The announcement of Al Marmoom Reserve is another confirmation of Dubai’s determination to engineer a fine balance in the coexistence between nature and man. In its journey towards more impressive milestones, inclusive of this project, Dubai is, once again, leading the way in the region. The credentials of this concept are literally grounded in its scope — it will occupy 10 per cent of Dubai’s total area, offer 20 vital initiatives, plant one million saplings and create 40 lakes and also host many activities, including sports.

This vast, multi-dimensional idea is characterised by its ability to be interactive and internalised at the same time, enabling visitors to align themselves to it according to their individualised preferences. Its flexibility of function includes a biosphere, an astronomy deck, bird-watching vantage points, a plant nursery and yoga lounges, to name just a few.

Al Marmoom’s avowed objective of being home to a diversity of flora and fauna helps it distinguish itself in seeking an aesthetic amalgam of timelessness and progress and the many impetuses to be made available for people to pursue the health of mind, body and soul amidst nature’s dignity and splendour is commendable.

Dubai’s vision — of creating a natural reserve that will nurture a significant part of the emirate’s footprint with organic purity — is a restorative step with immense benefits for the future. The power of ecological rebalancing cannot be overstated as societies, cities and countries, driven by human expansionism, develop at the expense of other species on the planet, and sometimes at the expense of mankind itself.

Projects such as Al Marmoom will ensure the relationship between man and nature is a symbiotic covenant.