St. Catherine Protectorate is a natural and cultural reserve located on a high plateau in South Sinai. It is surrounded by towering mountains and covers an area of approximately 4,250 square kilometers.

The reserve was officially declared in 1988, and its management was activated in 1996.

St. Catherine Protectorate is affiliated with the Environment Agency, under the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Egypt.

The area is distinguished by containing Egypt’s highest mountain peaks. It also hosts a variety of plant and animal life, including about 30 species of rare reptiles and 472 rare plant species, some medicinal and some toxic. Additionally, it is home to 19 endemic plant species that grow nowhere else on Earth except in the mountains of the reserve.