Luanda - UNESCO's deputy director-general for Natural and Exact Science, Lídia Brito, Wednesday in Luanda praised the Angolan government's decision to increase natural conservation areas from six to 12 percent.
Lídia Brito made the statement following an audience with Vice-President of Angola, Esperança da Costa, in the presence of the Angolan Minister of Education, Luísa Grilo, and Angola's ambassador to UNESCO, Ana Maria de Oliveira.
The official stressed that UNESCO could support the Angolan government so that these national conservation areas could become part of the network of biosphere reserves and that when national parks become UNESCO reserves and are part of regional and international networks, it allows young people to take advantage of biodiversity conservation as a path to development in the country's communities.
The UNESCO's deputy director-general stressed that during the meeting she had analyzed with the Vice-President the strengthening and the organization's interest and willingness for national parks to be designated as biosphere reserves.
"Angola has the potential to be part of the geoparks linked to heritage, which is why we are exploring it," Brito said, adding that UNESCO will provide technical support to Angola so that these national conservation areas can be designated as conservation zones.
"We have more than 700 biospheres in the world and we have a great deal of experience in supporting member states to transform their national areas into zones designated by UNESCO as conservation areas," Brito said.
The UNESCO official added that the organization will continue to support Angola in the areas of education, culture, science and technology and higher education.
According to Lídia Brito, the meeting also served to analyze the 3rd Biennale, which will serve as an impetus for the 2025 edition, as well as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation with Angola, which reiterated its political commitment to a culture of peace, one of the organization's central goals.
Brito said that she would continue to hold meetings in the coming days, to explore areas of cooperation and strengthen the relationship to provide technical assistance to the country and take advantage of Angola's good practices for other countries and vice versa.
For 2025, UNESCO's deputy director-general foresees an edition with more impact, for building peace on the African continent and in the world.
Angola's ambassador to UNESCO, Ana Oliveira, on her turn stressed that the country has ambitions to materialize some challenges in the cultural field, such as the inscription of three sites as world heritage sites: Tchitundo-Hulo (Namibe), Cuito Cuanavale (Cuando Cubango) and the Kwanza Basin. FMA/ART/AMP
