Fayoum to Get Its First Geopark in Cooperation With UNESCO

The Ministry of Environment has announced plans for the country’s first geopark in the Fayoum region, following talks with UNESCO’s Regional Office for Cairo and Sudan. During a meeting in the New Administrative Capital, Minister Manal Awad and UNESCO Regional Director Nuria Sanz called for a working group - comprising experts from Cairo University and the Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) - to develop criteria and governance frameworks for the project. The discussions also covered future environmental initiatives, including the designation of additional marine national parks and the nomination of Saint Catherine as a UNESCO cultural reserve. UNESCO extended an invitation for Egypt to participate in the Fifth World Congress of Biosphere Reserves, scheduled for late September in China, where global biodiversity and biosphere strategies will be shaped for the next decade. An Egyptian delegation is expected to join the meeting. Egypt already manages several biosphere reserves in collaboration with UNESCO, including Wadi El Rayan, El Omayed, Saint Catherine and Wadi El-Hitan, reinforcing cross-sector environmental cooperation.