Wadi Allaqi Biosphere Reserve

Declared a protectorate in 1989, Wadi Al Allaqi is in the Aswan governorate in Egypt and covers about 30000 square km. It's a protected desert and biosphere reserve. The Wadi is a dry river which is very large and used to once rise from the Red Sea hills. After the construction of Aswan High Dam, the water flowed and collected into Wadi Al Alaqi which then became the lakes’ part. The protectorate is a valley which is a result of the drying of a large river and is 1 km wide and 275 km long.

Here you can find more than 90 species of plants from both annual and perennial categories. Also, the protectorate has over 15 species of mammals, 16 species of birds, some venomous reptiles and a large variety of invertebrates. The protectorate is only 180 km from Aswan. The Wadi has greenery and is blessed with rich soil acting as a pasture for animals. The astounding botanical variety one can find here is no less than a treat for nature lovers.

More about the wadi
Located to the southeast of Aswan, Wadi Allaqi protectorate has Lake Nasser to the west and the Red Sea to the east. Wadi Allaqi region is special in the way that it has the earliest reference to mining which took place here during the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom when the region was known by the name Akita located in the Land of the Wawat. In the 1900s the area was mined by British and South Africa companies as well.

The historical mining of wadi
The historical mining focused totally on the mining of high-grade quartz veins and alluvial gold. The stooped out quartz veins clearly show the historical mining activity. Waste dumps and tailing too can be seen in a number of deposits showing that the site saw significant mining activities in the past.

The wadi is also used by the nomadic tribes of Bejas who reside in the area. Also, around 1000 members of Bisharyn and Ababda have been seen here. The tribes used this land to graze livestock, for producing charcoal for fuel and even to collect medicinal plants. Also, quarrying of nickel and copper and agriculture on a small scale was done here. Some variety of medicinal plants was also collected from the area.

However, all such activities were somehow stopped from the Wadi in 1989 after which the same was declared as a nature reserve which is being managed by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency. In 1993 it was also declared a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO.

Wadi Allaqi Regional
Wadi Allaqi regional is made up of nine tenement areas out of which eight contain historical gold workings and the ninth one is a rich reserve of copper-nickel deposits. There are in total nine Wadi Allaqi prospects, each of which covers 16km2 in area.