State of the desert

[damiensharjah]

I went out last night walking in the desert and only arrived back at 5 AM. My aim was to find a male ground gecko Stenodactylus khobarensis, for my seven-year-old female. I didn't find one, but found a few other species (none that I need of course ).

No snakes and no snake tracks, Then at 6AM the early morning gardener called me to remove a saw scaled viper from the hedge (a meter off the ground !!?), and I saw a pair of sand snakes courting in front of the Breeding Centre at about 9 AM, which was lovely - made even better by my first coffee of the day and finally a chance to park my butt for a while.

What came home more than anything though was the cruddy state of the desert here. There is barely a patch longer than 10 meters that isn't scarred by vehicle tracks. 4x4 enthusiasts, beduin, quad bikers and falconers who are tracking their birds have all added to this disaster.



We have to drive in the desert, but there are roads (loose term - granted) that can be followed. Now I've noticed that the bigger the dunes, the more thay have been bashed up by stupid idiots with too much money and too little creativity to do something constructive with what seems to be a hell of a lot of free time.

[Desai]

Thats so #¤¢%!n cr@p. Are there no laws limiting use of recreational vehicles in the desert? Would it be possible to maybe allocate certain areas for vehicle use? Btw are there any reserves or pristine corridors?

[alexander]

Thats not cool, we get that alot oalong the coast here, people with quads and bikes just ride over the strandveld we are trying to restore, these activities do have places asigned to them, but most of them don't care at all.

[armata]

It seems a general problem - quads on the stable dunes around Port Nolloth come to mind, as do dirt bikes on the sensitive heathland areas in the UK.

[damiensharjah]

...Are there no laws limiting use of recreational vehicles in the desert? Btw are there any reserves or pristine corridors?

No. and no.

A major marketing wing of Dubai Tourism is offroad dune-bashing (That's what it's advertized as). There's a certain snob-appeal for the locals (expats and Arabs alike) in not having to pay a tour company to persue this activity.

I hate driving in the desert,. It's not good for the vehicle and it's not fun digging yourself out in 44c heat!!

As for protected areas, these are neglegable little patches of desert with no commercial use. There are areas that the off-roaders don't go, but there's a reason for that in that they are difficult to access, and they are seldom practical to visit to go herping (without driving in and defeating the whole purpose).

If I had it my way, I would ban all quad bikes and jet skis. I'd only allow the little agricultural quads used on farms etc. I bloody hate the things.

Suffice it to say that I don't have it my way!!

[BushSnake]

The best thing our enviromental minister had ever done was to ban 4X4s from the beaches. I would imagine tyre tracks in a desert have the same negative effect as tyre tracks on the beaches.

Money and conservation are worst enemies!

[Hendre]

yes bush snake i remember when i was younger we used to go with people and everybody with 4x4's those days (when it was not so common) would have so much fun on the beaches destroying everything they cannot repair again. but since the law came in i must say i have very very rarely ever again seen a 4x4 on the beach because people are quite strict about it an the state of the beaches is looking better than back then.