The nomination of Hamoun Wetlands to UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Program was approved in a meeting of the National Committee, the head of ECO Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology said.
Asghar Mohammadi Fazel also told IRNA on Tuesday that the proposal was made in 2013 after an expert team had prepared the dossier with the help of the University of Environment.
“The dossier, which represented two years of research, was well-received by the organization,” Fazel, who heads the university, said.
The Hamouns’ nomination is expected to be put up for review during the Fourth World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in Peru during March 14-17, 2016.
He said the wetlands’ membership in UNESCO’s global network will increase international attention toward natural and cultural values of the embattled region. “It will also result in enhanced international and domestic cooperation to preserve the Hamoun Wetlands.”
The committee has earmarked a one-million-hectare region that includes the Hamoun Wildlife Refuge as well as the wetlands to join the program.
The National Commission for UNESCO, Department of Environment, Ports and Maritime Organization, ministries of foreign affairs, energy, industries and agricultural jihad along with several universities, institutions and NGOs are members of the committee.
In June, Tang-e Sayyad National Park in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province became Iran’s 11th Biosphere Reserve during the 27th Session of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Reserve Program.
Arjan and Parishan, Genou, Hara, Kavir, Touran, Miankaleh, Golestan, Arasbaran, Urmia and Denadeh are Iranian biosphere reserves already inscribed on the UNESCO list.
Launched in 1971, MAB is an intergovernmental scientific program that seeks to reconcile conservation of biological and cultural diversity, and economic and social development.
