Does anybody agree? And I also feel like many of the observations are incorrect. But I don’t know I’m new to the website.
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Yes, there definitely is a lack of observations in the UAE and most of the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Central Asia. Which is a shame, because there’s a ton of biodiversity in those areas. If you live in the UAE, please consider sharing iNaturalist with your friends and family—some of them may really enjoy it, and it would help get more observations on the map.
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Libya was also an empty space on the iNat map. But now much more active. UAE is hugely much more
We need observers - whether they are local or tourists
Identifiers - can be taxon specialists from across the world
Trying to fill in the empty spaces on the iNat map (cannot find it - there was an iNat blog post about empty squares on the world map).
Along the Mediterranean coast is well supported. Further South - less people and less obs.
18 obs from Gaza
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/low-growth-countries-and-territories
30K obs from UAE in Needs ID https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=low-growth-countries-and-territories&place_id=7359
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One of the squares in Xinjiang filled in recently! If I had money and knew how to get there, I’d like to fill in the two remaining squares in western China.
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I’m glad to be in a big country with all the squares filled, even when you zoom in!
When I was fortunate to go to Saudi Arabia last year, I had a long layover in Dubai – Mushriff Park was AMAZING!!!
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Actually, it is not surprising that there is little observational data from the territory of Libya and the Gaza Strip.
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For Gaza - I am amazed for EVERY single recent obs.
When we ran this project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mission-impossible-identify-plantae-in-africa I struggled to find a token plant obs for Libya. I see 9 countries there, for which I couldn’t find a token plant obs. Between wars, and the Sahara desert or dense rain forest - iNat not a priority
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I can’t speculate on why iNaturalist is not popular in Libya beyond general economic and war issues, but FWIW I’ve heard it’s incredibly difficult to get a Libya tourist visa.
I feel like there’s a lack of human rights and thus incentives to visit and identify within such a country, does anyone else agree?
There are also traditional Islamic prohibitions against depictions of humans or animals, which some extend to photography.
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I agree that there are not many obs from UAE but during a couple of days stop-over in August last year, we added 89 obs of 52 species. We thoroughly recommend the Ras Al Khor bird hides. They are air-conditioned (bliss on a hot day) and when we visited they had a caretaker who was interested in birds - we pointed him to eBird and Merlin and iNaturalist.
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I would personally like to visit places like North Korea and Afghanistan, but there are severe practical issues with visas, cost, safety, etc with going there, even if someone has no ethical issues with spending tourist money in those countries.
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A quick look at observations from U.A.E. reveals more biological diversity than I would have expected. Interesting place.
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From all possible reasons for a country to not have many observations, I highly doubt that that would be the main reason. There isn’t a single saintly country in the world; every country is in some way or another involved in human rights issues, exploiting certain demographic groups and their native lands within its own borders or elsewhere, or actively supporting war and war crimes.
A country like UAE not having as many observations as other countries, would probably be because of the fact that most of the country is a scorching hot desert. There is literally almost nothing there but sand. Once, when I was in neighbouring Oman, I drove from a lush mountain range near the coast to a small desert town. Driving for 100 km through nothing but sand and rocks, I only saw one small bird and a few dry plants. This empty desert extends for thousands of kilometres over the Arabian peninsula. That peninsula is huge, but most of it has little to no observations because there is nothing there. It’s for that reason that naturalists mostly only visit the mountain ranges, because that’s where you can find a lot of interesting things.
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Yes, but it also has a coastline and numerous islands, so there are opportunities for marine observations.
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In an extended stopover at the UAE this summer I found it really hard to engage with biological recording due to the heavy policing of the areas and legislation around photography. Maybe different if you pay to go on a dedicated tour, or have a car, but in the city, I was told off in a park simply for photographing an ant with a phone (a security guard recommended I stop as it “looked suspicious”).
Hoping to have more freedom in a nearby mangrove nature reserve, I contacted them ahead of time to confirm if I could use a DSLR but then got told I was only allowed if I had permission from the “customer happiness service” at the environmental agency…who I was forwarded to, but did not hear back from in time.
I was in Abu Dhabi, but you can see similar anecdotes on this Dubai forum, here.
I was told by local biological recorders that there shouldn’t be many problems …so perhaps just a question of knowing where to go, how to go about it and having the confidence to engage with any law enforcement without fear. But it certainly wasn’t comparable to recording in any other places I’ve been globally. I didn’t feel comfortable walking about in the city with a DSLR, I was told by multiple people just to stick to using my phone to be safe.
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https://www.damacproperties.com/en/blog/uae-photography-rules-it-illegal-take-pictures-dubai-2378/
I’d be afraid to be seen in public with a camera.
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Driving. Thru a desert. !!
Is hardly good practice for an iNatter.
Try the Namib Desert 5.6k sp among the sand
People who actively post iNaturalist observations include women, but the U.A.E. and other countries in that area have a terrible reputation for restrictions on independent women who want to go out and enjoy nature, preferably alone. We’re unlikely to visit and residents are unlikely to go outside and explore. That reduces the possible number of observations. (And then there’s the miles of sand issue.)
Of course, there are lots of places where the movement of women is not officially restricted and yet we can’t go because we get harassed or attacked. (Been there, been furious about it.) Or where we get protected to the point of being seriously restricted. (I gave up on going out in the bush alone in the country where I was in Peace Corps because every time I did, the first person/people who found me there would politely accompany me until I got to where there were other people. The kind person would explain that “something bad could happen to me.” The only people did actually threaten me there were drunk young men who would occasionally try to break into my house at night when I was inside, sometimes calling on me to open the door. [So optimistic!] Fortunately, they would try to get though the substantial door or the louvered windows; the walls were a flimsy wood-like substance that even I could probably have kicked a hole in. But I digress.)
I hope that more people, residents and tourists both, (but presumably male) will post observations from U.A.E. and surrounding area, which does have interesting biodiversity, e.g. Hume’s Wheatear – I’d love to see one.
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