Talk: Abu Dhabi, flying and the ENHG in "the old days" by John Stewart-Smith

TIME: Refreshments from 7pm, lecture from 7.30pm

VENUE: Salon 1, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

LECTURE TITLE:  Abu Dhabi, flying and the ENHG in "the old days" by John Stewart-Smith

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: John was a founding member of the ENHG and the first Chair of the group. He lived in the UAE for many years prior to the formation of the ENHG, arriving in 1968, and was dedicated to the recording and observing of biodiversity, his motto of ‘observe, record, report’ is a main mission of all ENHGs. This motto continues to be paramount and is the foundation of publications such as the newsletters and Tribulus. In June 2011 AD ENHG awarded John a Lifetime membership.

John used every opportunity to capture information about the natural world. With his day-job as a pilot, John spent many years photographing the UAE from the air. In a very generous gesture, he donated aronud 1000 negatives of these photos to Sheikh Nahyan. John took the recording of natural history to another level. He was allowed to use military equipment to do bird watching. Thus, he would fly a 10 seater Islander to the most remote areas of the UAE and simply land, therefore truly recording data that would otherwise never have been possible.

John would birdwatch whenever he could. A favourite haunt was close to Sheikh Zayed’s sea palace, where there were mangroves and mud flats. John would regularly go and one day one of Sheikh Zayed’s aids joined John asking on Sheikh Zayed’s behalf which birds he was observing and what else there was of interest. John used the opportunity to talk about conservation and nature reserves, needing fences to keep those out that may damage the delicate ecosystem. To his amazement, both positive and negative, the next time he visited his words had been taken very seriously and a fence had been erected to protect the bird habitat, something he ‘almost’ regretted but was also very pleased about. He recollects that Sheikh Zayed was very interested about natural history. John is full of these amazing stories.

N.B. This talk will be in place of the lecture scheduled for 3rd May.