First Saudi Protected Area Listed on IUCN Green List

International

Ibex Reserve, just south of Riyadh, joins global gold standard for protected and conserved areas.

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.