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The Royal Commission for AlUla Participates in IUCN’s Leaders Forum in South Korea

Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.
Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.
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The Royal Commission for AlUla Participates in IUCN’s Leaders Forum in South Korea

Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.
Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.

The Royal Commission for AlUla is participating in the leaders forum for the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the South Korean island of Jeju.

The two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity, restoring natural habitats, and discussing ways of cooperation among IUCN member states to exchange experiences and develop ways of cooperation that enable the achievement of goals and build capacity.

RCU will hold a panel discussion on the topic "Restoring the Past for the Future" as part of the meeting schedule.

There are many concerns related to nature, but sustainability, new approaches to environmental preservation, and ways to promote thriving societies are at the top of the list.

The Royal Commission specialists will examine AlUla's methodology during the session in terms of overcoming obstacles and pursuing long-term goals in the presence of Waleed Aldayel, PMO Director at RCU, and Razan Al Mubarak, IUCN president.

Through its participation in the meetings of South Korea, RCU hopes to strengthen its position as a knowledge-based organization and strategic model for the preservation of the natural and cultural environment. It also hopes to open up channels of communication for the exchange of ideas and experiences between various parties and pertinent organizations.

In accordance with the "Vision of AlUla," RCU seeks to preserve the cultural, historical, and natural heritage through a number of initiatives and programs. Additionally, by enrolling citizens of AlUla in training programs for heritage preservation, RCU helps to raise awareness and encourage community participation in these programs.

In February 2021, the Royal Commission for AlUla obtained government membership in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in recognition of its strong commitment to efforts to safeguard the environment in AlUla Governorate, including support and empowerment of reserves, management of natural heritage through the Union's Green List of Protected Areas and Preserves, and assistance with the implementation of wildlife management and restoration.

The agreement strengthens RCU's goal of safeguarding natural resources and reestablishing environmental balance in the governorate, which helps to advance AlUla's status as one of the world's top tourist destinations for natural, archaeological, and cultural sites. By assigning 80% of AlUla's land, RCU's objective for restoring environmental balance is in keeping with the "Saudi Green" strategy.

It is important to note that the IUCN was founded in 1948 and that the Kingdom became a member of the Union in 1981.

It has recently taken steps in the Arabian Peninsula to make sure that the Red List of Endangered Species and the Green List of Protected Areas are incorporated into local plans and legislation.

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Humpback Whale ‘Timmy’ Struggles to Escape Shallow Waters off Germany

A humpback whale lies on a sandbank in the shallow waters at Wismar Bay in the Baltic Sea, after having moved overnight, near Wismar, Germany, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
A humpback whale lies on a sandbank in the shallow waters at Wismar Bay in the Baltic Sea, after having moved overnight, near Wismar, Germany, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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Humpback Whale ‘Timmy’ Struggles to Escape Shallow Waters off Germany

A humpback whale lies on a sandbank in the shallow waters at Wismar Bay in the Baltic Sea, after having moved overnight, near Wismar, Germany, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
A humpback whale lies on a sandbank in the shallow waters at Wismar Bay in the Baltic Sea, after having moved overnight, near Wismar, Germany, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)

A young humpback ‌whale named Timmy by rescuers was struggling to find its way out of shallow bays off the Baltic coast of Germany on Sunday morning, after a week-long ordeal that has put its survival in doubt.

The plight of Timmy, who is thought to measure 12 to 15 meters in length, shows the difficulty of freeing such creatures given their size, with rescuers using dredging equipment and boats ‌to guide ‌the whale back onto a ‌long ⁠route to the ⁠Atlantic.

After days of efforts to free the animal, rescuers are now hoping the whale will manage to make it out on its own.

"The whale is quite weak. We're still hopeful that it will pull through," Daniela von Schaper, a marine ⁠expert at Greenpeace, told Reuters.

The whale, whose ‌gender has not ‌been established, was named after Timmendorfer Strand, the white sandy ‌beach on Germany’s resort-filled Baltic coastline where it ‌was first spotted on a nearby sandbank on Monday.

Repeated rescue attempts have failed since, with Greenpeace and its partners documenting an animal in severe stress with skin irritation ‌and fishing gear entangled in its mouth.

There were brief glimmers of hope ⁠over ⁠the weekend, when the whale managed to free itself twice before running into difficulty again.

Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic Sea. While uncommon, large whales are spotted in the region every couple of years, according to von Schaper.

Conservationists say disrupted migration routes and human influence play a role in whale strandings around the world, though animals can also lose their way while searching for food.

"Some of them find their way out again, others unfortunately do not," von Schaper said.

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Swiss Back Tougher Social Media Rules for Minors, Survey Finds

Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Reddit applications are displayed on a mobile phone ahead of new law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia, in this picture illustration taken on December 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Reddit applications are displayed on a mobile phone ahead of new law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia, in this picture illustration taken on December 9, 2025. (Reuters)
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Swiss Back Tougher Social Media Rules for Minors, Survey Finds

Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Reddit applications are displayed on a mobile phone ahead of new law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia, in this picture illustration taken on December 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Reddit applications are displayed on a mobile phone ahead of new law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia, in this picture illustration taken on December 9, 2025. (Reuters)

The ‌vast majority of Swiss want stronger protection for children and teenagers on social media, according to a survey published on Sunday, as governments and courts worldwide intensify scrutiny of Big Tech over its impact on young users.

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Alphabet's Google negligent for designing social ‌media platforms that ‌are harmful to young ‌people, ⁠in a verdict ⁠that will serve as a bellwether for numerous similar cases.

The Swiss study by polling firm GfS Bern for the Mercator Foundation found 94% of respondents felt minors should be ⁠better protected from the damaging effects ‌of social media, ‌while 78% believed large technology firms have ‌too much influence over public opinion.

