Around 25 miles outside Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital, the Al Wathba Lake was, until a decade or so ago, an area of several square miles of salt-flats amidst sand-dunes. Only flooding during scarce winter rainfall, the area was of little environmental significance, and of no economic value. Today a nature reserve managed by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, ERWDA, the Lake is one of the most important permanent wetlands in south-eastern Arabia, a flagship for the UAE's policy of environmental conservation.

Fenced off and patrolled by wildlife rangers to ensure its protection, the reserve includes both the lake and surrounding desert sand dunes, offering a diverse mix of habitats for both flora and fauna, including, during the winter months, up to 10,000 migrant birds. The key species, which prompted the initial designation of the area as a reserve, is the greater flamingo. It first bred here in 1993, ultimately failing as a result of human disturbance, and then made several further attempts before eventual success in 1999, the first time that the species had successfully bred anywhere in the Arabian peninsula since 1922. In terms of the UAE's birdlife, the Al Wathba Lake and the surrounding area offer a range of firsts and superlatives--first records of several rare migrants, first breeding records for the country of black-necked grebe and avocet, as well as the flamingo, and the largest wintering population of migrant ducks. Nearly half of the UAE's total national bird list of 425 have so far been recorded at the site.

All that has only become possible, though, since a management program was introduced, on the instructions of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to ensure that optimal conditions were created for the flamingos and other birds.

The first task was to ensure that the lake did not dry up in summer, this being achieved by supplying treated effluent from a nearby sewage treatment plant--the treated water first being used to irrigate a large group of fodder fields nearby, and then being pumped out from under the fields to the lake.

On its own, this proved to be insufficient--rainfall or hydrostatic pressure from spring high tides on the coast nearly ten miles away could still raise water levels and wash out the flamingo nests. A program of monitoring water levels was then introduced, with special areas being created to accommodate overspill water. With the water supply guaranteed, extensive areas of reedbeds sprang up naturally, providing shelter and breeding sites for a more diverse range of birds.

To protect the wildlife, miles of fencing were erected, with trees being planted to screen the lake from an adjacent highway, while a program of scientific research was undertaken to record the fauna and flora of the lake and the surrounding dunes, and to identify ways of enhancing the food supply for the flamingos and other waterfowl.

With the reserve now established as a centre of importance for the UAE's wildlife, plans are now being laid for the Al Wathba Lake to contribute in other ways to the country's conservation program. Recognizing its potential as an educational resource, ERWDA has now launched a series of visits by schoolchildren to the site, providing them with an introduction to an aspect of the country's environment that few will ever have the opportunity to see elsewhere.

International recognition of the project has come from a variety of sources, with visitors over the years having included Britain's Prince Charles; a former head of the United Nations Environment Programme; and senior officials of the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF.

The importance of the Al Wathba Lake lies in the imaginative way in which a by-product of urban development has been used to modify the existing habitat to create a site of much greater environmental importance, according to Simon Aspinall, Chairman of the Emirates Bird Records Committee.

"The arid climate of the Emirates means that there are virtually no permanent natural wetlands. By utilizing recycled effluent, already used once for irrigation, it has been possible to turn an area of little significance into a habitat that has added, in a very substantial way, to the country's environmental diversity," Aspinall says. "The Al Wathba Lake offers convincing evidence that it is possible to find ways to reconcile the needs of wildlife conservation and of sustainable development."