Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
As the IUCN World Conservation Congress concluded in Abu Dhabi this week, the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund used the global gathering to bring under-represented species and their advocates from the margins to the mainstream.
With nearly 50 grant recipients on-site and a roster of sessions that tackled some of the most complex challenges in species conservation, its stand became a meeting point for scientists, donors, and community leaders who had travelled from as far as Panama, Nepal, and Guinea to share stories of rare rediscoveries and small victories that add up to something larger.
Nicolas Heard, the Fund's Acting Director-General, said the team came with a set of clear priorities: engaging with all segments of the IUCN community and, through its sessions, creating a platform to open conversations about how philanthropy can better meet the realities of conservation on the ground.
"The congress provided a unique platform for spontaneous interactions, in addition to planned side meetings, leading to innovative and unplanned conversations," he told Aletihad in an interview.
"As a philanthropic funding organisation, we are committed to maintaining our role as an enabler of species conservation in collaboration with other donors and grant recipients. Our focus is on ensuring that funding effectively reaches the hands of practitioners on the ground."
Sharpening the Donor-Recipient Relationship
The Fund led three official sessions at the IUCN congress that sought to encourage donors and practitioners to view each other not as funders and applicants, but as equal partners.
Each probed a different angle of small-grants funding: how to bridge the gap between donor priorities and field needs; how to keep species funding visible amid climate-centric agendas; and how philanthropic models must adapt to new tools, constraints and expectations.
Heard, who moderated all three sessions, described the discussions as refreshingly honest and productive, and pointed out the importance of understanding the realities faced by both grant recipients and donors.
"The opportunity to hear directly from grant applicants and recipients allowed us to gain valuable insights into their concerns, priorities, and needs regarding donor support," he said.
"We made significant progress in exploring various approaches to emerging trends in conservation, such as utilising technology, the emergence of green solutions, innovative funding mechanisms, and promoting relationships between donors and recipients."
In addition to its sessions, the Fund hosted a photo exhibition that celebrated the stories behind its global network of over 3,000 supported projects across 174 countries. The display featured images of species brought back from the edge, from the African manatee and the Mindo harlequin toad to the Plump Bush-Cricket and Spiny Butterfly Ray in the Adriatic - each connected to a grant recipient.
In another highlight of the week, Reverse the Red announced the first-ever winners of its "Accelerator Award", in partnership with the Fund and Synchronicity Earth. Each of the nine selected projects received a $15,000 grant to fast-track their 12-month species recovery plans, along with a suite of other financial, strategic, promotional, and network support.
From the Field to the Floor
Beyond its sessions and exhibitions, the Fund's most visible presence came through the grant recipients it brought into the IUCN spotlight - scientists, researchers, and community organisers working in some of the world's most overlooked ecosystems.
Protecting Species in Central America
For marine scientist Rachel Graham, MBZ Fund support played a key role in advancing work on two critically endangered species - the great hammerhead shark in Belize and the largetooth sawfish in Panama.
"Receiving these grants meant my team and I could undertake the urgent work needed for these critically endangered species," she told Aletihad.
Her team combined fisher surveys with environmental DNA sampling, confirming a remote area in Panama's Darién region as a refuge for sawfish. Indigenous fishers trained through the project have since reported nine captures, all measured, sampled, tagged, and released.
In Belize, the research contributed to the 2020 national net ban, which has since allowed great hammerheads to reappear in local waters.
For scientists like Graham, the IUCN congress serves as "an absolutely key and critical venue" to highlight their stories and inspire hope for other conservationists.
"They not only contextualise discoveries made and successful approaches to conducting the work, but importantly, provide guidance and hope for other species conservation researchers."
Mapping the UAE's Rarest Owl
Closer to home, Sami Ullah Majeed and his team in Fujairah are working to secure the future of one of Arabia's rarest birds - the Omani owl. With new acoustic recorders and camera traps secured through the grant, his team confirmed new distribution sites of a species classified as Critically Endangered in the UAE.
"This grant gave me the means to amplify my efforts, and I can't express how much that means to me," he told Aletihad.
At the congress, he presented the findings during a session titled "Call to Capture - Documenting Owls of Wadi Wurayah", hosted by the UAE Pavilion. Majeed described the opportunity as a "full-circle" moment for a project that had gone from local fieldwork to the international stage.
His advice to other conservationists seeking funding is to focus on the plan and not get intimidated by the process.
"A small, well-executed project - especially one supported by a committed local institution - can create a global ripple effect when backed by the right partners," he said.
The next step for Majeed and his team is to expand monitoring and help develop a national conservation strategy for the species.
Giving Voice to the African Manatee
In West Africa, Lucy Keith-Diagne's research on the African manatee is filling long-standing gaps in understanding one of the continent's most mysterious species.
"The funding we received from MBZ has been transformative," she told Aletihad.
With the Fund's support, her team documented seven new rivers for manatees in Guinea, extending the species' known range by 1,300 km. The project also trained 13 Guinean biologists in research and conservation methods, an investment in local expertise that will outlast any single grant.
For Keith-Diagne, bringing her work to the IUCN congress was about raising the profile of a species that few people know exists.
"This is critically important, because people won't be invested in protecting something they don't know about," she added.
The next milestones for her project include mapping manatee populations isolated by dams and launching the African Manatee Alliance to expand regional collaboration for manatee conservation.
Rediscovering the Spiny Butterfly Ray
For Bosnian researcher Emina Karalić, the MBZF grant marked her entry into conservation leadership. Her focus was the Spiny Butterfly Ray, a species that had not been recorded in the Adriatic Sea in over a century.
"Receiving the MBZ grant was a turning point for me," she told Aletihad.
Her project led to the documentation of 16 individuals, including several gravid females, and revealed that the region is an important habitat for the species' reproduction.
Beyond scientific findings, the grant allowed Karalić to engage local fishing communities, who now assist in identifying and reporting live catches.
For aspiring scientists like Karalić, visibility at the congress offers an opportunity to spotlight lesser-known species.
"For me, global visibility means giving a voice to the species and ecosystems that cannot speak for themselves. Platforms like the IUCN congress transform overlooked species into part of the international conservation agenda," she said.
Karalić now plans to expand surveys into Croatian waters and publish a comprehensive paper to guide future conservation strategies.
Pangolin Protection Through Local Action
Among the youngest grantees at the congress, Tulshi Suwali of Nepal used her MBZ grant to protect the endangered Chinese pangolin through community-led conservation.
"It was a moment of deep gratitude and validation to turn plans into actions for me, to receive a grant from the prestigious MBZ Fund," she told Aletihad.
The grant funded fieldwork, community training, and the extension of the "Pangolin Trail" ecotourism initiative, empowering women as "Pangolin Guardians" and involving school children in habitat protection.
"It connected us to a global network, opening multiple opportunities and doors for collaboration, learning, and exposure," she added.
Suwali said the congress experience, and encounters with leaders such as Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, second-term IUCN President, Managing Director of the MBZF, and Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nature, and Dr. Sylvia Earle, deepened her belief that small actions can drive major change.
The project's next goals are to expand monitoring across key habitats and empower more youth to take ownership of conservation.
