In June, 14 years ago, the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund pledged its allegiance to conservation globally by funding 22 projects. One of these projects was for a young man from Egypt looking to protect the Egyptian tortoise. It was very fitting that Basem Motwale Rabia was again granted funding for the same species during the last round of funding in 2023.  We caught up with him to find out how conservation has changed over the past decade.

EDITOR How many grants did you receive from the Fund and when?

BASEM RABIA  After receiving funding from the Mohamed Bin Zayed Foundation in 2009, I have not sought or received any further support. In fact, since my initial application to the MBZ Conservation Fund, I have not requested assistance until recently, when I identified the need for support in undertaking upcoming conservation efforts with the critically endangered Egyptian tortoise species.
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