Inside the reserve
We are constantly making new and exciting natural and cultural discoveries – come and explore the Reserve with us
An interconnected natural world
From the remote peaks of the volcanic Harat mountains, through dramatic gorges and life-giving wadis to the rich and colorful reefs of the Red Sea, descending to over 1000m of depth, the Reserve offers an extraordinary journey through diverse landscapes, home to flora and fauna, a diverse cultural history and the communities that call the Reserve home.
Our ecosystems
15 Ecosystems
The dramatic landscapes of the Reserve are home to 15 terrestrial and marine ecosystems, each with its own distinct characteristics.
The Northern Red Sea
Coral reefs and seagrass meadows create a colorful marine world where thousands of marine species thrive.
Mangrove
These threatened coastal forests form a natural shield, nurturing diverse marine life and playing a key role in combating climate change and land erosion.
Coastal Shore Complex
A mosaic of habitats including sandy beaches, coral flat, dunes and barrier islands supporting a diverse array of flora and fauna.
Coastal Sabkha
Easily recognizable from the accumulation of saline minerals where salt-adapted flora and microbes flourish, significantly contributing to coastal resilience and carbon storage.
Rocky Outcrop and Coastal Hill
Inexorable geological processes have carved out these varied igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock formations over millennia.
Inland Sabkha
A distinct patch of salt flats in the southwestern Lowland Western Rangelands, this unique ecosystem supports organisms adapted to extreme conditions.
Sandy Plain
Expansive plains molded by the wind, a critical habitat for Arabian oryx and desert adapted animals that rely on the resilient vegetation.
Mountain Slope
The slopes of the Hejaz Mountains dominate the Reserve with varied rock formations, including notable sedimentary sandstone in the north and east.
Cliff and Gully
These steep terrains carve natural corridors through the Reserve.
Wadi and Colluvial Fan
Seasonal rains turn these dry riverbeds into a key source of life, supporting a variety of wildlife and plants like Acacia.
Agriculture
Crops such as citrus, mangoes, and dates have grown across the Reserve's farms for decades supporting invertebrate and bat species.
Urban and Other Infrastructure
The Reserve’s largest towns are the coastal settlements of Al Wajh and Duba with smaller towns and villages inland.
Sand Dune
Formed by the wind over millennia these dunes are an important ecosystem that supports a diverse array of flora and fauna.
Gravel Plains
These open, vegetated plains support desert adapted species able to withstand the harsh environment.
Plateau (Harrat)
Characterized by its dark rocks and with its panoramic views overlooking the Reserve's northern and eastern edges, this high-altitude plateau is home to the Nubian ibex.
Our species
Discover our species
The Reserve is the most biodiverse protected area in the region and hosts 420 plant species, 227 bird species, and 52 terrestrial mammal species. Its Red Sea waters shelter over 260 fish species and 226 coral species. With ongoing research, conservation efforts and monitoring programs, these numbers continue to grow.
Vulnerable
Nubian ibex: Capra nubiana
The Reserve is home to the Kingdom’s largest wild population of the iconic Nubian ibex which is growing through the Reserve’s reintroduction program.
Least Concern
Arabian wolf: Canis lupus arabs
The original population of this small wolf has survived in the Reserve.
Least Concern
Griffon Vulture: Gyps fulvus
The wild population is being grown through the release of rescued individuals which are monitored via satellite tracking to deepen our knowledge.
Critically Endangered
Hawksbill turtle: Eretmochelys imbricata
Frequenting the Reserve year-round, the Hawksbill turtle forages on seagrass and in reefs, coming ashore to nest on the sandy beaches.
Endangered
Coral: Anthozoa
Vast communities of coral polyps form mountainous habitats in clear Red Sea waters that are home to thousands of reliant species.
Vulnerable
Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard: Uromastyx aegyptia
One of two species of spiny-tailed lizards resident in the Reserve, it is able to thrive in the harsh desert environment.
Vulnerable
Dugong: Dugong dugon
These elusive marine mammals feed on seagrass in the shallows, as well as to depths of more than 30m.
Endangered
Onager: Equus hemionus onager
The only onager population in Saudi Arabia, introduced into the Reserve in 2024 as a replacement for the Syrian Wild Ass.
