Protecting Fujairah’s Wadi Wurayah from Vandals

This week 7 Days has posted a story about ‘Vandals Spoiling UAE Beauty Spot’ with a photo (pictured) of graffiti sprayed over the rocks at Fujairah’s Wadi Wurayah.

This photo is rightly stirring up rage while some writers have said that the place has looked defaced and trashed for many years and that “today’s outrage is a tad overdue.”

Hopefully the rage at this time, even if overdue, might be transformed into some constructive solutions.

Here are two solutions to get public discussion flowing:

Cameras

There are lots of cameras that have been placed around Wadi Wurayah to photograph important species such as the Arabian leopard.

Why can’t a camera or two be strategically placed to catch the wild animals that are painting one of the great treasures of Fujairah and the UAE? This could appear to be an invasion of privacy but so are the speed cameras that line the roads.

Park Ranger

Most National Parks around the world have rangers who are stationed on location to fulfill a role of public safety, advisor, educator and enforcer of park rules.

On 16 March 2009 Wadi Wurayah was designated a protected area by a decree of the Ruler of Fujairah. While many plant and animal specimens have been protected it is time for the Fujairah Government to finish the job of protecting the area by placing several fulltime rangers in this 170 km2 area.

The presence of fulltime rangers at Wadi Wurayah, plus signs that declare that rangers are patrolling the area and cameras are on the alert, should go a long way to curbing the graffiti.

Discussion

What are your ideas to combat the trashing of Wadi Wurayah?

How is the Environmental Department of the Fujairah Municipality responding to this challenge of prevention, apart from their very helpful sponsoring of Clean Up Days?

Related

Swedish Princess and Emirati Prince Make a Right Royal Visit in Fujairah, FIF, 20 January 2011.

Michel Roggo’s ‘Desert Water’ Photo Exhibition of Wadi Wurayah in Fujairah, UAE, FIF, 13 April 2011.

Photo Shooting Fujairah’s Wadi Wurayah, FIF, 19 April 2011.

How Do We Get to Wadi Wurayah? FIF, 19 May 2009.

Geoff Pound

More Fujairah news, information, resources, discussion and photos are posted on the Fujairah in Focus Facebook Page.

Image: Wadi Wurayah defaced. (Photo courtesy of 7 Days)