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19 March 2024

Delaija Wildlife Management Centre complete: Musanada

Published
By WAM

The Abu Dhabi General Services Company, Musanada, has completed the AED20.58 million construction and maintenance project of the facilities at the Delaija Wildlife Management Centre, for the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, EAD. The project stretches over a gross area of 520,000 square metres.

Commenting on the announcement, Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, EAD Secretary-General, said, "Managed by EAD, the Delaija Wildlife Management Centre is a unique facility and the first of its kind in the region in terms of its design and size. EAD seeks to use this centre to provide facilities for breeding and protecting endangered wild animals by maintaining sustainable groups through breeding and reintroduction programs in their natural habitat."

"Through this centre that hosts approximately 6,300 animals belonging to four different species, EAD breeds and manages specific endangered groups such as the Arabian Oryx, sand gazelle, mountain gazelle and scimitar-horned Oryx by improving genetic diversity to ensure their sustainability," added Al Mubarak. "Researchers at EAD implement management and breeding plans in a properly scientific and systematic way, in order to form a world herd to be included as part of the local reintroduction programs inside and outside nature reserves as well as the other international programs at the regional level, to help bring animals back to their habitats to live normally after ensuring that all necessary safeguards are in place."

Al Mubarak expressed her hoped that the Delaija Centre would evolve to an outstanding breeding facility comprising a veterinary hospital, an educational centre for raising awareness of the importance of endangered wild animals, "as these are closely linked to our culture and history, which is fully worth being maintained for future generations."

For his part, Suwaidan Rashed Al Dhaheri, Musanada’s Acting CEO, said, "Musanada is engaged in delivery of these projects as part of its efforts to realise Abu Dhabi Vision, striking balance between growth and conservation of the environment and biodiversity, and raising awareness of the importance of and need to conserve the endangered wild species."

"Due to the particular nature of the project, Musanada has implemented highest standards in respect of environmental sustainability requirements, with all the materials used in the project being recyclable, thereby achieving the maximum appropriate environmental requirements," added Al Dhaheri.

He further assured Musanada’s compliance with the directions to deploy creative and sustainable solutions for project delivery in a way that would cater for the full needs of the project within the shortest timeframe while maximizing cost savings, noting that although the original project value according to the contract was AED20.58 million, Musanada managed to save more than AED2.5 million, ultimately leading the project value to amount to AED18.08 million without compromising the project components or the required level of work.

The construction of the Delaija project started in 2010, and is an outstanding breeding and conservation centre, being home for more than 6,000 animals.

Al Dhaheri noted that Musanada managed to overcome the challenges faced during the delivery of the project, on top of which was to develop a design appropriate to the circumstances surrounding endangered animals, including a full study of the daily activity lifecycle at the pens and the immunisation lifecycle of animals against diseases, taking into account the need to create appropriate conditions to ensure maximum safety of animals through the construction methods deployed and the quality of materials used, as well as successfully addressing the several emerging technical challenges.

Al Dhaheri considered the project as an important contribution to the status of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, enhancing its cultural role and leading initiatives at the international level towards protecting, breeding and re-introducing endangered animals, which is highly recognised and appreciated by wildlife stakeholders worldwide.