In the United Arab Emirates, for example, Dubai's dune-rippled Desert Conservation Reserve was recognized in November as a protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, thanks in part to its sustainable tourism program and its re-introduction of Arabian oryx and gazelles.

Among the region's more far-flung places, Yemen's island of Socotra is also drawing determined eco-tourists and has been compared to the Galapagos because of its hundreds of species of plants and animals that are found nowhere else on earth.

Jordan, for its part, has even dispatched its cause-crusading Queen Rania, known for her activism on issues like poverty and education, to boost eco-tourism numbers. She promoted the country's natural heritage recently at a Conde Nast travel forum in New York.

"If you want adventure, you can abseil down waterfalls, paraglide off sandstone crags, navigate Red Sea reefs, then cook supper deep in the desert sands of Wadi Rum," she told an audience of hundreds of travel industry leaders.

Such exhilaration can be had along one of the trails through the Mujib gorge. From the edge of the Dead Sea, it winds up through hills and descends to the Mujib river via a rope rappel down a 20-meter waterfall. Along the way, you can stop and cool off in natural pools.

The country's reserves are also great places to spot wildlife. Jordan's conservation efforts included the 1978 reintroduction of the once nearly extinct Arabian oryx, an elegant white antelope native to the Arabian Peninsula.

In establishing the reserve in the 1990s, Jordan also resurrected the fortunes of a dying Bedouin village there, providing residents with jobs helping run the reserve.

(Shanghai Daily December 8, 2008)