RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Under its recently announced Experts Program, the Saudi Ministry of Culture has provided an intensive leadership training course for Man and The Biosphere (MAB), a UNESCO program.
MAB is an intergovernmental scientific program that seeks to enhance the relationship between people and their environments through natural and social sciences.
Delivered in partnership with the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science in the Arab States, the course brought together 17 local and international participants.
The program was led by Dr. Elsa Sattout – Regional Program Specialist of the Ecology and Earth Sciences at UNESCO in Cairo, who introduced the basic concepts and history of the MAB program.
The course also saw the contribution of a multidisciplinary group of sector experts including Philippe Pypaert- Program Specialist, EES Program at UNESCO HQ Paris, Dr. Mohamed Sameh – Expert Natural Heritage Conservation & Management from Egypt, Dr. Mohamed Talaat – Expert Natural Heritage Conservation & Management from Egypt.
The other experts include Nabiha Ben Mbarek – ArabMAB Steering Committee member and Ichkeul Biosphere Reserve in Tunisia, Tania Ballane – Ecotourism Manager at Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve in Lebanon and Natalia Boulad- Protected Areas & Biodiversity Program Manager at IUCN Regional Office for West Asia in Amman, Jordan.
During the course, participants explored and deliberated over several topics, including the history of the MAB Program, ecosystem restoration, natural resource management and community empowerment.
Leadership in sustainable development was also addressed through real world case studies concerning the role of local communities, hospitality and entrepreneurship sectors, and the work of the ArabMAB Network.
Considered the first of its kind in the region, the course is one of several specialized training programs offered by the Saudi Ministry of Culture.
This latest development comes as the Kingdom seeks to increase the number of Saudi experts in the field of cultural and natural heritage by providing specialist training with the aim of preserving cultural assets for generations to come.
It is expected that the program will train 30 Saudi experts for UNESCO initiatives and empower a new cohort of specialists in Saudi Arabia and beyond.