NEOM Nature Reserve

McGregor Coxall won the international design competition in 2021 to lead the design of the NEOM Nature Reserve. Since then, McGregor Coxall has led a multidisciplinary team of global consultants through the Concept Masterplan and Detailed Masterplan stages, delivering the spatial blueprint for one of the world’s most ambitious conservation projects. 

The NEOM Nature Reserve spans over 25,000 square kilometres and represents a significant global commitment to nature conservation. It reflects the vision of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Chairman of the NEOM Company Board of Directors and Chairman of the NEOM Nature Reserve Founding Board, to illuminate a path toward a future where nature conservation and restoration are achieved alongside sustainable economic prosperity and unrivalled liveability. This is conservation reimagined for a brighter future for all. 

Three strategic pillars guide the design of the Reserve: Park, People, Planet. These pillars underpin the masterplan’s implementable conservation framework and development program, structured across eight frameworks: Conservation, Visitation, Development, Mobility, Infrastructure, Sustainability, Operations, and Regional Infrastructure. Together these define nine Planning Areas, activation zones, and visitor hubs distributed across the Reserve. 

The masterplan establishes a template for a nature reserve where conservation and human progress are mutually supportive, where nature is cherished, where Arabian wildlife flourishes, and where the sea is vibrant with life. Visitor infrastructure, including experiential nature lodges, is concentrated within defined areas with carefully managed connections to the wider NEOM region. The majority of the Reserve remains dedicated to conservation and habitat restoration, offering a rare showcase of the biodiversity of the Arabian Peninsula. 

A Conservation Economy underpins the long term funding of the Reserve through a purpose driven business model. Visitors become active participants in conservation, generating the revenue required to sustain the Reserve as one of the largest financially self sustaining protected areas in the world. 

Conservation Value 

The NEOM Nature Reserve safeguards one of the most ecologically significant landscapes on the Arabian Peninsula. Spanning 25,165 square kilometres of land and sea, the Reserve protects more than 674 native flora species adapted to an arid climate and supports 1,779 identified marine fauna species, including the Green Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle, Whale Shark, Dugong, and extensive coral communities. The Reserve is home to the Arabian Oryx and Sand Gazelle, species that embody the resilience of desert wildlife. A Conservation Framework guides this protection through effective management, regreening, and rewilding initiatives, including a commitment to plant 100 million native trees, shrubs, and grasses across NEOM’s ecosystems. The Framework aligns with the IUCN protected area approach and supports the categorisation of the Reserve as an IUCN Category II Protected Area, positioning NEOM as a contributor to national programs such as the Saudi Green Initiative. 

Visitor Experience 

Visitation within the NEOM Nature Reserve is structured around a Conservation Economy, where the revenue generated by visitors is reinvested into ongoing conservation and ecological regeneration. The Reserve offers transformative experiences graduated through NEOM Tourism’s Graduated Experience Design Model, distributed across nine Planning Areas. Every visitor is asked to have a neutral or net positive impact on the environments they engage with. Access is managed through an integrated digital booking system, shared and sustainable mobility along demarcated routes, and live monitoring of visitor numbers across each Planning Area. This approach allows the Reserve to deliver spectacular encounters with landscape and wildlife while maintaining the ecological integrity that defines its purpose. 

Diversity of Landscape and Seascape 

The NEOM Nature Reserve encompasses four major landscape archetypes shaped over thousands of years: coastal and marine, coastal desert, mountains, and upper valley. These environments extend from the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea in the east to the Hejaz Mountains and Jebel Shar, and across the expansive Hisma Red Desert to the west. The coastal and marine archetype is further defined by three ecosystems, comprising coastal and intertidal zones, shallow inshore waters, and offshore deep sea environments. This range of high mountains, deserts, coral reefs, and seagrass plains gives the Reserve an unusually broad ecological profile within a single protected area. Layered across this landscape are 924 heritage sites and 72 archaeological sites, tracing ancient migrations, historic trade routes, and the Hajj pilgrimage path, adding a deep cultural dimension to the Reserve’s natural diversity. 

Once endorsed, the Detailed Masterplan will serve as a formal planning instrument for NEOM, guiding the designation, registration, and ongoing management of conservation land. It supports NEOM’s wider commitment to dedicate 95 percent of its region to nature.