There are 1 983 endangered species among the 16 119 classified as threatened over the 44 838 living species of the planet, according to the ranking made by international scientists.
Today, there are 784 extinct species, and 65 are still there thanks to their being captive. The extinction rate is thus from 100 to 1000 times above average, because, most of all, of the impact of human activities.
"During our life, hundredth of species could disappear because of our very actions, which constitutes a dreadful warning sign on the health of the ecosystems where they live" says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Head director of the IUCN, who has just published during the World Congress of Nature of Barcelona (Spain) this very alarming red list, on October 6th.

This is a way for international scientists to warn us. It is a genuine review lead by the experts of the survival commission of the IUCN which deals with thousands of species and subspecies. It represents, according to Holly Dublin, the president of this commission,
the "international golden norm" to follow properly the status of
safeguard in the whole wide world. This latest red list of October 2008 (1) is, among others, the most comprehensive evaluation of the mammals of the planet marking 3,5 billion years of evolution. It confirms the crisis. One species out of four could disappear, that is 11 141 species over the 5487 existing mammals !

It answers essential questions for everyone such as:
To what extent a specified species is threatened?
By what?
How many endangered species are there in a precise area of the world?
How many species did disappear?

With the system of the red list of the IUCN, each species or subspecies is classified into one of the following categories :
EX - Extinct, EW - Extinct in the Wild, CR - Critically Endangered,
EN - Endangered, VU - Vulnerable, LR/cd - Lower Risk/conservation dependent, NT - Near Threatened (includes LR/nt - Lower Risk/near threatened), DD - Data Deficient, LC - Least Concern (includes LR/lc - Lower Risk, least concern).

This classification is made throughout five criterions that constitute the core of the system : decline rate, total population, area of occurrence, area of occupation, degree of population and
clustering of the repartition.
It is in order to warn the international community and public opinion that the IUCN published a list of endangered mammals, with the help of the different ecological organisations. It is not about unknown animals or pseudo monsters living in remote areas. It is about mammals, just like mankind! Our cousins, "our friends", as it is often said. We have to take care of them very quickly.

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is critically endangered. There are between 84 and 143 adults and it is still declining because of the lack of its essential prey, the European rabbit, which is also threatened.
The Père David's dear (Elaphurus davidianus) is extinct in the wild. It come from China, and its reintegration in the wild is considered because the dears living in captivity managed to reproduce.
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is one of the 450 endangered species. A decline of more of 60% of its world population in the last decade got it from "least concern" to
"endangered".
The Fishing cat of South Eastern Asia (Prionailurus viverrinus) is endangered as well. It is because of the destruction of its habitat in wet areas. Alike is the Caspian seal (Pusa caspica), the population of which diminished of 90% in the last century because of non-sustainable hunting.
The Grey-Faced Sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis) is "Vulnerable". It was discovered this year in two very flammable forests of the mounts Udzungwa in Tanzania.
It is thus the destruction of their habitats that affect almost half of the mammals of the planet. This is a very strong phenomenon in Central and Southern America, In Eastern and Central Africa, in Madagascar and in Southern and South-Eastern Asia. Notwithstanding excessive out takings - following illegal goals - that contribute to the disappearance of great mammals, in South-Eastern Asia, or in certain regions of Africa and South America. Not to mention wars…

"The more we wait, the more it will cost us to prevent species from disappearing in the future" pinpoints Jane Smart, Head director of the Program of Species of the IUCN. "Currently, we know which species are threatened, what those threats are, and where they are: There are no excuses left for us to be passive. And as soon as you start being active, excellent news come along : 5% of species recovered thanks to harmonised operations of
safeguard. The Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) turned from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered" after a successful reintegration in the Fishland Wildlife Service of the United States, in eight states of Western America and in Mexico between 1991 and 2008 !
Along with that, the Wild Horse (Equus ferus) turned from "extinct in the wild " to "critically endangered" because the current growth of important population of Austral and Eastern Africa is compensating the possible decline of other territories.

