Ulan Bator, Jul 17 (IANS): Mongolia's Khar-Us Lake National Park has been added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO, local media reported on Wednesday, citing the UNESCO.

The decision was made during the 36th session of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme held in Agadir, Morocco, from July 2 to July 5, Xinhua news agency reported.

Khar-Us Lake, located in the western Mongolian province of Khovd, occupies a vast depression within the Great Lake Basin, spanning 14,153 square kilometres. The biosphere reserve comprises a core area of 703 square kilometres, a buffer zone spanning 7,800 square kilometres, and a transition area of 5,650 square kilometres.

Its diverse ecosystems encompass aquatic realms, deserts, high mountain terrain, and steppe landscapes, each contributing to the region's ecological richness.

With the addition of Khar-Us Lake, Mongolia now boasts 10 sites registered in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

The Man and the Biosphere Programme is an intergovernmental scientific programme set up by UNESCO in the early 1970s to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments.