Unesco added on Wednesday 15 September 20 new sites in 21 countries to its world network of biosphere reserves, specially protected areas where the objective is to reconcile nature conservation and economic development.
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New biosphere reserves are designated each year to promote sustainable development, protect terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems and encourage conservation. For the first time, Lesotho, Libya and Saudi Arabia have joined the list of countries hosting such reservations. Other sites are located in Canada, France, Korea, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, Peru, Spain, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
"
The International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Program of Unesco has approved these additions as well as the extension or rezoning of two existing biosphere reserves (in Italy and Chile)
", declared the agency in a press release.
Among the new approved sites, two are cross-border.
The Lake Ubs basin biosphere crosses Russia and Mongolia, and the Mura-Drava-Danube reserve straddles five countries: Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia.
727 world reserves
Biosphere reserves are designated by governments and remain under their jurisdiction once approved.
With 25 sites approved last year, the latest additions bring the total number of reserves to 727 in 131 countries;
an area covering nearly 6% of the planet.
Two nominations, those from Russia and Zambia, were postponed, Unesco said, and the two countries were invited to revise their proposal or provide clarifications.
Five other sites, located in Gabon, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia, have been removed from the list, UNESCO said.
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While in Nigeria, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay visited the Oban Biosphere Reserve, home to the critically endangered Cross River gorilla.
“
The erosion of biodiversity is no longer a hypothesis, but a fact,
” she said in a statement, warning of an “
imminent collapse
”.
"
But this collapse is not inevitable: there is still time to make peace with the planet,
" she added.
A draft treaty that will be discussed at an upcoming United Nations biodiversity summit in Kunming, China, proposes that 30% of the planet's land and oceans become protected areas by 2030.
