ادارة المحمية

Wadi Rum Protected Area is managed by a local area management, under the umbrella of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA). There is an on-site management team of 52 people (June 2005), operating out of the visitor centre, most of whom have been recruited from local communities. This team includes a Site Manager and managers for tourism, research, socio-economic programmes, public awareness and administration. It also includes a Community Liaison Officer, who works to build closer working relationships with local people. There is also a government appointed Steering Committee responsible for overseeing the development of the protected area, which consists of all major stakeholders, including the local community. The management programmes within the protected area are guided by a conservation management plan and a visitor management plan, which were developed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), a well known national organisation. The Society was commissioned by ASEZA to prepare the plans and to recruit and develop the on-site management team under a World Bank assisted project that ran from 1998 to 2005.