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25th Sharjah International Conservation Forum for Arabia’s biodiversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2026

Philip Seddon Open the ORCID record for Philip Seddon [Opens in a new window] ,
Helen Senn ,
Gerhard Steencamp ,
Johannes Els ,
David Mallon Open the ORCID record for David Mallon [Opens in a new window] ,
Sarah May  and
Jane Budd
Philip Seddon*
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Helen Senn
Affiliation:
Wild Genes Programme, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
Gerhard Steencamp
Affiliation:
Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Johannes Els
Affiliation:
Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
David Mallon
Affiliation:
Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Sarah May
Affiliation:
Parks and Conservation Service, ACT Government, Canberra, Australia
Jane Budd
Affiliation:
Veterinary Services and Conservation Medicine, Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
*
(philip.seddon@otago.ac.nz)
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Type
Conservation news
Information
Oryx , First View , pp. 1
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International

The 25th annual Sharjah International Conservation Forum for Arabia’s Biodiversity was held at Sharjah Safari, United Arab Emirates, during 2–5 February 2026. This Forum brought together over 150 participants regionally from Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and internationally from Australia, Brazil, India, Germany, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Spain, UK, USA and Vietnam. The Sharjah workshops are hosted by the Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Government of Sharjah, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. The 25th meeting had three parallel themes: marine strandings, invasive alien species, and a global Red List assessment of the sea snakes of the Arabian Peninsula.

The marine stranding theme focused on seabirds, and sought to provide an overview of the status and distribution of key seabird species in the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Sessions looked at rehabilitation programmes and diagnostic necropsy methods, and made further steps towards the formation of a regional marine stranding response network. The invasive alien species theme was facilitated by Kevin Smith and Ana Nunes from the IUCN Invasive Species and Wildlife Health Programme.

The global sea snake Red Listing sessions, facilitated by Philip Bowles, Coordinator of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Snake and Lizard Red List Authority, assessed a total of 71 species. The assessments were also undertaken in cooperation with the IUCN Species Survival Commission Sea Snake Specialist Group, led by Co-chairs Vinay Udyawer and Aaron Savio Lobo, with participation by 18 international experts. The global assessment incorporated regional assessments and highlighted the importance of extending conservation efforts across borders to strengthen conservation action for this understudied group of marine reptiles.

For the second time at the Sharjah Conservation Forum there were dedicated sessions for research students. They had the opportunity to present their work to forum participants in a plenary session, and attended a training workshop that addressed writing and publishing a scientific paper, giving a conference presentation, and communicating research to the wider public by giving media interviews.