Muscat: A workshop on the 'Green List of Protected Areas' began in Muscat today, which is organized by the Environment Authority (EA) in cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The process for joining the Green List is based on three stages. The first is the initial application stage, during which the reserve is evaluated based on several basic indicators. The second is the nomination stage, during which the reserve works to meet all required criteria. This includes a field evaluation by independent international experts. The final stage is the accreditation stage, during which the reserve is granted an official certificate from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and is officially included on the Green List.
The seminar aims to introduce standards of excellence in the management of nature reserves, through the application of the internationally recognized "Green List" system, which evaluates the performance of nature reserves around the world through 17 standards and 50 indicators covering the areas of governance, planning, management, and environmental conservation outcomes.
Dr. Abdullah bin Ali Al Amri, chairman of the Environment Authority, said that this step towards registering a number of nature reserves in the Sultanate of Oman on the International Green List is the culmination of the efforts of the Authority and its partners to enhance the efficiency of nature reserve management.
He said emphasized Oman's commitment to protecting biodiversity following international standards, supporting sustainable development goals, enhancing the effectiveness of protected area management and aligning it with global best practices, engaging the local community in environmental management processes, increasing the number of effectively managed protected areas, achieving international recognition of protected areas, and improving administrative performance.
Eng. Sulaiman bin Nasser al Akhzami, Director General of Nature Conservation at EA, said that the Sultanate of Oman boasts a unique biodiversity, hosting more than 15,000 species of wild and marine plants and animals, including rare and endemic species of regional and global importance.
He stressed that the Sultanate of Oman has paid great attention to protecting its rich and diverse natural resources, by allocating protected areas, as the number of officially declared natural reserves in the Sultanate of Oman are 31 covering various environments and ecosystems such as coasts, deserts, mountains, plains and wadis.
He pointed out that the Environment Agency has submitted nomination files for a number of nature reserves for inclusion on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Green List," which is one of the most prominent international initiatives concerned with measuring the effectiveness of protected area management, including governance, community participation, and achieving tangible results in biodiversity conservation.
He stressed that this ambitious step by the Environment Authority confirms the Sultanate of Oman's efforts to enhance the quality of environmental management in Oman's protected areas and raise their standing regionally and internationally.
Engineer Natalia Boulad, Director of the Protected Areas, World Heritage and Biodiversity Programme at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), noted that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) places great importance on the work of its partners and members in the West Asia region to achieve the Union's mission of achieving a just world that values and protects nature.
She said that the Union encourages building partnerships with local and international bodies and organizations to exchange expertise and best practices, and to work together to ensure the application of the highest standards in the field of nature conservation and the sustainability of natural resources.
She added that working to adopt the Green List standard in protected areas in the Sultanate of Oman and seeking to include these sites on the list is an ambitious goal that we hope to see shortly, to ensure the quality and effectiveness of conservation efforts and achieve tangible results in protecting biodiversity in Oman.
The session will include visual presentations and discussion sessions focusing on the mechanisms for preparing nomination files for nature reserves from various countries around the world to be announced as members of the Green List. It will also include the exchange of experiences between countries, as well as exploring opportunities to improve environmental performance in reserves in the Sultanate of Oman and enhance the role of local communities in protecting natural resources.
The episode introduces the mechanism for incorporating three nature reserves from the Sultanate of Oman into the International Green List by collecting the required data and submitting it to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These are: Al Saleel Nature Reserve, which has passed the first stages of global assessment, the Arabian Oryx Reserve, and the Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve.
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