Wasit Nature Reserve comprises a broad wetland expanse, located on the outskirts of the city. Sharjah City, with some 750 000 inhabitants, has a high growth rate. It is located in a desert region (rainfall ca 120mm/year). The Ecosystem is characterised by remnant saline and hypersaline salt pan and salt marsh mosaic. Threats to the system included large-scale chemical dumping, organic and other wastes; perennial inundation /drowning of seasonal wetland habitat. Objectives of the project were rehabilitation of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with the objective of improving tourism, recreational and educational values. Major Actions were removal of dumped waste and berms, and improvement of aquatic habitats by reconnection of flow corridors.

Aerial view of Wasit Nature Reserve site, in Sharjah, UAE, bordering Ajman Emirate (Note: Phase 2 border extends beyond right side of the area shown) (after Day and Ewart-Smith 2005).

Background

The Wasit wetlands, previously known as Ramtha Lagoon, are located on the outskirts of Sharjah City, in the Sharjah Emirate, UAE, on the Arabian Gulf. They are remnants of once-extensive coastal salt flats (sabhka) and saltmarsh that occurred in areas where groundwater daylights near the coast or at the outlets of ephemeral streams / longitudinal wetland systems. Extensive infilling has taken place in the Sharjah area, resulting in the complete destruction of natural flow corridors to the sea downstream of Wasit, and the delineation of the present reserve area by roads to the south, north and north west.

The most recent intrusion into the wetland as a whole was its dissection, between 2003 and 2005, by the unmitigated construction of the Sharjah Ring Road across the wetlands, without provision for the passage of surface or subsurface flows across the road and between wetland areas. The road essentially split the wetland into two quite separate portions, both of which are closed systems, without any connectivity to downstream reaches, and which back up against the downstream road (Phase 1) and the infilled platform of a power station (Phase 2).

Key aquatic habitat issues in urban water management

In June 2005, the wetlands of the Wasit Nature Reserve comprised a south-east to north-westerly running swathe of highly impacted saline and hypersaline wetlands, with wetland habitats in Phase 1 ranging from brackish seeps to a mosaic of seasonally saturated and artificially inundated salt flats and salt marsh ponds, surrounded by dense halophytic scrub vegetation, through to large, permanently inundated, artificial water bodies. Artificial inundation of saltmarsh areas, caused by backing up of water against various berms, resulted in effective drowning out of saltmarsh vegetation and its replacement by deep, hypersaline pools.

Phase 2 comprised a broad expanse of mixed terrestrial and wetland habitat, with seasonal to ephemeral wetlands occurring on low-lying areas of the site. The north-western portion of the site was dominated by permanently inundated pools, while the south-eastern section was largely terrestrial and heavily infested with alien mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) (Day and Ewart-Smith 2005). Water entered the wetlands mainly as groundwater flows from the north east, as well as through the dunes from the east (GEOSS 2006). Satellite imagery and aerial photographs of the site show clear linkages in surface water channels, suggesting that they used to braid across the site. These inflows resulted, in April 2006, in clear pathways of visible trickle flow out of the salt marshes and into the downstream open water bodies.

Prior to the implementation of the rehabilitation project, the following wetland habitat types were identified on the wetland reserve as a whole (Day 2006):

Water chemistry data showed that the artificially inundated open water "ponds" in the lower reaches of the wetlands were hypersaline and, without intervention, were on a trajectory of increasing salinity. Inundation of the remaining saltmarsh mosaic upstream in Phase 1 had occurred as a result of more recent impoundment against downstream berms. This exposed these habitats to the poor water quality in the open water systems downstream, and resulted in large-scale die-off of permanently inundated saltmarsh vegetation.

Nevertheless, the wetlands, even in their impacted form, were assessed as having high conservation value, partly as examples of arid saltmarsh systems - systems that have been described as "undervalued natural assets and, significantly, under-represented in formally conserved wetland areas, such as listed RAMSAR wetland sites" (Williams 2002). Their key importance lay in their provision of habitat for a diversity of migrant, over-wintering and resident birds (Aspinal; 2005). From a social perspective, the wetland area also had high potential, as a result of its proximity to a large urban centre, the variety of natural habitats available in the reserve area and the iconic value of the Greater Flamingo, a bird once found there in large numbers, and which could in theory be encouraged to return to the site in similarly large numbers.

Objectives of the Case Study

Following the basic assessment, which highlighted the present and potential importance of the Wasit wetlands for conservation, rehabilitation measures for the Wasit wetlands were formulated with the following key objectives, namely:

• to ensure sustainability of the present wetland system; and,
• to enhance its aesthetic and recreational appeal.

Provisos of all recommendations in the rehabilitation plan were that the envisaged future nature reserve at Wasit had to be sustainable and should not have deleterious effects on existing ecosystems that were conservation-worthy in their own right (de Soyza et al. 2002). This meant that management and rehabilitation activities at Wasit would need to take place within a framework that focused on the conservation and, as far as possible, restoration of natural habitat types, with facilitation of artificial habitat for flagship species (such as Flamingos) taking secondary importance.

Stakeholders

Involved stakeholders included: His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah (project initiator and funder), Gary Bartsch International (project conception and co-ordination) and various biophysical specialists, including the Freshwater Consulting Group (wetland ecosystems), GEOSS (geohydrology) and Drs Hellyer, Howorth, Aspinall, Conrad, Day and Ewart-Smith.

See References