While touring the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, highlighted the UAE’s continued efforts to conserve the desert environment and promote protected areas as ecotourism sites to Dr M Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, and Harrison Ford, Vice Chair of Conservation International.
The UAE’s first national park, the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve is a permanently protected area that seeks to preserve the region’s desert habitats and the multiple threatened species of flora and fauna within for future generations. The reserve teems with wildlife, including the Arabian oryx and Arabian gazelle – endangered native species that have been reintroduced into the area.
Dr Sanjayan and Ford observed firsthand how the reserve is managed according to sound ecological principles, aimed at protecting natural resources and safeguarding the original desert landscape.