Vulnerable
Nubian ibex: Capra nubiana
The Reserve is home to the Kingdom’s largest wild population of the iconic Nubian ibex which is growing through the Reserve’s reintroduction program.
Least Concern
Arabian wolf: Canis lupus arabs
The original population of this small wolf has survived in the Reserve.
Least Concern
Griffon Vulture: Gyps fulvus
The wild population is being grown through the release of rescued individuals which are monitored via satellite tracking to deepen our knowledge.
Critically Endangered
Hawksbill turtle: Eretmochelys imbricata
Frequenting the Reserve year-round, the Hawksbill turtle forages on seagrass and in reefs, coming ashore to nest on the sandy beaches.
Endangered
Coral: Anthozoa
Vast communities of coral polyps form mountainous habitats in clear Red Sea waters that are home to thousands of reliant species.
Vulnerable
Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard: Uromastyx aegyptia
One of two species of spiny-tailed lizards resident in the Reserve, it is able to thrive in the harsh desert environment.
Vulnerable
Dugong: Dugong dugon
These elusive marine mammals feed on seagrass in the shallows, as well as to depths of more than 30m.
Endangered
Onager: Equus hemionus onager
The only onager population in Saudi Arabia, introduced into the Reserve in 2024 as a replacement for the Syrian Wild Ass.
Nubian Ibex: Capra nubiana
Image taken in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
The Nubian ibex is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. A species of wild goat native to rocky mountainous regions of northeastern Africa and the Middle East, males are famed for their long, curved, ridged horns.
Globally ibex populations are under pressure from habitat loss, and illegal hunting for trophies, and meat.
The Reserve is home to one of the few remaining wild populations in Saudi Arabia, often found along the Hisma Plateau. We are monitoring these populations through our continuous camera trapping program.
Petroglyphs show that they have been found here for thousands of years, often depicted in hunting scenes, proving a human/wildlife dynamic that has existed for millennia.
Throughout the Kingdom’s Royal Reserves ibex are being translocated to reintroduce, reinforce and rewild. The Reserve is working with the National Center for Wildlife to grow the population through the introduction of captive-bred individuals.
Arabian Wolf: Canis lupus arabs
Image taken in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
The smallest of the wolf species, the Arabian wolf has a sandy or light gray coat, well-adapted for desert environment, and can be found across the Arabian Peninsula. Adaptable predators, they are usually found alone or in small family groups, preying on small mammals, birds, and occasionally larger ungulates.
Although listed as a global species of Least Concern by the IUCN, the Arabian wolf is under threat from habitat loss and degradation, prey depletion, and human-wildlife conflict as wolves often prey on livestock.
Despite these threats, wolves are revered in Saudi folklore and are often depicted as symbolizing strength, resilience, and wilderness in poetry, and art.
The Reserve is monitoring wolf populations through our camera trapping program and by securing protected areas wolf populations will be able to grow.
Griffon Vulture: Gyps fulvus
Image taken in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
The griffon vulture is one of the largest birds of prey, with wingspans reaching up to 2.8m. Identifiable by their white to pale buff bodies with brown streaks, white heads, and a hooked beak adapted for tearing flesh. They have broad wings and a short tail, which aids them in soaring and gliding for extended periods. An essential cog in ecosystem functionality, they scavenge carcasses, preventing the spread of diseases and recycling nutrients back into the environment.
In addition to an annual migratory population that overwinter in the Reserve, the Reserve supports a resident population with several roosting and nesting sites confirmed.
Subsequently, the Reserve has been chosen as a release site for illegally obtained birds confiscated by the National Center for Wildlife. The Reserve rehabilitates these individuals, fits GPS trackers, and then releases them so that their movements can be tracked, thus building a bigger picture of migratory patterns. This data helps to underline the importance of protected areas, places where these birds can nest in safety, and the importance of global cooperation in securing habitats as griffon vultures can cover thousands of kilometers a year, crossing borders and territories.
Hawksbill turtle: Eretmochelys imbricata
The Hawksbill turtle is Critically Endangered and although relatively shy, frequents the Reserve’s habitats to find crustaceans, seagrass, algae, sponges, and even jellyfish.
