Albay among 20 new sites in UNESCO list of biosphere reserves

 

Lima, Peru — The United Nation's cultural body UNESCO has added 20 new sites, including Albay in the Philippines' Bicol region, to its network of protected biosphere nature reserves.

The status was conferred during a two-day meeting in Lima that ended Saturday, which brought the total number of biosphere reserves to 669 across 120 countries.

According to the UNESCO website, the biosphere in Albay covers some 250,000 hectares.

"The terrestrial elevation of the site culminates at 2,462 meters and its marine part reaches a depth of 223 meters below sea level. The site’s high conservation value is constituted notably by its 182 terrestrial plant species, 46 of which are endemic. Its marine and coastal ecosystems number 12 species of mangrove, 40 species of seaweed or macro-algae, and 10 species of sea grass. Five of the world’s seven species of marine turtles are to be found in Albay," UNESCO said.

In Canada, the Tsa Tue area in the country's Northwest Territories that includes the last pristine arctic lake was added to the list, as was the Beaver Hills region of Alberta, which has a landscape formed by a retreating glacier.

Britain's Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea in a biologically diverse marine environment, and Mexico's Isla Cozumel were also selected for the network.

And in Portugal, the entire Island of Sao Jorge, the fourth largest in the Azores Archipelago, was designated a reserve in addition to the Tajo River region between Portugal and Spain.

The list of new UNESCO biosphere reserves also includes sites in Algeria, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Morocco, Peru,  and Tanzania.

Of the hundreds of locations on the list, 16 are sites that stretch across more than one country. Spain is the country with the largest number of registered reserves.

During the meeting, nine extensions to existing biosphere reserves were also approved. — Agence France-Presse