Protecting Arabian oryx and gazelles through education and legislation

Saudi Arabian Community: Problems and Solutions

The Saudi Arabian Community: Current Issues and Proposed Solutions

There are many problems affecting the Saudi Arabian community today. The said problems could be political, cultural, economic, or even environmental. This text concerns itself with a problem of an environmental nature. Two of the animals currently under threat of extinction in Saudi Arabia are the Arabian Oryx and the Saudi gazelle. Recently, pictures posted on the internet depicting slayed gazelles caused an outrage with most commentators branding the act irresponsible and intolerable (Toumi, 2013). If nothing is done to save the Arabian Oryx and the Saudi gazelle, the ecosystem could suffer great (and perhaps irreversible) damage.

I personally believe that we all have a role to play as we seek to save these two endangered species. It is for this reason that I have in the past shown great interest in this particular subject. Recently, I was selected to participate in the Saudi Tanzanian Youth Dialogue forum where the theme was Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation. The forum lasted for a total of 10 days. During this time, I was in charge of a group that penned a bilateral letter to be sent to both the Tanzanian President and the King of Saudi. Under my leadership, the group came up with a number of suggestions that if taken into consideration, could help protect the two species identified herein.

Proposed Solutions

2. Updating Laws and Legislations

The relevance of tougher anti-poaching laws cannot be overstated. Currently, the penalties in place for those caught engaging in poaching are not strict enough to counter determined poachers. Indeed, some of the laws currently in place have been in existence for decades. No meaningful changes have been made to take into account modern motivations for poaching. In that regard therefore, it was our opinion that tougher anti-poaching laws will deter poachers and hence help save the two endangered species identified in this text.

3. Promote Volunteer Work

The move to fully restore the two endangered species could prove expensive. It is for this reason that the stakeholders actively involved in this initiative must come up with creative solutions to bring down costs. Already, both the Saudi and Tanzanian governments are actively involved in other costly initiatives to uplift the living standards of the masses. The relevance of bringing on board volunteers in this noble mission to restore the two endangered species cannot therefore be overstated.

4. Involve Local Community in Decision Making

According to Thouless, et al. (as cited in Vincent, 2008, P. 273), "perhaps one of the surest ways of guaranteeing freedom from poaching is to employ local tribesmen as rangers." This point-of-view seems to have its basis on the fact that local communities are well versed on the various challenges facing them, and therefore it would be prudent to involve them in efforts to eradicate these challenges. Once locals are sensitized on the harmful effects of poaching gazelles and Oryx through education and awareness creation, they could become good ambassadors of environmental preservation and conservation.