Involving and empowering the community will play a significant role in preserving Qatar’s Al Reem Biosphere Reserve, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Doha Office has said.
“Certain areas should be better protected, with focus on management and involvement of the community, especially by regulating grazing or hunting so as to keep the green areas alive,” Dr Anna Paolini, director, Unesco Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen, told a press briefing yesterday.
The biosphere reserve, declared in 2007 under Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme, is aimed at efficiently managing natural resources for the well-being of both human populations and the environment.
It covers nearly 10% of the total land area of Qatar.
Dr Paolini stressed that the programme has an important component – the integration of the community in the management of the biosphere reserve, which include conserving the Rawda, the agricultural land, and the coastline land. Unesco is currently preparing an updated version of the management plan, as well as completely revising and assessing the progress made in the conservation of the national reserve for its reporting this year. Dr Paolini noted that about 150 species of migratory birds either to or from South Africa, and Antarctica, among other countries, are stuck in the area for weeks.
“After the rain, the Reserve is absolutely stunning, it seems like you are in another world and it is also the period of the migratory birds,” she added. “It is quite unique, there are also small birds with incredible capacities.”
She said fencing the Reserve is not enough to protect it, but needs the community to be empowered to help manage it. “We know that there are issues with hunting here, it is a popular sport but it is not completely managed so this we are trying to address,” the Unesco senior official pointed out.
Qatar is set to host a GCC meeting in April to tackle some issues and challenges about the programme and to show how Unesco Doha Office is managing and helping the government in managing the Reserve. “Through the management of Al Reem, we have good lessons learned to share with other countries in the region,” Dr Paolini.
