Wurayah valley known as Wadi Wurayah lies in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, covering an area of 127 Square KMs, is one of the few freshwater sources in the nation. The spring water available here meets all the WHO standards for drinking & bottled water. In 2009 it was named a protected area & it is named as one of the five UAE sites in the List of Wetlands of International Importance by Ramsar* (explanation given at the end).

This valley is home to the Arabian Thar (found only in UAE & Oman), rare Arabian Toad & a sporadic Orchid. 34 species of Dragonfly are found in the UAE & Wurayah valley has 22 species present in it. Therefore, Wadi Wurayah is of considerable ecological significance.

What has happened in the past many years that irresponsible persons visiting the Valley have littered it & spoiled the beauty of rocks by graffiti. I have shown some pictures of graffiti here.

You can easily notice, how people have spoiled the natural beauty.

In order to regain the beauty of this place in Dec 2013 this park was closed to the public. Now the litter & Graffiti has been totally removed. They have also put camera traps** (explanation given at the end) in the entire area to monitor the animals & any illegal activities like poaching. This will help in changing the public mentality.

The authorities have vowed to make a functional eco-system in Wadi Wurayah, that is respected & maintained. It needs strict controls & public co-operation. Due to tougher regulations the public in UAE is generally very well behaved & I am proud of that. I am sure that same zest is shown in Wadi Wurayah when the park reopens as a fully functional National Park.

Source: The National, UAE, WWE

Ramsar* - The Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) called the "Ramsar Convention" is an intergovernmental treaty that embodies the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories.

Camera traps** - A camera trap is a remotely activated camera that is equipped with a motion sensor or an infrared sensor, or uses a light beam as a trigger. Camera trapping is a method for capturing wild animals on film when researchers are not present, and has been used in ecological research for decades.