Administered by the RSCN, this small reserve is good for bird-watching. The Azraq Basin was originally 12,710 sq km (an area larger than Lebanon), but over-pumping of ground water sucked the wetlands dry in the 1970s and '80s. In recent years, the RSCN has seized control of the wetlands and established a small nature reserve to help facilitate the recovery of the wetlands. Bird populations have returned but the wetlands remain a meagre reflection of their past glory.
An environmental recovery project of this magnitude is certainly worth support, and the on-site visitor centre has well-documented (if tragic and poorly maintained) exhibits detailing the history of the basin’s demise.
