An attempt to develop sustainable land use management using Geoinformatics: A case study of Wurayah Biosphere Reserve, UAE

Abstract

Established under the UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program, biosphere reserves represent protected areas intended to demonstrate well-balanced relationship between conservation of biodiversity and an appropriate local development. They can be thus considered as an attempt to form sustainable land use. That's why the Wurayah Biosphere Reserve (WBR) located in Fujairah Emirate, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has used as model area. The complex assessment of the core, buffer and transition zones using Geoinformatics showed that the WBR contains unequal, representative and sensitive areas of the drylands ecosystem with natural, outstanding landscapes and cultural heritage, while the socio-economic situation indicates that it has enough socio-economic infrastructures to develop new alternatives ecologically and economically sustainable. An Environmental Information System (EIS) was developed to understand the dynamics of human activities and land use in the WRB, highlight the threats to the environment, educate people about the basic environmental issues, improve environmental and positive traditional practices and promote tourism. Based on results gained it is possible to state that the concept of biosphere reserve itself can be used as a model when we try to implement ideas of sustainable land use in practice.