RIYADH, 14 March 2006 — A 15-member delegation headed by Prince Turki ibn Nasser, chairman of the Presidency of Meteorological and Environmental Protection, left for Brazil to attend the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba.
The delegation includes Abdul Aziz Abu Zinada, secretary-general of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, and senior officials from King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity is dedicated to promoting sustainable development.
“The focus of the meeting on the dry land biodiversity is of particular interest to the Kingdom,” said Prince Turki prior to his departure. He said the Kingdom would support the implementation of the arid land biodiversity program of the convention.
“The Saudi islands, both in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, are of strategic importance in terms of biodiversity, and we place special emphasis on their conservation and development,” Abu Zinada told Arab News. “It is our fervent hope that the program for sustainable development on these islands will draw adequate funding from the convention for its successful implementation,” he said.
