Dubai Police go all out for nature-friendly events

In a press conference held at Grand Hyatt, Dubai Police, organisers of the Nature Surprises week, announced their extensive line-up of events for the upcoming theme week. This sixth themed week of Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) 2006 is being held from July 27 to August 2 and will present an array of 30 interesting and entertaining activities for both children and adults keeping in line with the underlying theme of environmental conservation.

The announcement was made by Lt. Col Mohammed Ahmed Bin Dylan, Head of the Nature Surprises week during the press conference. Lt Col Dylan mentioned that the theme week will formally open with an official opening ceremony on Thursday, July 27 at 7.30pm at the Mall of the Emirates. The weekly event's main sponsors are Gargash Enterprises, Wild Wadi Water Park, A.A. Al Moosa Enterprises, Al Yousuf Motors LLC while the co-sponsors are Emirates Bank, Xerox, Wonderland Theme and Water Park, Kodak, Yemenia- Yemen Airways, Grand Optics, Etisalat and Juma Al Majid. Dubai Police's mascot Mobda and their Golden Jubilee Celebrations logos form part of the Nature Surprises promotion.

"We have chosen to draw a smile on the faces of needy people and joined hands with charities and philanthropists involved in charitable activities to help the needy as per our financial capabilities. We expect to generate revenues through a charity project, and these revenues will be dedicated to charitable societies in Dubai and one charity abroad," informed Lt Col Dylan.

The charity project is a raffle draw on a small Chevrolet car, coupons for which can be bought from shopping malls and the draw will be held on the last day of the Nature Surprises week at Ibn Battuta Mall. This is besides the other prizes to be conducted during the Nature Surprises week. "We are expecting a large number of people's participation in this good cause hence there is no limit to the tickets being sold. People can drop the money in one box and the raffle coupons in another kept at the designated shopping malls," said Lt Col Dylan.

He added that the Nature Surprises events include entertaining and fun events that also teach a thing or two about the importance and role of Nature in our lives. Most of the activities have been designed to instill a love of nature and inculcating a respect for conserving the environment among children. Events such as The World Box will tell stories about the bounties of Mother Nature and the dangers of exploiting it ruthlessly. A novel competition by the name of Dubai Trees Speak will have trees talk to children and then give them prizes at the end of their journey which would take the participants from one tree to the other.

The Nature Bride and the Peace Princess is a treasure hunt for children in Dubai shopping malls with fabulous prizes for the winners. There will also be a camp to teach children about the world of wild flora and fauna. The Most Precious Drop, a fun-packed activity touching upon the vitality of water to create awareness about water conservation among the future generation is also planned. I Love Nature is another event that will be filled with information for the little ones about the natural world around them. A Garden Corner will also be created for the kids to pot their own plants with the help of a gardener.

Children will get a chance to learn about underwater life, the world of birds, butterflies and insects through various activities such as Water World with aquaria and lots of fish, the Great Bird Spectacle, Butterflies Confection Workshop and the World of Insects respectively. The Great Bird Spectacle will be a unique activity where children will be provided with binoculars and allowed to watch bird specimen from around the world in a simulated forest. The World of Insects will be presented to the audience through a world renowned documentary titled Microcosmos, which was an official Cannes selection for the best documentary production using specially designed camera.

The 10-week long DSS, which opened with the Ice Surprises week on June 21, celebrated the Art Surprises, Food Surprises, Adventure Surprises and continues with the Cartoon Surprises, Nature Surprises, Knowledge Surprises, Flower Surprises, Heritage Surprises, and concludes with Back-2-School Surprises on September 1.