GREEN THOUGHTS:
Sheikh Mohammed views project details at a briefing in the Dubai desert on Tuesday.
dubai — His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has launched the Marmoom Reserve project, the first unfenced desert conservation reserve in the country. The reserve covers 10 per cent of Dubai’s total area and will introduce more than 20 environmental, cultural and sports-related initiatives, sponsored by nine Dubai government agencies.
Spanning over 40 hectares of shrubland and fertile area, the reserve will be home to over 204 species of native birds, 158 species of migratory birds, and over 10km of lakes, encompassing Al Qudra Lakes. The new project will include 10 animal and bird observation platforms, star and sunset observations decks, areas for yoga, an outdoor theatre that can host 350-individual events, and will be powered by a 5,000 megawatt solar power complex. By 2030, it will host more than 20 annual sporting events, which will attract an estimated 20,000 participants. Its cycling tracks will add up to the longest in any desert anywhere in the world.
Sheikh Mohammed said: “Preserving and investing in the environment means preserving and investing in one of our most important assets. The Marmoom Reserve is an environmental tourist and sporting addition to life in the UAE.
“The desert is beautiful and inspirational; it provides a peaceful shelter to plants, birds and people. Our goal is to provide a fertile and robust environment for plants, a natural reserve for animals, and an important destination for tourists and families.”
He added: “When nine government agencies work as a team, the result will be exceptional, as reflected in the Marmoom Reserve.”
This project reflects Dubai’s development goals to preserve the local environment, including the nature of the desert, and to enhance its aestheticism, as well as to provide a natural habitat for threatened wildlife through its natural reserves. The Marmoom Reserve is also the site of the important Saruq Al Hadid archaeological site, which dates back over 3,000 years to the Iron Age. — Wam