CAIRO – Egypt’s Environment Minister Yassmin Fouad lauded on Sunday the long-standing co-operation with UNESCO that was lately manifested in declaring Saint Catherine and Wadi el Hitan a protectorate on the world heritage list, hoping such a cooperation would continue to include Qatrani Mount in Fayyum.
The minister made the remarks during a meeting with UNESCO representative in Cairo Nuria Sanz.
Talks covered a number of programs carried out by the UN organization, including the biosphere reserves program, that aims at protecting wildlife and natural reserves.
The minister expounded Egypt’s efforts in running natural reserves and promoting citizens’ awareness of the importance of preserving protectorates.
She also talked about cooperation with the Tourism Ministry to set up environmental tourism resorts in cooperation with national banks and the private sector and issue necessary licenses to them.
The UNESCO official lauded the ministry’s efforts in involving locals in running the natural reserves to benefit from their cultural heritage