Moreover, other issues linked to the History of mankind exist. The introduction of species has always played a major part as regards the production of food or the pollination of the cultures and the biological control of the insects which devastate the crops.
Today, we must realise that the species that were introduced got overwhelming and put indigenous ecosystems in jeopardy.
Alongside, modern transportation has abolished the natural bio-geographical borders, making species - parasites, pathogens - move in new habitats in which they multiply.
The issue is of a major importance in the islands where the species and ecosystems which have evolved in total isolation are, more than anywhere, vulnerable to these predators. It is now admitted that it is one of the most serious threats for the sake of Mankind, of the economy, and of the environment in areas that are usually very poor.

"To have an influence on the societies of the whole wide world, to encourage them and help them so that they keep the integrity and the diversity of nature, and make sure that any use of natural resources is fair and ecologically sustainable". This is the goal of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is considered as the major worldwide NGO dedicated to a goal. It is located in Gland, near Geneva (Switzerland).

It was created in 1948 by a small group of hardcore defenders of nature. It is based on the fact that the sake of Mankind is interlinked with the health of the environment (Declaration of Fontainebleau). Its obvious strength lies within the number, the diversity, the skills and the actions of its 1104 members : 84 states, 111 public bodies, 874 national and international NGOs and 35 affiliated, present in 147 countries working for sustainability.
The IUCN often helps government in the elaboration of laws and policies, by providing them with trustable tools. It supports international conventions, the bodies of the UN, companies and the local communities in their quest for proper practices. Thanks to the force committed, it leads the progress of the safeguard of nature aiming at sustainable development. As a consequence, it manages everywhere thousands of field projects, throughout the mobilization of the bodies offering the resources, the formation and the follow-up of the results.
The Union also intervenes as a consultative and referent body for the World Heritage committee for the study of the introduction of natural sites in the World Heritage list, along with the evaluation of the state of their conservation.

It was at the origin, this year, of a new tool, the red list index (sampled approach), or SRLI, which will allow us to get a comprehensive overall review of the safeguard of the species
of the planet, alike, in a way, a survey of voters which enables to know the trend of an election. In the future, the SRLI will also classify other less known groups such as coleopterons, molluscs, fungus, lichens, and a certain number of vegetal species.

The congress of Barcelona focused on a program that sounds like a creed : "build a sustainable future" ! It will start in between 2009 and 2012.
The conservation of biodiversity is central in it, and it articulates in four thematic areas :
1. The integration of the considerations and possibilities linked to biodiversity In the political world and the actions relative to climate change.
2. The creation of energetic systems which are ecologically sustainable, fair, and efficient.
3. The improvement of the means of existence, the reduction of poverty and vulnerability, and the reinforcement of human and environmental security throughout a sustainable management of resources.
4. The integration of the values of conservation of the ecosystems in the economic policies, finances and markets.

The loss of biological diversity is one of the most urgent crisis on a worldwide level, and the condition of resources a big part of human life is based on worries more and more searches.
In each of the areas revealed by the IUCN in its congress, there is the will to help he community to make the strategic choices that are the most relevant, in correlation with active and different partners. It contributes to the progress of conservation and biodiversity alongside worldwide policy, most precisely the objectives of the millennium for development, as defined in 2000 by the UN.
The first "climatic" part of its action : a management tool to cope with projects about the means of sustainable existence and the handling of the environment has just been created : it is called CRISTAL (Community-based Risk Screening Tool - Adaptation and Livelihoods).
At the heart of the matter, the reefs of the coral, which are amongst the most threatened submarine ecosystems because of climate change, along with their population which lives and earns a living thanks to it. An initiative, called " The reefs of the coral and means of existence", in partnership with the UNEP, is being established in Southern Asia.
Another project, "Mangroves for the future", focuses on the action and the investment in the safeguard of the ecosystems standing for the essential substructure for the sustainable development of the littoral and the protection of its populations (3)
There are many partners with the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP), which started in 1997. Since then, scientists, economists, jurists, sociologists, conservation specialists and
resources managers have been working together to solve the urgent problem of the negative effects of Invasive species, which is a genuine threat for the insular and worldwide biological
diversity.
The creed of the IUCN is necessary, more than ever : "A fair world which magnifies and saves nature". We need to fully understand it, as we are the inhabitants of the world, as we can use our influence on governance, whether it be on a regional or worldwide level.
May 11th was chosen as the "day for endangered species" by the Congress of the United-States in order to encourage Americans to be more aware. Shouldn't we follow up to that initiative and keep a wide open eye on our planet. This way, it will offer a more sustainable future.

