Sir Bani Yas
Sir Bani Yas is an unusual island reserve in the Persian Gulf with an area of 87 km2. Belongs to the UAE and is located 250 km from the capital of this state.
The name of the island of Sir-Bani-Yas comes from the Bani Yas tribe, which first settled in Abu Dhabi. Sir Bani Yas is the crest of a salt dome created by millions of years ago by natural geological forces. These days it is the largest salt dome in the world. The first settlers arrived several thousand years ago. This is evidenced by 36 archaeological sites discovered throughout the territory of Sir-Bani-Yas, each of which gives a clear idea of the history of the island. One of the oldest monuments is the remains of the Christian monastery, which dates back to the 600th year of our era. The church was open to the public in mid-December 2010.
The reserve on the island appeared only in 1971, and before that there was a desert island, but after the island was visited by the first president of the UAE - Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, then almost immediately began work on landscaping. Artificial irrigation plants began to work here, which allowed planting millions of trees, including fruit ones. Thanks to irrigation, the plant world that was on the Arabian Peninsula thousands of years ago was restored. Over 10 thousand wild animals that once lived on the peninsula were brought here: gazelles, several species of mountain sheep, Somali ostriches, giraffes, white orics, antelopes, Sudanese cheetahs, hyenas, barbar sheep. Many of these species of animals are threatened with extinction. The island is also an important marine reserve, because many dolphins swim in local waters, and turtles lay eggs on the island. Seabirds nest here.
Despite the fact that research and conservation are the main part of the current development of the park, visitors can access safari, water games, walking along nature trails, riding mountain bikes and horses, diving, kayaking and fishing at sea.
The UAE is a relatively young state, it immediately took up its development in order to become attractive to the world public. Today there are many buildings for which tourists from all over the world come here to visit, and the developed tourism infrastructure, a high level of service and security in the country only push guests to return here again.
