UNESCO’s ICC-MAB Program Adopts Ambitious Action Plan

06 July 2024 Printable Version

Agadir - An ambitious action plan for the next two years was adopted on Friday in Agadir during the closing meeting of the 36th session of UNESCO's International Coordinating Council of the Man and Biosphere Programme (ICC-MAB), against a backdrop of major climate change challenges.

"Among the new MAB Executive Board’s tasks, chaired by Morocco, is the preparation and coordination of the Fifth World Congress on Biosphere Reserves, to be held in Hangzhou, capital of China's Zhejiang province, on September 22-27, 2025," the ICC Presidency said in a press release.

The Congress will host UNESCO’s ICC-MAB, the same source added, noting that discussions will focus on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the MAB Programme’s impact and climate change effects on the programme.

During the Council’s 36th Session in Agadir, a new Executive Board has been elected under Morocco’s chairmanship, in the person of Latifa Yaacoubi, Director General of Morocco's National Agency for the Development of Oases and Argan Zones (ANDZOA) and President of the MAB-Morocco National Committee.

The new Executive Board also includes Zuzana Guziova from Slovakia, Helena Freitas from Portugal, Do-Soon Cho from the Republic of Korea, Cyprien Katongo from Zambia, and Andrés Pérez Saenz as representative for the Latin America and Caribbean region.

The session, attended by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, was attended by over 270 delegates from 72 countries, including ambassadors from member states, Morocco's permanent ambassador to UNESCO, Samir Addahre, as well as representatives of biosphere reserves, scientists and partners from a variety of backgrounds.

"Morocco's election to ICC-MAB presidency marks an important step in the Kingdom's commitment to conservation and sustainable development," according to the press release, which added that "Morocco's choice is based on its rich biodiversity and its exemplary commitment to the conservation and development of its biosphere reserves, which have become open-air laboratories for different forms of sustainable development and observatories of the impacts of climate change."

The Kingdom is currently home to four UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserves, namely the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve, the Southern Moroccan Oases Biosphere Reserve, the Mediterranean Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve and the Atlas Cedar Biosphere Reserve.