Thursday, February 23, 2006

Morocco's 600,000 ha Biosphere.

Some 600,000 ha of natural areas, divided among four provinces in the north of Morocco, will be the Mediterranean's first reserve of the intercontinental biosphere, said Wednesday an official in charge of the network of the protected natural spaces of Andalusia.

The project, to be approved by the UNESCO in June, will cover another 400,000 ha in the south of Spain.

It will be presented to UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) Committee next winter in Malaga, said the same source.

MAB is an international Programme concerned with the field of biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and capacity building and information sharing. It also aims at promoting the biosphere reserve concept, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and its constituent regional networks.

In Morocco, eight inland biological and ecological sites will be part of the project, in particular Talassemtan, Jbel Bouhachem, Jbel Qarrich. Ten other coastal ones will also figure including, Jbel Moussa, Koudiet Taifour, Gomara, and El Jebha. These areas are in the Wilaya of Tangier and Tetouan, and the provinces of Larache and Chefchaouen.

On the Spanish side, the biosphere reserve will incorporate a number of protected areas, including four in Andalusia (Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra de Grazalema, Los Alcornocales and El Estrecho) and a number of natural monuments in Malaga.

The creation of the biosphere reserve aims at boosting development in the northern region through the promotion of rural tourism and biological culture.

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