Those new emerging countries represent an important part on the chessboard of international relationship even if they are no homogenous group. Their situations, their problems, and their challenges are often different. However, countries such as Brazil, India or China, are, because of their economic and demographic importance, a genuine challenge for the world governance. The emergence of those countries, whether it be on the diplomatic, economic or commercial scene, leads to a upheaval of the game of multilateral relationships. Those countries are described as developing countries by the international community, and thus liven up the traditional frame of multilateral relationships between developed countries, in particular amidst the international institutions (UN, WTO, IMF). The growing involvement of those emerging countries among those organisations now constitutes an unavoidable reality that the industrialized countries are to handle.
This new situation concerns all domains, influences all the issues that have been the core of international relationships for several year, and most precisely the environmental issues.

To illustrate my point, I will evoke three sites that pinpoint the more and more preponderant role of the emerging countries in this process of restoration of the world governance in the environmental domain : the climatic change, the project of an international environmental governance, and, eventually, the rewriting of the rules of international Trade.

As you all know, the 13th conference of the parties of the Climate Convention and the third meeting of the parties of the Kyoto protocol were held in December 2007 in Bali. The main issue of that conference was to boost negotiations about the reinforcement of the climate regime after 2012. Since the Conference of the parties of Nairobi of 2006, encouraging improvements have been made, but they are still too limited.

There are two reasons that can help explaining this restraint. First of all, one element which is highly linked to the still resentful position of the American administration. But a second element, perhaps not as well known, but as important, is linked to the resentment of emerging countries to undergo new constraints because of the climatic change within the frame of a multilateral regime. Of course, their position about the climatic change issue, and more precisely on the post 2012 future of the Kyoto protocol still remains heterogeneous. Strong divergences of appreciation remain between countries such as South Africa or Mexico who seems to be open, and countries such as China and India the priority of which is obviously their economic growth, added to that they don't want to bear the burden of the historical
responsibility of the climate dissoluteness in industrialized countries. Moreover, they resent the very idea of committing to the constraint of a multilateral regime that would lead to a redcing of their gas effluence entailing greenhouse effect.

In this context, the biggest industrialized countries along with new emerging countries don't have the choice and must find common responsible grounds. If they don't unite to deal with common objectives, they won't clearly get involved in a process of negotiation, and all the post Kyoto area will thus be questioned. It is compulsory that a dialogue is established between industrialized and emerging countries about the solutions to prevent climatic dissoluteness from growing bigger.
In the very handling of this process, industrialized countries, and most precisely the UN, ought to accept their responsibility and to bring concrete answers to the expectancies of emerging countries, whether it be on the issues of technology transfers, on the putting into place and the reinforcement of relevant tools and policies, and on deforestation. Only the development of new incentive tools, for those new emerging countries that are still able to save their environmental capital, will answer their expectancies.

France will be part of the creation of a necessary consensus in order to find reliable and bearable solutions for emerging countries. She aims at bringing all its contribution, with the support of the members of the EU, during the conference of Poznan that will be held under the Presidency of the EU in December 2008 to commit in a constructive way the
emerging countries to the creation of a new post Kyoto regime.

The second site in which emerging countries are to play a determining role is the one of the rewriting of and Environmental International Governance (EIG). France has already been working for several years on the reinforcement and the improvement of an international environmental governance. The project of an international environmental organization, within the UN system, shows it well. This project, which is supported by the EU, aims at creating a global environmental organization within the UN that would be built on the basis of the current PNUE. Its objective is to reinforce the capacities of development of those
countries and to help creating a more coherent international environmental action. In respect to that, a better international environmental governance is of course appealing to emerging countries, as soon as its target is to support those countries in the constructions of their own
national development policies.
Obviously, the definition of a new international environmental governance that could see the light of day as a UNE still raises many questions within industrialized countries like the US or Russia. Moreover, emerging countries see in that very project a possible restraint to their development. However, those positions are not definitive, and the latest meetings dedicated to this issue show that spirits are evolving. If India and Brazil previously resented this principle, other emerging countries such as South Africa or Pakistan are now being a lot more open on the debate over the content of such a GEI.

