Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund Awards US$500,000 to Species Conservation Projects

Abu Dhabi, June 12, 2012 (WAM) - In expectation of better understanding the population distribution of Vietnam's rarely seen and only recently discovered ungulate called a Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), scientists have been awarded US$5,000 by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. The animal, only discovered 20 years ago, is so rarely seen and secretive that scientists will look for traces of its DNA in the blood sucked by leeches living in the same area. And while employing less obscure scientific techniques, others recently awarded money for conservation work by the Fund will investigate the diversity and distribution of tarantula spiders in northeast India and work to restore Dracula orchid habitat in the mountain regions of Colombia. In its first of its three rounds of funding planned for 2012, the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund awarded US$499,570 (Dh1,838,418) to 73 separate species conservation projects in 40 different countries. The species conservation grants were awarded to conservationists located across the world and will help to protect plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, fish, and fungus from the growing threat of extinction. The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund is a significant philanthropic endowment established in 2008 by His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives; recognise leaders in the field of species conservation; and elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate. Since its establishment the Fund has distributed US$7.7 million to nearly 700 projects in more than 115 countries. – Emirates News Agency, WAM