July 2006

Protected Areas assessment exercise conducted in Oman by IUCN WESCANA in cooperation with the government 

In cooperation with the Omani Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment & Water Resources, IUCN WECANA Protected Areas Programme has conducted a protected areas effectiveness assessment exercise for Oman, as part of the add-on project to the national biodiversity strategy and action plan. This activity was supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the General Environment Fund (GEF) and it was executed by WESCANA Protected Areas Programme .

The aim of this study is to assess the current status of protected areas in Oman and come up with a proposed strategy to build national and local capacity, which will ensure the effective management of protected areas in Oman. This assessment has adopted the international recognized management effective tracking that is developed and adopted by IUCN and several other major organizations such as GEF, WWF and World Bank.
Similar assessments are also being implemented for Yemen, Syria, Jordan and Central Asia with the hope to develop a better understanding of the region’s PA's status and feed it into IUCN’s global knowledge network.
The study report will be finalized and published in the coming few weeks .

For more information on please contact Tarek Abul Hawa IUCN WESCANA Protected Areas Coordinator at: tarek.abulhawa@iucn.org or  Salim Saadi at: salimalsaady@hotmail.com