ENHG Lecture: When UAE Nights Come to Life, with Priscilla Van Andel

Dear members: as always, we will host this talk on Zoom, starting at 7:00 pm with an informal chat amongst ourselves that you are most welcome to join. Our talk will begin at 7:30. The Zoom link will be sent prior to all those registered. 

About the talk: During this talk I will share my nighttime experiences here in the UAE, where I have extensively explored the dark outdoors. The nightlife in the UAE mountains and deserts is exciting, with many different animal species, such as mammals, fish, insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds. I will be taking you on a short tour throughout different habitats during this hour. 

A lot of the UAE's wildlife suffers from urbanization and leisure activities such as dune bashing. Many affected animals move further away deeper into the deserts and mountains, while other animals adapt to the system and come to live closer to urban areas, which is not always favored by the public. 

About the speaker: 16 years ago, my husband and I moved to the UAE when he was offered a job in Sharjah. Back in The Netherlands, our home country, I was an export manager specialized in Letters of Credit. Since the UAE wasn’t exporting a lot, I could not find myself a suitable job. We were always exploring the countryside in the UAE and Oman, and when we started discovering the local nature, we came up with the idea to start my own tailor-made touring company for business people and tourists, a max of 4 people per trip. This little business was doing very well, showing the people UAE’s nature spots, until the UAE laws changed and I couldn’t offer my services any longer.

On the side I did photography workshops for beginners, while in the meantime I became more and more familiar with the local wildlife. As one nature lover attracts others, a nice group of friends with the same passion grew, and eventually reptiles became one of my favorite animal groups, and I learned ecosystems, the environment and conservation at the same time. When herpetologists and conservationists taught me about nature, I was always happy to be of help collecting data, among others for the Wonder gecko project, and providing photographs.

Of course as an amateur there is no greater honour and nothing I’d rather do more than share my nature experiences and show people the importance of wildlife and nature.

Together with a friend I had a part in the films made by Jonathan Ali Khan for Emirates ‘Discover the wilderness of the UAE’ and a few other productions. In between I have kept myself busy organizing clean-ups, workshops and lectures in schools, doing ethical wildlife photography for the Sharjah art museum, guest speaking at Dubai municipality nature events, and supplying photographs for IUCN and other organizations. To make a long story short, I always keep myself busy with nature and volunteering wherever needed.