Wadi Wurayah National Park in Fujairah could become the latest site in the UAE to be inscribed on the prestigious Unesco World Heritage List, with the reserve being considered as a natural site of Outstanding Universal Value.
The nomination for the 220-square-kilometre park, which became the country’s first national park in 2013, is to be heard by the Unesco World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, from July 19.
Sitting within the Hajar Mountains and about 45km from Fujairah City, Wadi Wurayah hosts a permanent freshwater ecosystem inside an otherwise arid area. Its unique hydrogeological structure allows underground water to emerge as year-round streams, springs and natural waterfalls, transforming the canyon into a biodiversity hotspot that is home to more than 1,000 species of living organisms.
It is one of only three conservation areas in the world where wild Arabian tahr roam. The Arabian caracal, a critically endangered wild cat, was rediscovered in the park last year.
The site is also home to Blanford’s fox – an elusive nocturnal predator that has adapted to living among steep, rocky cliffs – and a critically rare species of dragonfly long thought to be extinct, until it was found in the wadi’s wetlands.
As a botanical and geological site, the wadi is significant. The only wild orchid species native to the UAE can be found there, as can the giant warrah reeds after which the park is named. It also features the world’s largest exposed ophiolite complex, offering scientists a window into the Earth’s oceanic crust and upper mantle.
The ophiolite, regarded by geologists as the best-exposed fragment of an oceanic sheet in the world, was formed about 90 million years ago in the tectonic collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. When the ancient Tethys Ocean floor buckled, it was pushed upwards, which means the mountains in Wadi Wurayah offer a glimpse of an ancient deep ocean basin.
If proscribed, the wadi would become the third site in the UAE on the Unesco list, following the cultural sites of Al Ain (inscribed in 2011) and the Faya Palaeolandscape in Sharjah (2025).
How do sites receive heritage status?
To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must offer outstanding universal value and meet at least one of 10 criteria. Those include being an "outstanding example" of a type of building or landscape that illustrates a significant stage in human history.
Selection is a complex and exhaustive process and the committee can defer a decision to seek more information. Some sites may not be recommended and others can be removed from the list.
Gaining Unesco World Heritage status would transform Wadi Wurayah from a national park into a protected site of global importance, unlocking environmental, economic and institutional benefits.
It would give the wadi added protection from threats such as climate change and open access to support from the World Heritage Fund. Inclusion would also draw more research partnerships to the site while further positioning the UAE as a leading destination for biodiversity conservation.
The UAE delegation and representatives from the Fujairah Environment Authority will be in Busan to participate in the process and await the final announcement.
