Sea turtles and pearl

　　
　　Will, found at The Pearl-Qatar
The United Development Company (UDC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, have jointly agreed to establish the country’s first urban turtle sanctuary at The Pearl-Qatar.
The sanctuary, the Turtle Rehab Project, already has its first beneficiary - “Will”, an endangered green sea turtle that was found injured near The Pearl-Qatar in October 2010. The project was announced by Mohamed al-Jaidah, an environment expert at the Ministry of Environment, and one of the team members who accompanied “Will” on her journey to the United Arab Emirates.
Jaidah explained to delegates at the ecoQ conference: “The Pearl-Qatar’s Environmental Affairs team contacted us to assist in Will’s rehabilitation. After treatment in Doha and later at a specialised facility in Dubai, it was decided by the Ministry of Environment and UDC to establish a turtle sanctuary encompassing education and research at The Pearl-Qatar to care for turtles with conditions like Will.
“Facilities at The Pearl-Qatar’s state-of-the-art sanctuary will include an aquarium, touch pools for marine life, turtle hatchery, rearing pools and wet and dry treatment labs,” Jaidah added.
“This project primarily embraces programmes of injured turtle treatment and rehabilitation, nest protection, research and education while providing a visitor attraction. Education is a key component and emphasis will be placed on learning, whether it’s a child understanding of the life cycle of a sea turtle or a PhD student researching marine conservation in the Middle East.”