The property encompasses the western part of the greatest expanse of windblown sand on Earth, known as Ar Rub' al-KhaIi, and conserves a portion of one of the Earth’s most spectacular desert landscapes. The varied topography of the property creates a wide range of ecosystems. The site is globally notable due to the reintroduction of iconic desert animals, including the Arabian Oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and Arabian Sand Gazelle (Gazella marica). In the case of the oryx, this was after decades of extinction in the wild. The mobile dunes also provide an excellent and well-oxygenated habitat for sand-diving invertebrates and reptiles, while incised wadis in the limestone plateau harbor rare relict plants. The area has also been used for generations by pastoral, nomadic Bedu.

Brief synthesis 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid is situated at the western edge of Ar-Rub' al-Khali, known to be the largest continuous sand sea on Earth. The property’s hyper-arid desert represents iconic wilderness of Arabia and conserves one of the Earth’s most spectacular desert landscapes with a wide variety of wildlife habitats. It harbours greater biological diversity than any other part of Ar-Rub' al-Khali and features one of the world’s largest longitudinal sand dune systems overlying a dissected limestone plateau, and the southern end of the Tuwayq Escarpment with its vegetated wadis, gravel plains, and inter-dune corridors. The gradient of natural habitats embraced within the property forms the building blocks of a functioning ecological network of patterns and processes supporting the survival and viability of key plant and animal species of global importance, including successfully reintroduced species. 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid is the last place where Arabian Oryx were observed in the wild, and it is now the focus of an intensive and successful reintroduction program for Arabian Oryx and other keystone species, such as the Arabian Sand Gazelle, and the Arabian Mountain Gazelle. Located at the southern end of the Jabal Tuwayq limestone escarpment, the area covered by the property exemplifies the interaction of Ar-Rub' al-Khali’s dunes with the escarpment creating a topographic diversity that distinguishes the property from the surrounding areas of the Ar-Rub' al-KhaIi. Where the dynamic sand dunes witness the process of species adaptation to extreme physical environments, the more stable escarpment provides the sporadic refuge needed for the survival of the property’s free-ranging species. In total, the property encompasses 1.27 million hectares of intact desert ecosystems with a buffer zone of 80,600 hectares. Criterion (vii): 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid is an iconic hyper-arid sand desert representing the largest sand sea on Earth, Ar-Rub' al-Khali. Where the sands meet the…