The meeting of Rio, which was organized by Brazil and South Africa in September 2007 with the main agents of international environmental governance and sustainable development clearly showed that emerging countries were willing to commit to the rewriting of a new environmental governance. It is obvious that in the years to come, a strong new environmental body, within the UN, will only be made possible with the support of the emerging countries that are the main actors of the environmental issues that are about to emerge.

A third site in which emerging countries are to play a more and more important role within a world governance deals with the definition of new rules in the domain of international trade. It is true that the WTO, as a specialized international organization, doesn’t pretend to directly deal with environmental issues. This said, commercial and environmental policies ought not to be defined in separate ways. To prove that,environment is inherent to the work planning of the WTO and it constitutes a major component of the cycle of negotiations of Doha. The "trade and environment" relationship is thus fully apart of the general frame of the international environmental governance, as it deals with making commercial and
environmental issues more coherent in order to deal with the environmental problems in a global perspective, whether it be as regards the diminishing of the biological diversity or
climatic change.

Everyone knows that the Program in favour in development that was launched in 2001 in Doha aimed at contributing to the reestablishment of the balance of the World trade system in favour of countries in development. In that perspective, emerging countries as important as Brazil, China or India intend to play a central part in the bringing into play of that Program of Development.

The influence of those countries in the cycle of negotiations is very important as they represent the areas where the quickest economy growths in the world are. Obviously, it is in their interest to get to a multilateral agreement within the WTO in order to make the market of the whole wide world more open, as regards goods and services. A primary international
commercial and political issue is here at stake, and emerging countries intend to push down on it with all their weight.

Global governance” is a new concept combining the integration of each country on the world and the transparent and efficient management of their politics, economy and culture.
A new concept indeed, but it is a concept that, since their creation in 1971, the United Arab Emirates did not wait to tie to their ships, flying regional or international flags, in order to establish their
country in the world and participate, by all means, to the peace and harmony that are necessary to the human development of talent and synergies.
Ever since 1971, Sheikh Zayed, the late Founder of the United Arab Emirates Federation, had laid the political, economic and cultural groundwork that would later define his country’s image and role in the Gulf region and in the world.

The UAE developed their political relations based on three
controlled axes.
The first one is the Gulf region, meaning the geographic area that is the anchor of the country; then, the pan-Arab axis concerns the Arab countries that are located further away, most of them located at the West of the Emirates; finally, the international axis that shines from the East to the West and the North to the South, due to the centrally strategic position of this dynamic and enterprising country.
In this Gulf region, in 1981, the UAE were the first founding
members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is today working for a peaceful solution of the Yemenite problem. The GCC is composed of six countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and UAE) and it is a kind of customs and monetary Common Market that also includes Defense agreements. The
institution has already signed agreements with the European Union, which has been a model for them in several respects. However, the issue is highly political: because of its strategic
geographic location, the Gulf Cooperation Council is a
counterweight for stability and dialogue fighting the volatility that sometimes takes over this region and encapsulates it in a rugged game of interests.
The pan-Arab dimension of the UAE politics is much more difficult to assume, because, by definition, it involves relations with all the Arab countries, without exception, and those are not always on the same wavelength when it comes to interests and political polarization. Moreover, the major partners of these 22 countries of the Arab League, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran, do not share the same vision on the solutions to the problem of Palestine, for example, or the ones in Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan…

However, in all cases, the UAE stay true to their peaceful and moderate purpose. For example, they would like it that all the countries in the region give up their weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and sign a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, including Israel, thus hoping that every country, even Iran, would allow access to the IAEA to inspect their nuclear facilities.
In the same vein, we must realize that all the countries of the Gulf, taken as a whole, are extremely fragile and feel the threat of their neighbor, Iran, especially since it was not content with having materials to build nuclear weapons and removing its program and facilities from any foreign control, Iran often interferes in the domestic policies of its neighbors, trying to destabilize them by supporting their enemies and infiltrating their territories. Bahrain is a clear example of this. Authorities have often accused Teheran of interfering with their domestic affairs. The same situation happens in Kuwait (Iranian diplomats were deported, being accused of espionage).
Regarding the United Arab Emirates in particular, their dispute with Iran gets heavier when taking into account the occupation since November 29th 1971 – three days before the proclamation of the United Arab Emirates on December 2nd – of the three UAE islands of Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tumb. For many years, the UAE have sought a peaceful solution to this problem. They have first proposed a direct dialogue, then the arbitration of the International Court of Hague, but they have met a blunt receive. Nevertheless, they continue their quest to peacefully solve the situation, especially since their strategy has always been to count on good-neighborly relations, without trying to shadow the issues they have to deal with. This is also the strategy that is the cornerstone of the UAE policy regarding the Lebanon
situation – a country that they have helped a lot – and that of Palestine.

