Middle Eastern Internship Press Release
On May 16, 2008, the US National Park Service (NPS) joined with organizations, agencies, and others to celebrate the third anniversary of Endangered Species Day, set aside to call attention to the plight of rare plants, wildlife, fish, and invertebrates that are in serious decline throughout the United States and the world.
There are over 1,900 listed threatened and endangered species throughout the world that need conservation and environmental education to remove the human threats to their survival. The NPS Office of International Affairs recently partnered with the Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program to transfer technical knowledge on the management of threatened and endangered species to international park and environmental NGO staff. The State Department has provided a grant for this new initiative. The program will focus on providing assistance to park and NGO staff from the Middle Eastern countries of Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, and Morocco. The NPS Endangered Species Program, part of the Biological Resource Management Division with the Natural Resource Program Center has provided coordination between NPS/DOI and park units.
The internship program is a training opportunity that will enhance the skills of relevant personnel in the region to engage in management of endangered species as well as in education and outreach on endangered species conservation. Selected participants will first travel to Washington, DC for one or two days of introductory training and then will proceed to their hosting national park site for periods lasting from 6 to 11 weeks.
Ms. Khawla Al Muhunnadi from Bahrain, the president of Bahrain’s Environment Friends Society, the main environmental NGO, was the first to arrive to participate in the program. After completing an introductory session in Washington, DC, Khawla flew down to Biscayne National Park. During an 11 week internship, she will participate in endangered sea turtle conservation efforts at the park and will learn about other aspects of park management.
Two interns from Jordan arrived on May 29, 2008 to participate in the program . Mohammad al Otoum, an ecologist and forest researcher for a Jordanian NGO named the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, will be interning at Mojave National Preserve to learn about desert tortoise conservation. Jamal al Zaidaneen, head of nature conservation for the Wadi Rum protected area in Jordan, will be at Death Valley National Park studying the desert pupfish.
While at parks, the interns will work with NPS mentors on endangered species programs. There are plans to place additional interns at parks in September. Internship travel, per diem, and orientation costs are covered by the State Department grant, with national park units contributing mentorship and housing.
The NPS internship program helps the NPS accomplish its mission of extending the benefits of natural and cultural conservation throughout this country and the world.
News from the World Commission on Protected Areas
Read the latest updates from the IUCN - World Conservation Union's World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the major international organization dedicated to the management and protection of national parks and other protected areas.