IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Dr Abdulaziz Abuzinada, Saudi Arabia

03 July 2012 | News story

A citizen of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Hamid Abuzinada, is a Special Adviser to HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan, President of Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation and Member of the Board of Directors of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, an NGO Member of IUCN.

Trained in Biology and Plant Pathology and Microbiology, with a PhD in ecology from the University of Durham, UK, he has devoted his entire career to environmental issues in Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula and internationally.

Previously, he was Secretary-General of the Saudi Arabian National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development where he helped establish 16 national Protected Areas in the country; Chair of the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention); Vice President of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East; and Professor in the Department of Botany at Riyadh University. He is the author of six books, some 40 scientific papers and recipient of several honours, including the 1992 IUCN CNPPA Fred Packard Award.

His involvement and contributions to IUCN date back over two decades. He was Regional Vice Chair of SSC from 1993 to 2004 and founding Chair of the Arabian Plant Specialist Group from 1996 to 2008. He was IUCN Vice President from 2000 to 2004, chaired the IUCN West Asia Advisory Group and was co-founder of the WESCANA region (West and North Africa).

Following his retirement, he is now working as a freelance expert on environmental issues within the Arabian Peninsula.