Tourexpi
The Saudi National Center for
Wildlife (NCW) is announcing that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
has included the Ibex Reserve in its exclusive Green List of Protected and
Conserved Areas. The Ibex Reserve, which is managed by the NCW, becomes the
first reserve in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to meet all the required
criteria and indicators to join the list, which includes less than 80 reserves
out of over 300,000 protected areas worldwide.
The
IUCN Green List inclusion represents a global acknowledgment by independent
experts of the efficacy of Ibex Reserve's management programs and reflects the
reserve's success in meeting the Green List's key criteria, which includes
effective governance, transparency and accountability, management based on best
available scientific expertise and local knowledge, consideration of social and
economic context, and proactive planning.
"The
Ibex Reserve's Green List status not only enhances its international standing
but also drives forward our broader conservation and sustainable development
initiatives. We are actively collaborating with our wildlife sector partners to
bring all our national reserves up to this international standard," said
Dr. Mohammed Qurban, CEO, National Center for Wildlife.
The
National Center for Wildlife currently manages 11 protected areas across Saudi
Arabia. Since 2017, NCW has supported the expansion of Saudi Arabia's marine
protected areas from 3.6 percent to 6.5 percent and its terrestrial protected
areas from 4.5 percent to 18.1 percent — and the Kingdom is on track to reach
the 30x30 goal enshrined in the UN's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Situated
in the Tuwaiq mountain range in central Saudi Arabia, the Ibex Reserve was
established in 1988 at the request of local communities to safeguard a herd of
ibex, a threatened species. As a result of NCW's dedicated efforts, the ibex
population has significantly rebounded.
NCW
collaborates with local communities surrounding the Reserve and across the
Kingdom to promote sustainable development, ecotourism, scientific research,
and heritage preservation.
The
Ibex Reserve also provides a habitat for other vulnerable species including
rock hyraxes, foxes, birds, and reptiles, and contains diverse vegetation
including acacia trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses.
Image Credit: © National Center for Wildlife,
Saudi-Arabia
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