World experts to discuss biosphere reserves in Malta

Malta is to host a major conference on best practices in island and coastal biosphere reserves from March 24 to 26 to help the country develop its own protected biosphere reserve, as it is currently without one.
The conference, put on by the Maltese National Commission for UNESCO, will see international participants attend workshops to analyze biosphere reserves in their respective countries and discuss future plans.
There are over 610 biosphere reserves in the world at present. Professor Henry Frendo, the chairman of the Maltese National Commission for UNESCO, said the closest thing to such a site in the Maltese Islands so far is Dwejra in Gozo, the second largest island in the country.
Dwejra has the Fungus Rock, an inland sea, the azure window and various endemic fauna and flora, in addition to particular geological formations and archaeological remains.
As the world's population grows and urbanization encroaches on natural spaces, biosphere parks are becoming all the more important 'for people and nature to co-exist,' as an added input to sustainable development, Frendo added.
Being small, over-populated and built up, Malta "desperately need ecological open spaces where man and nature can inter-act," he said.