Mohamed Bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund Makes Its Mark At World Energy Congress With Raptor Electrocution Awareness Drive

The Mohamed Bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund (MBZRCF), an action-orientated organisation committed to conserving and restoring raptors and their habitats as valuable elements of biodiversity, made its mark at the recent World Energy Congress in Abu Dhabi, engaging the world’s energy sector elite on the electrocution threat facing raptors worldwide.

As the only conservation entity participating at the Congress featuring some of the biggest names in energy and more than 4,000 industry professionals, MBZRCF informed Congress delegates and attendees on the electrocution threats facing raptors, with millions of birds electrocuted annually around the world, and the urgent need to develop global solutions to ensure modern power distribution infrastructure is bird-safe.

The Fund showcased its pilot project in Mongolia where more than 4,000 Saker falcons are electrocuted each year due to above ground power distribution lines. Earlier this year, MBZRCF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism to collaborate in encouraging the relevant authorities and electricity companies to remodel the existing electricity distribution network and prevent the electrocution of Saker falcons and other birds.

The Saker falcon is currently listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and classified as vulnerable in the Mongolian Red List of Birds.

“We are an action-orientated organisation and the World Energy Congress gave us the platform to take action and reach out to the key decision makers in the world of energy and those who can help us make a difference in our efforts to eradicate this growing threat to falcons across the world,” said His Excellency Majid Al Mansouri, Managing Director of MBZRCF.

“Our work in Mongolia gave congress delegates insight into our efforts to save falcons and visualise what can be done. It helped us start the conversation on further collaborations across the world with CSR leaders, NGOs and major power companies.”

With MBZRCF attracting attention during the four-day Congress, the Fund was able to start dialogue for a major global raptor conservation conference in the first quarter of 2020.

MBZRCF was founded in Aril 2018 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Price of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, develop solutions to key global challengers facing raptors. The Fund works to action and facilitate global programmes that support the conservation and restoration of raptors and their habitats as valuable elements of biodiversity.