Saudi Arabia's Harrat Uwayrid added to Unesco biosphere reserves list

The nature reserve, home to 19 endangered species, is the kingdom's largest

Harrat Uwayrid in Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi nature reserve was added to the Unesco Biosphere Reserve's World Network on Wednesday.

Harrat Uwayrid, in the country's north-west, has entered the UN cultural body's “Man and the Biosphere” programme, which it aims to “establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments”.

Harrat Uwayrid is the largest nature reserve of five in the kingdom's AlUla region, with 19 endangered species, 55 kinds of rare plants and 43 species of birds. It is home to endangered Arabian leopards and Arabian gazelles, and about 50,000 villagers who rely on farming for income, according to Unesco.

Harrat Uwayrid Reserve is the second site in Saudi Arabia to have joined the programme after the Farasan Islands, which was chosen last year.

The Farasan Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Jazan, has evidence of human activity from the beginning of the first millennium BC, including the Sabeans, Arabs, Romans, Aksumites, and Ottomans.

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves currently consists of 727 sites in 131 countries and 22 trans-boundary sites.

Established in 1971, the “Man and Biosphere” programme aims to achieve sustainability in biodiversity, and “aims to improve the quality of human-environmental interaction, identify and assess changes in the biosphere resulting from human activities and the effects of these changes on both humans and the environment,” Saudi Press Agency reported.

During the International Conference and Exhibition for Education in Riyadh last month, Unesco's Assistant Director General for Education, Dr Stefania Giannini, said that Saudi Vision 2030 complies with the standards of the organisation.