Sharjah 24: In an initiative that is the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates, the Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) held an astronomical reserve event in the Buhais Geological Reserve located in the Al Madam area in the Emirate of Sharjah.

This comes to list it as the first astronomical reserve in the country accredited by the DarkSky International, in cooperation with the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology.

The event witnessed the presence of Her Excellency Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chairperson of the Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA), a team from the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology, and officials from several governmental, academic and tourism entities in Sharjah, in addition to a gathering of visitors and employees of the EPAA. 

The event included several accompanying activities, where attendees lived the experience of observing sunspots with telescopes, and the process of determining location and directions. They also witnessed a workshop on astronomical photography and observing planets and stellar nebulae with telescopes.

In this context, Her Excellency Hana Saif Al Suwaidi said that the new initiative comes within the framework of effective partnership and cooperation with scientific and academic institutions in Sharjah, with the aim of launching new areas that enhance Sharjah’s position as an ideal destination for tourists, nature lovers, and exploration enthusiasts.

Her Excellency pointed out that the activity of the astronomical reserve is considered a qualitative window through which the authority seeks to provide an innovative type of natural eco-tourism programme, as the Buhais Geological Reserve is distinguished by providing those interested with exceptional opportunities to use their own devices to see the sky and see its bright lights in an environmentally friendly area. 

She added that the Buhais Geological Reserve will present a package of accompanying activities about some astronomical phenomena such as “meteor showers,” which requires being in dark places. It is also possible to watch the moon in its various phases, the fall of meteors to the Earth, and the nebulae that are formed as a result of the explosion of stars and the formation of distinctive colours in the sky, in addition to observing nocturnal wildlife in its original nature.

She concluded by saying that the reserve will play a vital role in supporting scientific, educational and natural purposes in the region, in addition to the recreational tourism aspect, holding and observing many astronomical events, and enjoying the stars and planets that space abounds in, in addition to enabling photography enthusiasts, astronomical photography.

It is noteworthy that the site of the Buhais Geological Reserve, in which the Buhais Geological park is located, contains historical evidence about how the local nature was formed no less than 93 million years ago, and it is a site rich in the fossilised remains of many ancient marine creatures that inhabited shallow seas that submerged most of the land in the UAE, until recently from a geological perspective.