UAE | Environment
Dubai desert reserve gets protection
The DDCR now joins some of the world's greatest conservation areas including Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks in the US.
- By Kevin Scott, Staff Reporter
- Published: 22:50 November 8, 2008
- Image Credit: Arshad Ali/Gulf News
- Arabian gazelles seen in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The area has been accepted as member of IUCN.
Dubai: The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) has been accepted as an official member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's leading environmental organisation.
The achievement marks the DDCR as the first wildlife and conservation area in the UAE to be formally declared by IUCN as a Protected Area, one of the few in the GCC.
The DDCR now joins some of the world's greatest conservation areas including Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks in the US, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Africa's largest National Parks and wildlife reserves.
Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Conservation Board, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group, said: "In 2004 the Government of Dubai made changes in the law which ensured the permanent protection of large areas of its unique and beautiful desert landscapes, protecting its many indigenous plant and animal species.
"Our aims were clear - in light of the rapid growth being experienced by Dubai - we were committed to maintaining a balance between development and the conservation of our natural heritage."
The DDCR, in which the award-winning Emirates property Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa is located, will also be registered with the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and managed and audited by the United Nations Environmental Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC).
Tony Williams, Senior Vice-President of Emirates Hotels and Resorts, said: "His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, decided a sizeable area needed to be put aside in order to protect the history and heritage of the emirate's desert origins. DDCR's global recognition is significant for Dubai, the UAE and the region.
"By protecting five per cent of Dubai's total land area the Ruler has proved he is dedicated to conservation. Everything within the DDCR has now become visible; its policies and activities are on a world platform."
The DDCR's acceptance as a world recognised Protected Area was confirmed at this year's World Congress, recently held in Barcelona.
Achieving membership status is subject to strict criteria, and in the case of DDCR, receiving recommendations from two existing IUCN members, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in Jordan and the Dubai-based NGO, the Emirates Environmental Group.
The DDCR proved its eligibility as a result of its groundbreaking work in developing sustainable tourism practices as well as the successful re-introduction and protection of the Arabian Oryx, the Arabian and Sand Gazelles and a wide variety of other mammal species.
The Reserve also conducted extensive vegetation surveys and indigenous flora reseeding programmes.
Greg Simkins, Conservation Manager at the DDCR, said: "We conducted a number of baseline surveys to establish what we had (in the DDCR). After collating all the information required we were able to establish clear plans of where we wanted to go.
"There were other issues that also needed to be addressed. For example, we used to have over 23 desert tour companies operating in the area unregulated. They drove where they liked, which impacted on the desert as a whole. Now there are only four companies operating in the DDCR; we work closely with them and the overall experience for our visitors has improved."
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