The UAE’s participation to the major international bodies such as the UN, UNESCO, OECD, modulates and shapes their relationship with other countries: with France first, its privileged partner, but also with the United States, India, China, Pakistan, Russia. Within the UN, the country takes part in the fight against international
terrorism and the peaceful resolution – and if necessary military resolution – of the crises that wreak havoc around the world. One only has to reflect upon the current Libyan crisis that is currently heating up the entire Mediterranean region and splits up international bodies.
The UAE’s stability and dynamism, which might seem oxymoronic, but in fact are just each other’s reward, make this country a model of the region. And its warm relationship with France on all levels of cooperation – fact explaining the numerous visits of the presidents and ministers, especially those of justice and defense – make it
a sought after partner and representative of the Arab world in
the Western countries. This is to prove that it is not the size of a
country that makes its influence in the world. In an interview with Message des Emirats in June 2005, Hervé de Charrette analyzed it like this: “The UAE’s influence essentially comes from the values they preach, the energy they operate, the talent of the people who live there and their leaders’ capabilities”. This capability was seen since 1971 when the Emirates were created: a country needs a vision, an ambitious vision, and a recognized existence. This vision and this existence cannot be achieved in a world like the one we have today without adhering to the major values of the UN and its many Agencies.
The Emirates have signed the major international conventions on Human Rights (abolition of slavery and torture, etc.) and became permanent members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that has a mission of proposing a peaceful settlement of international conflicts. The UAE are also members of the Red Crescent, the Oriental equivalent of the Red Cross, and the UN declared that its UAE agency was “its best ally in the region”. It distinguishes oneself through the vaccination campaigns ($5 million budget), the means of support and education for orphans in Syria and Gaza and relief programs for China, when the major earthquake in Sichuan took place. Through its $50 million contribution, it is
one of the ten major countries of the ICRC regarding the sums dedicated to emergency relief programs.

The UAE’s quiet generosity is also to be seen in economic matters, coupled with official actions within regional structures such as the OPEC, or international ones like the OECD, the WTO, and its
participation to the major summits on liberalism and globalization, such as the G8, the G20, etc.
Generosity comes first: through loans and donations, for several years, the UAE has helped countries in need, especially those in Africa like Somalia and Sudan, which have often benefited from their help. Some of the resources created by hydrocarbons and the major industrial complexes such as the DWP are dedicated to helping the countries that are going through difficult times.
In 1967, the UAE adhered to the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which is made up of six members and
organizes export quotas. Then, in 1968, it became member of the
11 country pan-Arab version of the OPEP, OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries), with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Libya, later joined by Algeria, Egypt, Qatar, Syria, Bahrain, Iraq and Tunisia. The OPAEC coordinates the member states’ oil policies in order to achieve global consistency.

Internationally speaking, in addition to participating to all the major Organizations, the UAE implemented a diversification policy of their economy, having long ago included the “post-oil” notion, coupled with a diversification of their partnerships. As well as in the diplomatic field, France is a leading exporter to the UAE even if it has recently lost the new-generation nuclear plant market of the EPR, which was offset by the purchase of 45 Airbus A 380 planes, among which 2 freighters for Emirates Airlines and 28 for Etihad Airlines, making the UAE the main client of A 380 and of all Airbus products. Additionally, also
part of commercial trade between the two countries are the
following sectors: healthcare, food, chemistry, IT, luxury
products, information and communication, retail, tourism,
services and environment.
Follow next Russia and India (only a four hour flight away), then the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, Singapore and Switzerland. Concerning re-exports, especially in the textile sector coming from Asia through the port of Dubai, the UAE export them to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
The creation of free zones in Sharjah, Ras al Khaima, Ajman, Fujairah, besides the ones of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports, provides UAE economic partners exceptional import, treatment and export conditions.
Moreover, major building sites bring in experts from around the world, especially in the sustainable development field. The city of MASDAR, with its “zero carbon, zero waste” motto, challenges the entire world. Researches, climatologists, geologists, chemists, agronomists from all around the world, led by the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), SET up camp around this future city that will be based on geothermal and solar energy, wind power, desalination of seawater, biofuel for cooling or heating, fueling or cleaning this experimental city that is destined for 45 000 people and is currently being built. This type of building project will become a model for the Gulf region, but also for all emerging countries that will decide to rely on low cost new energies, and this initiative to reduce emissions through the recuperation of wastewater and CO2 recycling is in complete accordance with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.