Swiss Interior ‌Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider has said she is open to a potential ban on social media for youngsters. Her government is drafting ‌legislation to regulate major online platforms, aiming to make them more ⁠transparent.

The ⁠poll's publication in newspaper SonntagsZeitung follows a decision by neighboring Austria on Friday to pursue a ban on social media use for children under 14.

The GfS Bern survey polled about 1,000 Swiss residents aged 16 and above between December 1 and 12. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, the paper said.

Varieties

The Sea Beneath Arctic and Antarctic Ice Holds Many Secrets. These Scientists Dive Deep to Find Out

Ruari Buijs, a marine biology and oceanography student, right, and Caroline Chen, a scientific diver and research assistant, prepare to dive during a Polar Scientific Diving class in Kilpisjärvi, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Ruari Buijs, a marine biology and oceanography student, right, and Caroline Chen, a scientific diver and research assistant, prepare to dive during a Polar Scientific Diving class in Kilpisjärvi, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
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The Sea Beneath Arctic and Antarctic Ice Holds Many Secrets. These Scientists Dive Deep to Find Out

Ruari Buijs, a marine biology and oceanography student, right, and Caroline Chen, a scientific diver and research assistant, prepare to dive during a Polar Scientific Diving class in Kilpisjärvi, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Ruari Buijs, a marine biology and oceanography student, right, and Caroline Chen, a scientific diver and research assistant, prepare to dive during a Polar Scientific Diving class in Kilpisjärvi, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)

As bubbles rippled across the frigid Finnish lake, diver Daan Jacobs emerged from a hole carved out of the thick, crackling ice.

The journey had taken him 8 meters (26 feet) beneath the surface, where sunlight filtered through the Arctic ice and fish swam around a rock formation. It's a remote place few will ever see, especially in winter, when snow blankets the ice and temperatures on land approach minus 40 degrees in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

But Jacobs, a biodiversity adviser in the Netherlands, is one of a growing number of fortunate underwater explorers, The Associated Press said.

He was part of the Polar Scientific Diving class in the far north of Finland earlier this month, a program designed by the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy to train the next generation of scientists and researchers to dive beneath the Arctic and Antarctic ice to study the flora and fauna below.

“The view is beautiful,” Jacobs said, gulping for air following his 45-minute dive.

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. From impacting worldwide weather patterns to making the polar bear population smaller, weaker and hungrier, because they rely on the sea ice to hunt from, higher temperatures at the North Pole spell disaster for the entire globe.

In Antarctica, meanwhile, global warming is leading to melting of ice sheets, prompting sea level rise and disrupting ocean ecosystems.

Human divers still needed

So scientists need to study what's underneath the remaining Arctic — and Antarctic — ice, and determine how climate change is affecting the plants and animals that have traditionally survived along the seafloor with little to no sunlight. But carrying out such research requires specialized scuba diving skills plus the proper scientific background — qualifications that experts say only a few hundred people in the world currently have.

The Finnish Scientific Diving Academy’s class aims to not only train more divers, but also to convince the world that the polar ice crisis requires additional research.

“Because it is melting so fast, we need to have more people deployed there — more science to be done — to understand better what happens,” said Erik Wurz, a marine biologist and one of the class's scientific diving instructors. “We have to do more and we need to be fast to save this unique ecosystem in the Arctic, but also the Antarctic.”

And in a world that’s increasingly outsourcing work to artificial intelligence and robots, British Antarctic Survey marine biologist Simon Morley said that human hands are still necessary for this. Dragging nets across the seafloor would destroy the habitat, and a remotely operated submersible or robot can usually only pick up one specimen at a time.

“A diver can go down and pick up 12 urchins, put them in a bag and not affect the rest of the system,” said Morley, who isn't part of the course.

Challenging conditions

During each 10-day session, the academy's instructors drill a dozen experienced divers on a frozen lake at the University of Helsinki's Kilpisjärvi Biological Station. The program began in 2024 and the demand has allowed them to add a second session per year.

The participants range from marine and freshwater biologists and other scientists to highly skilled recreational divers and documentary filmmakers.

Ruari Buijs, a marine biology and oceanography student at the University of Plymouth in England, ultimately wants to work in Antarctica and research marine megafauna. He enrolled in this month's polar diving class in an effort to be more employable upon graduation.

“I thought this would be a very good stepping stone toward that goal,” he said.

Meanwhile, Caroline Chen, a scientific diver and research assistant in Germany, said it’s her dream to dive in the polar regions. She believes that her experience in this course will help her design future experiments in such challenging conditions.

The students must learn more than just diving under ice that's nearly a meter (around three feet) thick and into water temperatures that hover just above freezing. For starters, there's the frigid air temperatures and whipping winds over Lake Kilpisjärvi.

That challenges the topside support team, which must operate equipment to keep the diver safe while fending off their own risk of frostbite. They also have to learn how to become safety divers in case of an emergency, like if the primary diver can't find the hole in the ice to surface after 45 minutes below.

But once they're underwater, the divers say it's an incredible experience. During this month's session, the group dived beneath ice roughly 80 centimeters (around 2½ feet) thick. Chen spotted some fish along the sea floor and then took a moment to look to the surface as sunlight streamed through the ice, seemingly mimicking another Arctic phenomenon.

“It looks insane from the bottom up,” Chen said. “It changes all the time, like the Northern Lights.”

Buijs said that the cold doesn't affect the covered parts of a diver's body. But the area around their mouth remains exposed underwater.

“I think the worst thing is like your lips feel very numb afterward and they like stick out a lot,” he said, laughing. “You kind of get Botox lips a little bit.”