Sir Bani Yas: The most wonderful story of eco-tourism

Eco tourism is the winning card of any environmentally protected area; it brings in the cash needed for wildlife conservation projects and creates awareness of why these areas need protection among visitors.
Defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and creates environmental awareness and education, eco-tourism has massive scope in Abu Dhabi, which has six main protected areas with just one eco-resort exists - Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Resorts.
Sir Bani Yas is home to about three million different trees, including ghaf, palm trees, cedar and miswak, the toothbrush tree, as well as six mangrove forests. The emirate's first wildlife conservation projects started here.
Some 35 years ago, when the Arabian Oryx was extinct in the wild, the late Shaikh Zayed bin Nahyan found a couple of them in a zoo in California and brought them to the island. Today, over 10,000 Oryx have been released back into the wild, due to this breeding programme.
The wildlife park on the island also grew to several indigenous species, as well as other Asian and African animals, including cheetahs and one of Shaikh Zayed's favourites, giraffes.
"Tourism has a great potential in increasing public appreciation of the environment, as well as spreading awareness of environmental problems by bringing people into closer contact with nature and the environment," said Christian Gerart, general manager of Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Resorts. The size of Abu Dhabi city, the 87sqkm island was developed into an eco-tourism resort by the Tourism Development and Investment Company and opened to the public in 2008.
Sir Bani Yas is thought to be created nearly 10,000 years ago, when it split from Abu Dhabi's mainland.
The island was first mentioned in European literature around 1590, when Venetian jeweller Gasparo Balbi listed 'Sirbeniast' as an island around which pearls were often found. Indeed, along with its neighbour Delma Island, Sir Bani Yas was on the pearl route of Arabian pearl diving and trading expeditions.
After pearl diving was drowned in history by the invention of sweet water pearls, Sir Bani Yas was forgotten by the world. It was Shaikh Zayed who brought it back to life through several conservation programmes.
Today, Anantara manages three resorts on the island, but there are strict rules visitors must follow.
"Ecotourism has gained high importance to today's hospitality business and should be something every hotel considers and implements. The implementation of simple measures, such as water and energy conservation or waste management does not only have immediate impact on the hotel operation, but more importantly supports the provision of a healthy environment to future generations," concluded Gerart.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com