Pristine and calm desert

Think of Dubai and you automatically think shiny, maybe a little tarnished in these post-boom days, but shiny nonetheless for that, a land of high-rise buildings, super-luxury hotels, international horse racing and celebrity visitors.

What you probably don't think of is miles of pristine desert where wild creatures roam unmolested and protected by law in a conservation reserve so successful that it was recently declared an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Protected Area.

And it all came about after Dubai's Emirates airline set itself the challenge of establishing a luxurious resort and nature reserve in the barren Arabian desert as its first venture into the hospitality business.

Tucked away on a remote 225sq/km site, yet only 45 minutes from Dubai International Airport and around an hour and 15 minutes from the city centre, is the secluded sanctuary which has put the Emirate at the forefront of conservation.

Planning, design and construction of the Al Maha, Arabic for the endangered Arabian Oryx which has been reintroduced in the conservation area, took just 18 months.

The original concept came from an evolution of ideas from Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who is a keen supporter of conservation and lover of desert tradition.

The design is based on the luxury lodges of South Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia and is the first ever attempt to encapsulate the history of Dubai, historical influences which have shaped the area and heritage, the culture and the desert environment.

The result is an exclusive resort of just 42 lodge suites, their ceilings sculpted to resemble traditional Bedouin tents, each secluded from the others and with its own swimming pool looking out over those miles of, seemingly endless, desert.

The resort has impressive green credentials with solar energy used to heat water in the staff quarters, up to 94 per cent of water recycled through an on-site plant and waste sewage materials treated to produce biodegradable byproducts to avoid contamination of the desert.

And guests can experience authentic Bedouin activities such as falconry demonstrations, at dawn, camel safaris, horse-riding over the sand dunes, archery with traditional wooden bows and nature walks.

The resort was opened in 1999 with its own embryonic conservation area which saw the reintroduction of Arabian Oryx and Sand and Arabian Gazelles and in 2001 the Al Maha management team submitted proposals to the government outlining the formation of a national park.

Preparatory works began and the designated area of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) was proclaimed seeing the expansion of Al Maha's original 27sq/km nature reserve to today's 225sq/km making it the largest protected land area in the UAE comprising five per cent of Dubai's total land area.

This unique reserve operates as a national park and received permanent protection in law under Ruler's Decree in February 2004.

Al Maha continues to have overall responsibility for the operations of the DDCR in which there are large fenced off areas accessible only to researchers.

Today the reserve is alive, home to over 33 mammal and reptile species indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula including the Arabian Oryx which, until recently, was on the verge of extinction but which is now successfully breeding in the DDCR, and various lizards and falcons.

And last year the reserve became the first wildlife conservation area in the UAE to be formally declared by the IUCN as a Protected Area gaining it registration in the World Database on Protected Areas which is managed and audited by the United National Environmental Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

In gaining this recognition the reserve joins the likes of Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks in the USA and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

So if you want a taste of the wild, on your very own doorstep, look no further than this treasure just outside Dubai city centre but check in advance at www.al-maha.com or www.ddcr.org as you will need a permit to get in.