The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, in collaboration with the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), staged a workshop titled "UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB)".

A number of local and international experts participated in the workshop that was held on January 13-17 in Hawar Islands.
The workshop included a field tour in Hawar Islands to study ways to develop them in a sustainable manner and to preserve their natural resources to benefit Bahraini people.
The UNESCO’s programme was highlighted during the workshop, which is an intergovernmental initiative targets improving the human-nature relationship and the link between natural and social sciences.
It also reviewed a number of natural reserves in Bahrain, as well as the possibility of registering the Hawar Islands as a natural site on the UNESCO's World Heritage List.
The participants also tackled means to develop capacities of the Bahraini national team and assisting the SCE in laying out a nature reserve management plan, taking into account the sustainable development and benefiting the locals living on Hawar Islands.
The 50-square-kilometer Hawar Islands are of the most important natural habitats for sea cows. The islands also comprises the world's largest raven birds sanctuary, in addition to many other bird species and marine creatures.
Hawar Islands are one of the sixth nature reserves declared by Bahrain, which the SCE manages and protects.

Source: BNA