) (Xf) *** Seasonal/intermittent (herb dominated) (Ts) ** Marshes on soils: *** Permanent (non-forested)(U) *** Permanent (forested)(Xp) ** Marshes on inorganic or peat soils: *** Marshes on inorganic or peat soils / High altitude (alpine) (Va) *** Marshes on inorganic or peat soils / Tundra (Vt) * Saline,