The decision to declare the island of Fuerteventura a Biosphere Reserve was adopted at the meeting held by the International Coordinating Council (ICC) of the Unesco MaB Program held in the Republic of Korea.
The Minister of the Environment of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, Natalia Évora, received the news first thing on Tuesday morning, expressing to ACN Press her first reaction of joy at the Unesco declaration. "We are delighted with the news we received first thing this morning," she added: "one can only feel satisfaction at a global recognition of commitment to the sustainable development of the environment."
"This is a seal of quality for Fuerteventura, which shows that we are working in the right direction, developing tourism development policies that are compatible with the environment," declares Minister Natalia Évora.
With the 20 new additions, including two Spanish territories, the island of Fuerteventura and the Gerês-Xurés Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Spain-Portugal), the World Network of Biosphere Reserves reaches 551 territories, 40 of them in Spain.
The Biosphere Reserve in Fuerteventura comprises the entire island territory plus a five-mile marine strip in the western sector and three miles in the rest of the island. In total it covers an area of 352,812.6 hectares, of which 46.9 percent is terrestrial and 53.1 percent is marine.
Its surface area is significantly larger than the average of the Spanish Biosphere Reserves, and the largest in terms of marine area.
ACN Press
