Wadi Al-Hitan – also known as Whale Valley – is located in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is an ‘open-air museum’ of invaluable fossil remains of the earliest, and now extinct, suborder of whales (Archaeoceti), as well as other prehistoric fossil remains and diverse living wildlife. The sheer number, concentration, quality, and accessibility of the evidence saw Wadi Al-Hitan inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. It is state-owned and has strong legal protection under the Egyptian Law for Nature Protectorate Reserves, forbidding actions that would lead to the destruction or deterioration of the natural environment.

The main visitor groups are foreign tourists who usually camp overnight at the World Heritage site, which is difficult to reach. Since the implementation of sustainable tourism strategies at Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area (WRPA), of which Wadi Al-Hitan is incorporated, tourist numbers have steadily increased – around 12,000 visitors were recorded in 2008.