During the summer months, females can be spotted coming ashore on the sandy beaches to dig their nests and lay the next generation.
As part of our monitoring and protection program, the Reserve’s rangers record the nest sites and ensure no predators can dig up the eggs.
Satellite tagging is just another component of our conservation efforts. Tracking turtles for hundreds, and even thousands of kilometers, helps us understand their foraging and nesting sites to allow their enhanced habitat protection.
Through our partnership with the General Organization for Conservation of Coral Reefs and Turtles in the Red Sea, we are protecting the habitats that sea turtles utilize – seagrass meadows and coral reefs – and as a result, we can protect the other species associated with them.
Coral: Anthozoa
Image taken in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
Corals are small animals known as polyps, and collectively, as they build the hard reef, they grow into a colony of hundreds and even thousands of individuals. When producing their calcium carbonate skeletons hard corals play an important role in carbon sequestration.
The extensive fringing coral reef system runs unbroken along the Reserve’s coastline for more than 170km, with some specimens measuring more than 5m in height. These giant individuals have helped seed and replenish the Red Sea coral populations from mortality events for hundreds of years.
Modern-day threats come from several places – polluted runoff (chemicals and nutrients), climate change (rising sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification), and overfishing (catching fish that eat seaweed that would otherwise grow over and smother corals).
Protection of coral reefs is essential to the Reserve and the Red Sea marine community, and in partnership with multiple stakeholders, we can continue to observe the reefs and manage the impacts.
Species List
Egyptian Spiny-tailed lizard: Uromastyx aegyptia
Image taken in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
The Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard is widely distributed across suitable habitats within the Reserve and is easily recognizable from its distinctive wedge-shaped head with prominent scales and a row of spines running down the length of their tail. Well-adapted to hot, dry environments they spend the daylight hours sheltered in burrows or rocky crevices, coming out at night to feed and mate.
Although their population is regarded as stable in the Reserve, globally they are listed as Vulnerable species according to the IUCN red list with a decreasing population worldwide. Hunted and traded for traditional medicine, as well as for a growing pet trade, Spiny-tailed lizards are also listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Through our active restoration activities, the Reserve is securing populations of Spiny-tailed lizards throughout the favored rangeland and gravel plain systems. Once a colony is identified, measures are implemented to reduce grazing pressures, ensuring that the lizards have favorable conditions to aid in population recovery.
Image taken in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
The Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard is widely distributed across suitable habitats within the Reserve and is easily recognizable from its distinctive wedge-shaped head with prominent scales and a row of spines running down the length of their tail. Well-adapted to hot, dry environments they spend the daylight hours sheltered in burrows or rocky crevices, coming out at night to feed and mate.
Although their population is regarded as stable in the Reserve, globally they are listed as Vulnerable species according to the IUCN red list with a decreasing population worldwide. Hunted and traded for traditional medicine, as well as for a growing pet trade, Spiny-tailed lizards are also listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Through our active restoration activities, the Reserve is securing populations of Spiny-tailed lizards throughout the favored rangeland and gravel plain systems. Once a colony is identified, measures are implemented to reduce grazing pressures, ensuring that the lizards have favorable conditions to aid in population recovery.
dugong: Dugong dugon
The Dugong is currently listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a trend towards a decreasing population.
A marine mammal, the Dugong is the only herbivorous mammal that spends its whole life cycle in the marine world and is the only existing species in the Family Dugongidae.
Sometimes referred to as the sea cow, this charismatic species feeds mainly on seagrass and may be considered a keystone species in the Indo-Pacific region, of which the Red Sea is a part.
Although Dugongs are known to dive to depths of over 30 meters to take advantage of the extensive deeper water seagrass, signs of their presence in shallow seagrass beds can be seen in the form of feeding tracks.
Dugong populations are under pressure from habitat loss due to development, fishing, and harvesting of aquatic resources, pollution, boat strikes, and other recreational activities, and climate change (storms and flooding).
The Reserve is home to an as-yet-unknown number of Dugongs, although sightings are becoming more regular with the increased focus on their protection.
