Chair for Biodiversity in Yemen

The First Summer Scientific Forum of the Biology Department, College of Education/Aden (August-

Sept., 2023)

The First Summer Scientific Forum was inaugurated as a launch for the activities of the Chair for Biodiversity and Nature Conservation in Yemen. The Forum was held for the first time in the University of Aden, and Yemen in general, and involved various scientific and cultural activities and lectures which serve the goals of the Chair. The Forum included the opening and initiation of the Natural History Museum Unit and the rehabilitation of the Botanical Herbarium. Furthermore, the establishment of the Cactus Garden which included different types of cacti in the Biology Department. Weekly meetings were also held for trainees to train on operating and maintaining laboratory equipment. The Chair is concerned with raising societal awareness and working with the youth in supporting and advocating for social peace and environmental awareness in a way that serves the conservation of nature. The inauguration was attended by representatives of the Presidency of the University of Aden, faculty members in the Department of Biology, and undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to specialists from other colleges and the University of Abyan. View our newsletter and the schedule for Day 2.

Seminars & Workshops

Training was also provided on operating and maintaining laboratory equipment in the laboratories of the Biology Department, and the plant herbarium. Trainees were instructed to prepare samples and introduced to the mechanism of preserving, numbering and labeling plants. Participants were also trained in the Natural History Unit of the Biology Department to prepare, preserve and number the samples with museum codes. Moreover, presentations and seminars in the branches of life sciences were held in the graduate study halls. Moreover, a lecture on “The Art of Public Speaking” was given by Professor Fahmi Hassan Youssef as part of the faculty partnership between the Chair for Biodiversity and Nature Conservation and the ALECSO Chair for E-Learning and Teacher Development. The lecture introduced the skill of scientific writing and discussing, and the art of public speaking at scientific conferences. Future plans include hosting regional and international specialists in various fields via the virtual medium ZOOM to deliver scientific presentations as part of the partnership between the Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation and the Chair of E-Learning and Teacher Development from the College of Education/Aden.

The Cactus and Frankincense Trees Garden

As part of the event, the Aloe Vera and Frankincense Trees Garden was opened. The garden which was established for the first time in the faculty included 12 plant species as a first batch of aloe vera, caraluma, and frankincense trees. The garden includes the following types of succulent plants: Aloe vera, Aloe irafensis, Opuntia ficus indica, Opuntia dellenii. , Opuntia linguiformis, Sansevieria trifasciata, Agave sp., Euphorbia qarad, Caralluma penicellata, Caralluma adenensis, Sarcostemma vimirale. As for the frankincense trees, it contained the species Boswellia sacra.

Rehabilitation of the Plant Herbarium in the Biology Department

After the opening of the Cactus and Frankincense Tree garden, participants moved to the Plant Herbarium which contains dozens of inflorescence plants (more than 100 plant species as a first phase) collected previously from different regions of Yemen (1983-2010 CE). It also includes plants that were collected recently during the past five years (2018-2022). The Herbarium also contains a number of endemic species. Furthermore, twenty teaching assistants were trained to number samples with reference numbers under the supervision of specialists in the field through five weekly meetings.

The Natural History Museum Unit

The Natural History Museum Unit was opened in the Biology Department as the nucleus of the first natural museum in Yemen. The museum contains numerous animal specimens preserved in solutions (10% formalin and 70% ethanol) and placed in numbered glass cases, in addition to the skeletons of a number of land and marine mammals. These samples include most of the phyla of the animal kingdom, as they include the sponge phylum Porifera, the cnidarian phylum Cnidaria, the Platyhelminthes phylum, the Arthropoda phylum, the Mollusca phylum, the Echinodermata phylum, and the Chordata phylum.