Ministry of Environment Launches Program to Evaluate Effectiveness of Protected Areas

Doha: The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has launched a program to evaluate the administrative effectiveness of protected areas at Sani', Umm Al-Amad, Laareeq, and Al-Riffa, to ensure that these areas comply with the international standards approved by the Convention on Biological Diversity from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and in preparation for integrated administrative plans for each of them. The program aims to develop a phased work strategy for protected areas extending over four years from 2025 to 2028, and includes identifying priorities for intervention in the short and medium term. The program also seeks to train the national team responsible for planning and managing protected areas, through its participation in the field evaluation process, and specialized workshops in each site, within the relevant technical axes. The program also comes within the efforts of the Ministry's Natural Reserves Department, which aims to enhance the protection and sustainability of biodiversity, and evaluate the geographical scope of targeted sites, in continuation of a series of programs implemented by the Reserves Department in a number of natural reserves in the country, which included the Reem Reserve, and the protected areas in Khor Al Adaid and Al Dhakira, as these reserves represent model and pioneering sites for applying the best international practices in planning, managing and evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas, approved by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The program is being implemented in two phases, the first is evaluating the administrative effectiveness of protected areas in each of Sani', Umm Al Amad, Laareeq, Al Riffa and Al Khor, while the second phase is the stage of preparing integrated management plans for protected areas. The work mechanism includes a general analysis of the sites and an initial assessment of the administrative effectiveness of the reserve in the areas included in the pro gram, preparing interim action plans for protected areas and training the national team in charge of planning and managing these areas. Source: Qatar News Agency