Omayed (Arabic: العميد) is a 75,800 ha UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve in western Egypt in a sparsely populated region of coastal desert, 80 kilometres west of Alexandria and 200 kilometres east of Matruh. It was selected as a biosphere reserve in 1981 and extended in 1998. The area includes four villages with a total of 400 inhabitants. Habitats include coastal calcareous dunes, inland ridges, saline depressions, nonsaline depressions and inland plateaus. The area provides essential moss habitat.
El Omayed Biosphere Reserve is characterised by its Mediterranean landscape of rocky ridges, ancient dunes and depressions, coastlines, and an inland plateau. It is a haven for endemic plants of sunrose, chamomile, glaucus star thistle and North African plantain. In Khashm El-Aish plateau grow twenty-nine (29) moss taxa, recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean Egyptian coast, of which sixteen (16) are newly registered on the western Mediterranean coast. The reserve is home to the beach grass, sea spurge, daffodil lily, morning glory, Mediterranean saltbush, saltwort and the locally known ‘Remth’. El Omayed is a refuge for Dorcas gazelle, gerbils, endemic mole-rat, fennec, red fox, hare, and the North African fat sand rat. The reserve nestles kestrel and quail populations, among many others. It is home to a mix of medicinal such as the hairy rupturewort, devil’s thorn and Egyptian mallow seeds. In its habitat grows the Egyptian autumn crocus used as an ingredient of a popular beverage prepared from the rhizomes of ‘Moghat’ (Glossostemon bruguieri Desf.). In the neighbourhood lies Moghra Oasis on the northeastern edge of the Qattara Depression.
Location of Omayed Biosphere Reserve
Omayed region lies in the western coastal desert of Egypt and is located at about 80 km to the west of Alexandria and 200 km to the east of Matruh. Covering a total area of 75,800 ha ranging from 0 to 110, the site was designated as a biosphere reserve in 1981 and extended in 1998.
Situated along the western Mediterranean coast between El-Hamam and El-Alamein, the biosphere reserve houses a wealth of reptiles, birdlife and mammals. Four villages in the region fringing the coastline, but the area remains relatively uninhabited.
Ecological Characteristics of Omayed Biosphere Reserve
The Omayed Biosphere Reserve (OBR) area represents a variety of habitats, biological communities, land use patterns and human settlements of the Mediterranean coastal desert of Egypt. It comprises four villages with a total number of about 400 human beings.
There are five main habitat types at Omayed Biosphere Reserve:
- Coastal dunes, inland ridges, saline depressions, nonsaline depressions, and an inland plateau. The area is located in a warm desert and semi-desert ecosystem with coastal calcareous dunes consisting of Ammophila Arenaria, Euphorbia paralias, Pancratium maritimum etc.; inland ridges with shallow skeletal soils characterised by either Thymellaea spp. and Gymnocarpus decadrum communities or by associations of Plantago Albicans and Asphodelus macrocarpa;
- saline marshy depressions dominated by Salicornia fruticosa, Cressa cretica, Atriplex halimus etc.;
- nonsaline depressions and inland plateau, including species such as Artemisia monosperma and Hammada Elegans associations (calcareous soils), Anabasis articulata and Hammada Scorpio (shallow degraded soils) and Suaeda pruinosa and Salsola tetrandra communities (saline soils); pasture land, fig plantations;
- agroecosystems: agricultural areas of grazing land and fig plantations
Threats
Environmental constraints comprise land degradation, habitat fragmentation, overgrazing, loss of biodiversity, salinisation of soil, and over-exploitation of mineral and water (groundwater) resources. The area is undergoing a painful transformation from natural rangelands to agricultural lands, particularly after the extension of an irrigation canal and extended irrigation networks from the Nile. The availability of irrigation water has influenced the local community’s lifestyle and has created land tenure conflicts due to increased land prices.
Socio-Economic Characteristics
There are many different tribes in the area, which support some 5,500 people (1997). Being a biosphere reserve, the area is expected to serve as a site for the sustainable development of natural resources by rationalising ecotourism, rangeland management, propagating multipurpose woody species, and promoting local industries. It also has a vital function in long-term ecological monitorin
Access
The reserve is not a known safari and sightseeing destination but is of ecological value because of its prolific and diverse species of flora. It’s the only protected area on the northwest coast of the Mediterranean. El Omayed is easily accessible from Alexandria (80 kilometres) and Matrouh, where there is also an international airport.
