Traditional forms of nature conservation have had a long history in the Arabian Peninsula, in the form of range reserves or hema (hima or ahmia). Variations of the hema survive in the UAE in the form of hunting reserves, such as at Jebel Hafit.

Enabling legislation for nature reserves and national parks does not exist in the technical sense. Individual sites are established under private initiative of the ruling families or under hunting legislation. Under the Hunting Law seasonal protection is provided to a number of bird colonies, in addition to restrictions applying to at least one turtle beach and the Jebel Hafit Tahr Reserve area. Khor Dubai Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1985. In addition, the Dubai government has designated a single national park, a combination of natural woodland and recreational area (Richardson, 1990). The only other forms of protection include Al Ayn Wildlife Enclosure and Zoological Garden and a municipal nursery in Ra's al-Khaymah.

It is widely regarded that there is a lack of legislation relevant to protected areas. Indeed, in 1982 a recommendation was put forward for a comprehensive forest law for the country as a whole, envisaging a technically trained and suitably constituted forest service to apply and enforce the provisions of the proposed law. It was recommended that a study be made of existing forest laws in other parts of the Middle East. It was further suggested that subsequent phases could involve the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to provide suitable consultancy services in drafting the outlines of the proposed forest law ..........

International Activities The UAE acceded to CITES on 1 July 1975 but withdrew from the Convention in 1988. It reacceded on 12 May 1990. The Kuwait Regional conference of plenipotentiaries on the protection and development of the marine environment and the coastal areas was convened by UNEP in Kuwait, 15-23 April 1978; this led to the adoption of the Kuwait Action Plan (KAP) for the protection and development of the marine environment and the coastal areas of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UNEP, 1983).

Administration and Management The Ministry of Agriculture has jurisdiction over matters concerning the conservation of nature and the environment and is directly involved in the administration of the Hunting Law. The Ministry is also obliged to manage and protect the various hunting areas, bird sanctuaries and turtle beaches. Khor Dubai Flamingo Colony has 24-hour police protection .

Other main state bodies with interests in protected areas are the Permanent Committee for Conservation and Ecology at the Presidential Court of Abu Dhabi and the Higher Environmental Committee (HEC) of the Ministry of Health. The HEC is concerned with aquatic life in coastal and marine areas and the impact of water pollution, as well as environmental threats posed by oil and gas development.