Wadi Wurayah ( ar, وَادِي ٱلْوُرَيْعَة, Wādī Al-Wurayʿah) is a

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

between the towns of

Masafi Masafi ( ar, مسافي) is a village located on the edge of the Hajar Mountains in the United Arab Emirates. It sits at the inland entrance of the Wadi Ham, which runs down to Fujairah City. The border between the emirates of Fujairah and Ras Al ...

Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan ( ar, خَوْر فَكَّان, Khawr Fakkān) is a city and exclave of the Emirate of Sharjah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing the Gulf of Oman, and geographically surrounded by the Emirate of Fuja ...

, and

Bidiyah Al-Badiyah ( ar, ٱلْبَدِيَة) or Al-Bidyah () is a settlement in the Emirate of Fujairah, the United Arab Emirates. It is the site of a historical mosque of the same name, which is the oldest functional mosque in the country, dating ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. It has been designated as

Ramsar Wetland of International Importance This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation movement, conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their econom ...

Protected area

On 16 March 2009, the Wadi Wurayah became the first protected mountain area in the United Arab Emirates, after a three-year campaign by the Emirates Wildlife Society in Association with World Wide Fund for Nature, with the support of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited. In addition to the conservation of the area's delicate ecosystem, EWS-WWF have also set up camera traps to photograph the more elusive wildlife, and arranged field trips for students to help raise awareness of the area.

Flora and fauna

Wadi Wurayah is home to more than 100

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s and

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s, as well as more than 300 species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s. It is famous for its scenic waterfall set amid the Hajar Mountains. It has streams and pools dotted around the rocky outcrops. It is one of few remaining places in the world where the endangered

Arabian tahr The Arabian tahr (''Arabitragus jayakari'') is a species of tahr native to eastern Arabia. Until recently, it was placed in the genus ''Hemitragus'', but genetic evidence supports its removal to a separate monotypic genus, ''Arabitragus''. T ...

still roams free. Conservationists believe it to be among the last places in the UAE where the

Arabian leopard The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive ...

, which has not been seen in the UAE since 1995, still survives. A footprint of a leopard was found here. The same is true for the

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

. The wadi is also home to the '' Garra barreimiae'', a type of

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

that lives only in

Al Hajar Mountains The Hajar Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ٱلْحَجَر, Jibāl al-Ḥajar, ''The Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') in northeastern Oman and also the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian ...

. Among the 208 species of plants is a species of wild orchid unique to the area, the ''

Epipactis ''Epipactis'', or helleborine, is a genus of terrestrial orchids consisting of approximately 70 species. This genus is abbreviated as Epcts in horticultural trade. Description Their creeping, fleshy rhizomes grow offshoots, from which then eme ...

veratrifolia''.Establishment of Wadi Wuraya Mountain Protect Area, Fujairah
WWF In 2018, an

Indian crested porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. De ...

was spotted here. In January 2020, a few Indian fritillaries (''

Argynnis hyperbius The Indian fritillary (''Argynnis hyperbius'') is a species of butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia. Description Male: Upperside: forewing rich orange yellow, hindwi ...

'') were found in the park by Binish Roobas, an Indian naturalist based in the UAE, who managed to photograph a male and female. He was visiting the area to survey the diversity of flora and insects, after there had been heavy rainfall in the country from October 2019 to January 2020, along with park ranger Sami Ullah Majeed, biologist Nuri Asmita, and the Chairman of the Dubai Natural History Group, Gary Feulner. It is thought that the fritillaries, which were found flying with members of a physically similar species, the plain tiger (''

Danaus chrysippus ''Danaus chrysippus'', also known as the plain tiger, African queen, or African monarch, is a medium-sized butterfly widespread in Asia, Australia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. ...

''), came here as opportunistic migrants, because of the suitable conditions made by the rainfall, and thatthey would not stay during the summer.

Gallery

File:Wadi wurrayah in Fujairah - United Arab Emirates - panoramio (4).jpg, Sign of Wadi Wuray'ah File:Wadi wurrayah in Fujairah - United Arab Emirates - panoramio (2).jpg, Crossing the wadi File:Wadi wurrayah in Fujairah - United Arab Emirates - panoramio (1).jpg, Close up of the wadi's terrain

References

{{reflist

External links

Hiking: The Highest Points in the UAE
Geography of the Emirate of Fujairah Protected areas of the United Arab Emirates Waterfalls of the United Arab Emirates Ramsar sites in the United Arab Emirates

Protected area

Flora and fauna

Gallery

See also

References

External links