Onager: Equus hemionus onager
The Reserve is home to the only population of onager in the Kingdom, introduced in 2024 as a replacement for the Syrian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemippus) that used to inhabit Saudi Arabia’s rocky deserts until it went extinct in 1927. Islamic frescoes from the region show herds of onager being hunted hundreds of years ago. Classified as endangered on the IUCN red list, it is believed there are fewer than 800 individuals left globally in the wild, 7 of whom can be found in the Reserve.
A medium-sized equid family member characterized by a slender build and sandy, reddish-brown to grayish-brown color coat. The onager is well adapted to the arid rocky environment and has evolved physiological adaptations to thrive in arid environments, including efficient water conservation mechanisms and the ability to extract moisture from the vegetation they consume.
This new population of onager is significant as for the first time in nearly 100 years, the species will return to Saudi Arabia. Onagers are a desert ecosystem flagship species, providing a critical ecological function of grazing and with their hard hooves, assist in breaking the crust of soils allowing for wind-blown seeds to collect, and germinate.
People
Communities
An estimated 100,000 people live within the 24,500km² Reserve, an area the size of a small country, mostly in the coastal cities of Al Wajh and Duba and others inland in smaller villages.
Many of the people are Bedouin, however, the Reserve’s history as a trade and pilgrimage route meant some travelers stopped and made their home in the Reserve, contributing to a melting pot of cultural origins. Young people have migrated west to the coastal urban hubs, first for education and then staying for job opportunities, with the elders remaining in their traditional homes. Traditional practices are still alive in the Reserve. Famous for its camel breeding and racing, camels can be seen grazing seasonally across the Reserve, and camel racing tracks draw enthusiasts from across the region, a practice dating back to the 7th century. Camel races, feasts, and singing (a style known as “Al-Rafeehi,” enjoyed by the Balawi and Huwaitat tribes) are the hallmarks of traditional weddings, still taking place, hosted in tents in the desert over multiple days. As with the rest of the country, Arabic is the first language though each Bedouin tribe has its dialect and way of speaking.
History & Culture
85,000 years of human history has left a rich legacy of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the modern-day Reserve. The Reserve is home to two cultural serial sites on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List; Prehistoric Stone Structures in Saudi Arabia and Egyptian Hajj Road.
Thousands of petroglyphs are the earliest evidence of human activity in the Reserve. These petroglyphs provide insights into the Reserve’s history and shed light on the animal species that once flourished in this region. From prehistoric stone structures dating back to approximately 8,000 BCE to the era of the Linhyanites in 6,000 BCE, the Reserve’s heritage unfolds through the ages. It became part of the Nabataean Kingdom’s realm as they journeyed from Petra to Hegra, leaving a distinctive carved tomb in Wadi-Al-Disah. Later, the Romans conquered the Nabataeans, and the Reserve became a province of the Roman Empire until the rise of Islam. Crossed by the Egyptian Hajj route, the Reserve became a melting pot where Muslims from various ethnic backgrounds embarked on their pilgrimage together.
This rich history is evident in the physical remains, such as dwellings, wells, and forts – as well as in the cultural traditions that are still alive to this day. The Reserve’s landscapes are witness to countless stories that make up the fabric of the Kingdom’s identity. That’s why we’re deeply committed to conserving these cultural and heritage sites.
Petroglyphs (Rock art)
The Reserve is home to thousands of petroglyphs depicting day-to-day life with everything from wildlife, hunting to family scenes.
Al- Rohab Stone Structure
These groups of stone circles joined together to make a flower-like pattern are possibly the remains of human settlements and are unique to the Reserve.
Nabataean Façade
The Nabataean Kingdom stretched from Petra in the north to Hegra in the south. This unfinished, single tomb carved into the cliff at Wadi Al-Disah uses the same distinct style and building techniques as its more famous neighbors.
The Rawwafah Temple
Built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius's, the temple was a major cultural site of the era and is especially significant because it features inscriptions in both Greek and Nabatean.
Egyptian Hajj Route
Linking pilgrims with Mecca, the Egyptian Hajj route traversed the modern-day Reserve. Three forts in Duba, Al Aznam, and Al Wajh were stations along the pilgrimage route.
The Old towns of Duba and Al-Wajh
These two important historic, coastal towns grew in the 19th century after the opening of the Suez Canal as both centers of trade and commerce but also for the passage of pilgrims.
