Komorebi Design Studio — Case Study Recall × Komorebi
Citizen Science · Experience Design · Conservation

Once you learn
to notice, the
desert is never
barren again.

A four-hour sunset safari at Al Qudra Lakes — where 25 people became field biologists, seed-bomb makers, and quiet guardians of the UAE desert.

3:00 PMArrival & briefing
3:30 PMField expedition begins
5:30 PMSunset sharing circle
6:15 PMSeed bomb making
6:45 PMGiveaways & closing
7:30 PMCampfire after-party
Recall / Ajmal Ashraf
Al Qudra Lakes, Dubai
December 2025
Erfan Firouzi
The Concept

What if a Saturday afternoon could change how you see the world?

The Desert Biodiversity Discovery Experience was not an event. It was a designed encounter — a carefully choreographed four-hour immersion into the living world of Al Qudra Lakes, one of the UAE's most extraordinary desert wetland ecosystems.

Komorebi designed every detail: the field survey kits, the iNaturalist protocol, the discovery scorecard, the seed bomb recipe, the pollinator water station giveaway, the navigation map, the field guide. Nothing was accidental. Everything was in service of one outcome: that people would leave seeing the desert differently. Forever.

Al Qudra Lakes — a network of man-made desert wetlands inside the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve — supports migratory birds along the Afro-Eurasian flyway, Greater Flamingos, Arabian Gazelles, Red Foxes, Arabian Honey Bees, and dozens of native plant species. Most visitors drive past it on the way to a picnic.

"You protect what you love. And you love what you understand. Komorebi's role was to make understanding irresistible."

Families worked as mixed-age teams. Children became the spotters. Adults became the recorders. Biodiversity expert Erfan Firouzi anchored the science. And the desert — patient, abundant, ancient — did the rest.

The Event Materials
Biodiversity Bootcamp Desert Edition event poster — a Komorebi initiative
Biodiversity Bootcamp event poster — Komorebi initiative, powered by iNaturalist & Wildlife Focus

A Komorebi-designed event that looked like the desert felt.

The event poster set the aesthetic: warm sand tones, handcrafted typography, scientific credibility without intimidation. A Komorebi initiative, powered by iNaturalist and Wildlife Focus. Participants contributed real conservation data while developing lasting connections to desert ecosystems.

Recall social post — How participants turned a simple kit into a lifeline for bees
Recall social series — the bee station story
The Experience

Four hours designed to last a lifetime.

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Foundation

Welcome, team formation, expert briefing on UAE biodiversity, ethical observation guidelines, and distribution of field survey kits — binoculars, identification guides, data sheets, discovery scorecards.

3:30 – 5:15 PM

Field Expedition

Teams disperse to assigned zones across Al Qudra's diverse habitats — lakeside, dunes, grasslands, rocky terrain. Wildlife documentation, photography for iNaturalist, native seed collection, educational plaque placement.

5:30 – 6:15 PM

Sunset Circle

Arabic coffee, dates, and lake views. Each team shares discoveries and best photographs. A lead expert tallies total species documented. Collective wonder at what the desert was holding all along.

6:15 – 7:30 PM

Seed Bombs & Home

Participants mix collected native seeds with clay and compost — 5–10 seed bombs each. Every person leaves with a Pollinator Water Station Kit. A daily reminder that conservation starts at home.

What Lives There

27 species to look out for.

A curated field guide designed by Komorebi with expert Erfan Firouzi — given to every participant on arrival.

Plants

  • Ghaf Tree
  • Rubber Bush
  • Common Reed
  • Caltrop
  • Toothbrush Tree

Birds

  • Greater Flamingo
  • Common Hoopoe
  • Purple Sunbird
  • Bee-Eater
  • Red-wattled Lapwing

Mammals

  • Arabian Gazelle
  • Sand Gazelle
  • Arabian Oryx
  • Arabian Red Fox

Insects

  • Arabian Honey Bee
  • Painted Lady Butterfly
  • Blue Argus Butterfly
  • Arabian Paper Wasp
  • European Mantis

Reptiles & Fish

  • Arabian Sand Boa
  • Short-fingered Gecko
  • Arabian Toothcarp
  • Mozambique Tilapia
Take it home

The same tools we put in every participant's hands.

Open-access. No email gate. Print, fill, share — at your next walk, with your own children, or with a community of strangers waiting to become field scientists.

Plate I · 27 species UAE Desert Biodiversity — Field Guide Plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish. Curated with Erfan Firouzi. The same guide given to every Recall participant. Download PDF ↓ Plate II · Citizen science kit Recall — Discovery Survey & Scorecard The full discovery framework. Print, fill, score. The same tool 25 strangers used to become field biologists in one afternoon. Download PDF ↓
Impact

What 25 people and one afternoon can do.

50+ Species documented
in a single afternoon
150+ Native seed bombs
for community distribution
30 Pollinator water stations
installed across Dubai homes

Beyond the numbers: participants left with an entirely new relationship to the desert. They had been scientists for an afternoon. They had contributed real data to global conservation platforms. They had made things with their hands — seed bombs, pollinator stations — that would keep working long after they drove home.

Places & People

An afternoon at Al Qudra.

December 2025. A four-hour sunset safari. 25 strangers became field biologists. Flamingos at the lake. Camels in the brush. Found bones. Sunset trays passed hand to hand. This is what citizen science looks like when it's designed with care.

Flamingos at Al Qudra Lake during the Recall biodiversity safari
Greater flamingos at Al Qudra Lake — the day's first wonder.
Camels grazing in the desert at Al Qudra
Camels in their natural pasture — the desert is anything but empty.
Biodiversity Bootcamp event poster — a Komorebi initiative powered by iNaturalist
Biodiversity Bootcamp — a Komorebi initiative, powered by iNaturalist.
Field discovery — a small group examining a desert skull at golden hour
Field discoveries — a desert skull, found and shared at golden hour.
The Recall participants gathered for a group portrait at Al Qudra
Twenty-five citizen scientists. One sunset. A new community.
From the Field

The day, in motion.

Recorded by Biodiversity Bootcamp during the Al Qudra walk — the rhythm of the safari, the species, the participants, all in one short clip. Watch it on LinkedIn:

Open the post on LinkedIn →

The Komorebi Way

"Hope is not passive. Hope is participation."

The Desert Biodiversity Discovery Experience was designed as a model — replicable quarterly, scalable to 50 participants, adaptable to any season. Each season reveals different species. Each event builds a slightly larger community of people who have chosen, once, to pay attention.

That is the ripple effect. One afternoon. One field guide. One seed bomb. One person who now checks on their pollinator station every morning before work.

The desert is never barren again.