To reward these incredible efforts, the international community unanimously decided to SET up the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The UAE capital is also the home to the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) headquarters, created in 1976, and which includes all of the Arab League countries. It performs the same way as the IMF, working for the promotion of commerce in Arab countries, granting loans with variable rates and for variable durations, according to the economic imbalances of the recipient
countries.
The UAE are the second largest exporter to Arab countries (13.3% of their exports) and play an essential role in the creation
of a major Arab free-trade zone (300 million people). In this
respect, they’ve started negotiations with India, Pakistan, China and the EU in order to SET up even larger free-trade zones.
To continue on the international arena, the UAE are mart of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1996. They are open to a liberal approach to multilateral commercial negotiations, while respecting the emerging countries’ interests, and they have started a process of compliance of their legislation to the WTO rules. In 1975, they’ve signed their adhesion to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which concerns the enforcement of industrial patents defined by the Paris Convention and the 2004 Rome and Berne Convention on copyright.
The UAE are also concerned by food security. To share other countries’ experience, warnings, alerts and know-how, the UAE adhered to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and to the Codex Alimentarius. This covers public health,
inspection of food imports and their outlets, imports of live
animals, labeling and expiration dates, even if sometimes they have to slightly enlarge the scope of their investigation from the norm due to climate and religious standards.
The UAE Federation is also ranked by the UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) as the second most qualified Arab country to attract foreign capital and it is 17th on a 100 country list.
But all these figures, all these achievements and their belonging to international organizations wouldn’t mean anything if they wouldn’t serve a greater purpose: the UAE citizen, open to the world, able to take advantage of these times, to solve conflicts and to use efficient communication technologies.

With this idea in mind, ever since the UAE’s creation, Sheikh Zayed has focused on education and culture. As part of this article dedicated to the UAE’s involvement in world governance,
it is not the education system per se that we are going
to analyze, by the way that the Federation prepared, starting
with an almost tabula rasa, to raise the knowledge and the
culture of the country to the highest levels by twinning with
institutions, universities and museums, in order to share their know-how and expertise.
This statement leads us to deal with culture from three points of view: first, within the UNESCO, then, within the twinning
between universities and prestigious museums.
The UAE delegation to the UNESCO, headed by his Excellency Abdulla Al-Nueaimi, expert in education sciences, has not
waited a long time to prove its value, we might say imitating the style of the Cid! It actively takes part in every one of the six commissions that compose the international Agency: information, sustainable development, education, environment, culture and heritage. In this field, the UAE are considered pioneers of the intangible heritage of humanity. Even before the French
cuisine was added to the list, the UAE art of falconry inaugurated to listing of the rankings of this category. These birds are part of the life and wealth of the UAE and it is not surprising that the country is member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and that some areas are already protected by this Agency. With Great Britain, the Emirates
initiated and signed the International Protocol for the protection of African, European and Asian birds of prey.
Some other sites, this time of the more material kind, are already classified by UAE heritage agencies, waiting to be part of the big league. Sea beds and fauna and flora reserves
stretching out on several thousands of hectares are protected by each concerned Emirate. For example, in Abu Dhabi, the Environment Agency (EAD) classified the Island of Sanaliyah as UAE heritage, as there are mangroves, mudflats and channels to be discovered there; the marine sanctuary of Alyssat has been classified as well due to its corals, fish and rare turtles; the Sir Baniyas park is an offshore haven for migratory birds and the Al-Wathaba sanctuary welcomes every season over 220 species.
Still concerning nature, the Hajar Mountains is classified due to its endangered wildlife; the Dubai Conservation Reserve (DPCR) protects the 650.000 km2 of dunes in the Rub al Khali desert (Empty Quarter).
Historic building such as the wind towers and forts in Fujarah, the old souks, the Art District and the Heritage Quarter in Sharjah, some neighborhoods in Dubai like Al Shindaha, the White Fort and the Al Jahili Fort in Al Ain (restored by UNESCO international standards by using period materials), are also protected and often, when it comes to the buildings, they have been transformed into museums of regional heritage open to the public.
Add to that the important archeological discoveries of recent years, when international teams unearthed burial sites and building remains dating back to the Neolithic era.
Needless to say that the UAE are refining their projects to obtain the much coveted “Heritage of humanity” label awarded by the UNESCO.
This proclaimed desire to protect the wonders of their heritage is coupled with the implementation of a twinning policy with the leading museums and universities of the world, allowing thus the training of UAE intellectual elites, but also to attract the most intelligent people to work on the “post-oil” period, as we have seen in the case of the pilot city of MASDAR

