UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or a subsidiary organization of the United Nations, created to support global cooperation in the fields of science, education, culture, communication, environmental protection and human rights.

Many protected areas in Estonia are linked to UNESCO values. Since 1990, the Biosphere program area of ​​the Western Estonian Islands has been part of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MaB) network, which includes the largest islands - Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Muhu, Vormsi and Ruhnu. It includes the administrative units of Saare and Hiiu counties as a whole, Vorms municipality in Lääne county, and the surrounding sea areas in the Baltic Sea, the Väinamere and the Gulf of Livonia. On the islands of Western Estonia, the heritage culture of sustainable nature use, related village landscapes and heritage communities have been preserved more than in many other places in Estonia. Local natural resources - forest, sea, therapeutic mud, clean environment, etc., which must be used responsibly and sustainably, play an important role in future economic development prospects. The protected areas of Saare and Hiiu counties are within the boundaries of the Western Estonian Biosphere program area. The reserves and target protection zones of these protected areas are the core areas of the program area.

Read more about the Western Estonian archipelago of the UNESCO MaB program on the website of the program area.