Dr. Mohamed Abdel Fattah Al-Kassas (also known as Mohamed Kassas, 6 July 1921N.N.:
Biography of Mohamed Kassas
', MedWetCoast. URL retrieved 2011-01-24. – 21 March 2012) was an Egyptian

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and conservationist. He was professor emeritus for Botany at the

University of Cairo Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

and a specialist in Arid land Ecology. He studied at the University of Cairo, where he received a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1944 and a

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in 1947, and at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(Ph.D. in 1950). A specialist in the ecology of desert plants, and was among the first to publish on the topic of

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

. Kassas was an advisory member of the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

from its beginning, and from 1978 to 1984 president of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN).Hesselink, Frits; Čeřovský, Jan:
Learning to Change the Future
'', IUCN 2008, p. 22. URL retrieved 2011-01-24. In 1981, he was appointed a member of the

Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura ( ar, مجلس الشورى; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a Caliph, khalifa (Islamic leader) may be s ...

, the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

of the

Parliament of Egypt The Parliament of Egypt is the bicameral legislature of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the House of Representatives). The Parliament is located in Cairo, Egypt's capital. Under t ...

. He was a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Science and the world Academy of Art and Science, and member of the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...

. He was a founding member of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (2007). He received Honorary Doctorate Degree from universities in the Sudan, Sweden, Egypt and USA, and was on the editorial boards of several international journals in fields of ecology and environmental sciences. His principal research interests during the last 55 years were in plant ecology, especially in arid lands. He and his students surveyed plant life in the deserts and coastal lands of Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq and contributed to the basic understanding of the ecology of the desert vegetation. He was among the pioneers who warned the world against hazards of desertification, contributed to the UNESCO Arid Lands Research Program, (1950-1960) and to the scientific preparation for the United Nations Conference on Desertification (1977) and was senior Advisor to the Intergovernmental committee that negotiated the Convention on Desertification (1992-1994).

Honours

;Egypt *First Order of Science and Arts (1959) *Order of the Republic (1978) *First Order of Merit (1981) *State Science Prize (1982) ;International *The Golden Order for Education (Sudan, 1978) *United Nations Prize for Environment (1978) *Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) Gold Medal (1978) *Commander in the Order of the Golden Ark (The Netherlands, 1981) *Commander: the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star (1998) *Zayed (UAE) International Prize for Environment (2001)

References

* Dr Mostafa K. Tolba, former executive director, UNDP, Delivering his Eulogy in honor of Prof Kassas
Arabic
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kassas, Mohamed 1921 births 2012 deaths Botanists active in Africa Botanists active in Egypt Academic staff of Cairo University Cairo University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge 20th-century botanists Presidents of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Egyptian expatriates in the United Kingdom