This policy of international openness rests primarily, and it is obvious to do for any country wishing to gain power on the international scene, on the compulsory training of the youth in foreign languages, first and foremost in English and French, and their study on-site if necessary. This is a decision in accordance with the United Nations Programme for Development (UNDP), whose new concept – a society of knowledge, divided into a society of know-how and a society of information – can only become reality by cooperating with qualified partners.
Among the prestigious universities that are located in the UAE, we can mention Saint Joseph University in Lebanon, which created three sections: a translation and interpreting school, whose value is recognized worldwide, an actuarial school and a teaching school; the Sorbonne offers Bachelor and Master degrees in art and archeology, history and geography, literature, philosophy, law and music, coupled with conferences of the Collège de France; American universities in Sharjah and Dubai; the Australian university of Wollongong, the University of Edinburgh in Dubai, dedicated to research; the already mentioned MIT for tech studies applied to sustainable development. Students are also sent to study at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris to be trained as curators, experts, designers, restorers, in a nutshell, all the careers turning around exhibiting pieces to the public.

All this creates a perfect connection toward the Island of Saadiyat, a center for museums, as eight museums are about to be finished there: the Abu Dhabi Louvre, under the leadership of Jean Nouvel; the Guggenheim, under the direction of Frank Ghery; the maritime museum, part of which will be under water, led by Tadao Ando; the Center for Performing Arts (including an opera house, a concert hall, a ballet school) directed by the British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. Korean, Chinese, Russian and UAE architects will be in charge of 19 other pavilions of this unique complex that will only be able to compete with the Insel Museum in Berlin.
International agreements have already been signed to SET Abu Dhabi on the path of traveling exhibits and for loans of artwork from the Hermitage, the Pushkin and the Tretiakov in Russia, the Louvre of course, but also Versailles and Fontainebleau, the Picasso museum, the Rodin, the Guimet, in France; as for experts recruitment, agreements are signed with Italy, Germany and France.
In this artistic cooperation treaty with France it is included to train museum personnel, as the Rockefeller did for Versailles during the World Wars and the UAE are offering France a financial contribution for the restoration of national heritage sites. For example, the Fontainebleau castle will be financed with
€ 40 million for the restoration of the Napoleon III theatre, and in a second part, the French gardens that are currently barely surviving are going to be upgraded. To show their attachment to France and to Heritage, the restoration of the first floor of the Pavilion de Flore of the Louvre will be funded.
More than a national program, this is an international project that the UAE decided to lead by focusing both on the harmonizing of the world through a cultural bridge policy, and on their image as a model able to cooperate with any culture, especially in the Western world, staying Oriental at the same time, far away from prejudice, sectarian behavior and all clichés. They aim to reach within the best and noblest qualities of Man, as the Renaissance had defined.

Politics, economy and culture, all derive from the UAE vision of the future: no country should live outside the world. Taking part in peace culture and tolerance through education and art is part of the UAE ambitions and those of the UNESCO. And if the UAE take their deserved position within global governance, it will mean that they knew, ever since their creation, to be recognized by the
leading UN agencies that work together for the advent of a society based on justice, tolerance and creativity.

Fouad Bou mansour
Political scientist specializing in the Gulf region