A. Name of the protected area: King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve (KARR).
B. Total area: 28000 km²
C. Geographic location: The Reserve is located between the Riyadh Region to the North and the Eastern Provinces to the North-West and lies in close proximity to Riyadh City (map attached).
D. Administrative regions to which of the protected area belongs: Riyadh & Eastern regions.
E. Name of the institution authorized to manage the protected area: King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority (KARRDA).
· According to the Royal Decree No. A/219 of 17/9/1439 Hijri establishing a Council for Royal Reserves was issued. The Royal Reserves are designated by order of the Prime Minister, and each reserve shall have the ownership of a Board of Directors and an organ to oversee their development and have an independent legal entity supported by financial and administrative independence.
· Another Royal Decree No. 220 A of 17 /9/ 1439 Hijri was issued to establish the Board of Directors of all Royal Reserves; where this Board is chaired by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Consequently, the Cabinet of Ministers issued a decree No. (437) of 1/7/1441 Hijri, which define the organizational arrangements of the Royal Council and the Royal Development Authorities.
King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve was established in 2018 with the aim of preserving and developing nature and wildlife and achieving environmental sustainability.
It is located in the north of the city of Riyadh on an area of approximately 28 thousand square kilometers, and includes in its areas (kindergartens: Al-Khafs, Al-Naha, Noura, part of the Al-Suman Plateau, and the Al-Dahna desert), which are areas that contain an ancient historical heritage, and the reserve is full of many natural components, as it includes different types of animals, plants and microorganisms that coexist with each other in an environment with diverse features and terrain, in which hunting, camping, logging and overgrazing are prohibited.
This EAGL Summary is based on the Compass-application indicator-verification and the EAGL site visit that included meetings with different categories of local community stakeholders, experts, site managers and employees.
The site has provided, on Compass, all the needed information and data related to the site values.
The KARNR is part of a series of Royal Reserves in the KSA. They are fully supported by the King himself, the Crown Prince and all the Ministries.
The local communities, recently settled nomads in 10 small villages, were reticent at first when the KARNR was announced, because it meant preventing them from grazing freely. But when the grass began to grow again, and they saw species that they had not seen for a long time, all as a result of conservation, they realized that these rules and restrictions were in their own interest. The EAGL met with several representatives, and they all said the same thing.
In addition to the revegetation of the land- which was obvious to the naked eye during the site visit- the local stakeholders commended the fact that KARNR was hiring the rangers from these local communities, which meant income generation and social security for their families. They are looking forward to the increase in the number of rangers, and to other new opportunities, especially for women. The engagement of the local communities is not fully structured, and the site is still at the beginning of establishing the councils.
KARNR is fully supported by a set of national administrations such as National Center for Vegetation Cover, The Special Forces for Environmental Security, and The National Center of Wildlife…
The site has the necessary financial resources to implement its plans and is employing them in a structured way, based on sound designing and planning. It is worth noting that the site received an award from the Ministry of Finance for it sound financial management.
As for human resources, the EAGL noted, during the desk review, that the site has a larger number of employed administrative staff, compared to the field staff. The management explained this being the result of the absence of university graduates with the needed specializations from the local communities. The site is addressing this issue through various ways: contracting a specialized company to the work, and at the same time build the capacity of young potential staff. The EAGL met with the experts and they expressed their confidence that the young trainees will be able to take over the work at the end of the company’s contract. Another way is to support the specialization of young people through scholarships and career guidance. They are now 15, and the target is 35.
The communication and awareness raising efforts of KARNR are commendable: clear target audiences, clear tailored messages and reliable monitoring.
All threats are taken and managed seriously by the site and the government. Conservation outcomes are starting to appear, and more is expected to show in the GL mid-term review.
All remarks and future needs for verification are included in the report and linked to the corresponding indicators The following recommendations are to verify during the Midterm review:
• the establishment of the three councils (community engagement)
• the increase in the number of field team (a plan exists)
• the increase in the number of rangers (ongoing- and they are all from the local communities which enhances their engagement and adoption of KARNR)
