Egypt is planning to establish its first geopark in the Fayoum region and is expanding its cooperation with UNESCO on biodiversity and environmental protection, the environment ministry said. The plans were discussed in a Tuesday meeting between Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment, Manal Awad, and Nuria Sanz, UNESCO's regional director for Cairo and Sudan, at the ministry'sheadquarters in the New Administrative Capital. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency and UNESCO's Cairo office. Awad said a working group from Cairo University and the Environmental Affairs Agency has been formed to establish criteria for the Fayoum geopark. She added that future plans also include declaring new national marine parks and designating Saint Catherine as a cultural reserve. During the meeting, Sanz invited Egypt to participate in the Fifth World Congress of Biosphere Reserves, which will be held in China in late September. The congress is expected to bring together around 3,000 experts from 136 countries to seta new global action plan for the next decade, in line with global biodiversity goals, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the U.N. sustainable development agenda. Sanz emphasized the importance of Egypt's participation in showcasing its conservation experience, highlighting Cairo'srole in advancing environmental diplomacy, particularly after hosting the COP27 climate summit. She added that cooperation with Egypt would also support its efforts in developing UNESCO's Geoparks programme at the national level and in hosting the Barcelona Convention meeting on Mediterranean marine protection in December. Awad noted that Egypt has worked closely with UNESCO to establish and manage several existing biosphere reserves, including Wadi El Rayan, El Omayed, Saint Catherine, and Wadi El-Hitan, to protect biodiversity and promote environmental sustainability.
