Mangrove Ramble at Al Ruwais with the Qatar Natural History Group

Mangrove Ramble at Al Ruwais with the Qatar Natural History Group

As part of Qatar Sustainability Week 2026, Earthna welcomes the Qatar Natural History Group to the field site of its Mangrove Restoration Project in Al Ruwais on Saturday, 7 November. Timed to the low tide, the ramble starts at 11:00 and will be led by Dr. Aspa D. Chatziefthimiou, Chief Scientific Officer of the Project.

Participants will walk through the restored mangrove forest and the tidal flats around it, discovering the crabs, snails, birds and other colourful creatures that make this coastal ecosystem their home. Participants will also visit the coastal nurseries and receiving sites and lend a hand caring for seedlings, helping the Project towards its goal of restoring, afforesting and reforesting 40 hectares of Qatar’s coastline.

Lead’s biography: 

Dr. Aspa D. Chatziefthimiou is a conservation ecologist, and the Talks Coordinator for QNHG. She collaborates with national and international institutions, in efforts to understand natural phenomena, organismal behavior, and sustainable use of natural resources, with the ultimate goal to conserve, protect, and restore Nature, where she loves to spend her time.  

Organizer 1’s biography:

Dr. Kuei-Chiu Chen is a biologist at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, and the Citizen Science Program Coordinator for QNHG. After earning her Ph.D. in biology from New York University and working as a forensic biologist at New York City’s Medical Examiner’s Office, she has led student research on the biodiversity and conservation of animals in Qatar, supported by grants from Qatar National Research Fund and WCM-Q.

Organizer 2’s biography: 

Fuencisla Merino is Business Development and Digital Strategy Director at Ooredoo, and the Treasurer of QNHG. Coming from the world of telecommunications, where she turns technical innovation into new business, she looks after the group’s finances and other tasks as her way of giving back to a community from which she has learnt so much, and through which she discovers Qatar’s nature and history, two of her great passions.