Center for International and Regional Studies

“Great economic benefits can be gained from ecological development,” says author Renee Richer.

Conservation in Qatar: Impacts of Increasing Industrialization, a CIRS Occasional Paper published in March 2008, is a continuation of a paper delivered at an Education City-wide panel hosted by CIRS in November 2007 that was entitled “Environmental Degradation and Conservation: Challenges and Prospects.”

Conservation in Qatar: Impacts of Increasing Industrialization is a comprehensive study, authored by Dr. Renee Richer of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, that examines the state of environmental degradation in Qatar with regards to increased industrialization.

Richer's research focuses on the state of biodiversity in Qatar and how best to preserve it. According to Richer, Qatar is home to approximately 1,955 known species and of these approximately 955 are marine organisms. Richer argues that if more detailed and thorough research were to be undertaken by experts in the field of biological research then these investigations may yield many more species that are as yet unknown to Qatar and possibly even to science.

Richer argues that Qatar, led by a forward-thinking administration, has great opportunities to act as a pioneer of environmental conservation in the face of industry demands. Richer insists that Qatar can find a happy medium between increased industrialization and environmental protection. The strategy would be for Qatar to exercise sustainable development and educate its own population, as well as those within the Gulf region, about the benefits of ecological development.

» Read the paper