Biosphere Reserves Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Biosphere reserves are areas of natural significance that are designated under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. A reserve may comprise a terrestrial or coastal ecosystem or, in some cases, encompass multiple types of ecosystems. A biosphere reserve may be a national park or other type of protected area that is recognized either nationally or internationally. Biosphere reserves collectively form a World Network, the purpose of which is to share information relating to conservation, development, and logistics.

Biosphere reserves are different from other protected areas in three ways. First, they are part of the designated UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program. Second, the outer boundary is more flexible than legally defined. Third, the water and land contained in a biosphere reserve may be managed by more than one owner or agency. In practice, however, the main binding concept is the first designation as part of the World Network of the Man and the Biosphere Program.

A national committee nominates an area to be designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. Funding for the biosphere reserve comes from various sources such as national or local municipalities, nongovernmental organizations, tour operators, and other such sources. UNESCO does not provide funding except occasionally to fund pilot projects at the local level. Each biosphere reserve has its own management system.

Intents and Origins

Biosphere reserves were originally intended as places for scientists and public agencies to conduct scientific research together in order to meet the changing needs of the environment on a global scale. The biosphere reserve network established through the Man and the Biosphere Program was intended to facilitate the compilation and international sharing of information, especially for ecosystems that were heavily impacted by human activities.

The origin of biosphere reserves dates to the Biosphere Conference, which was organized by UNESCO in 1968. It was the first intergovernmental conference of its kind to address both the themes of conservation and use of natural resources, which were the precursor to present-day notions of sustainable development.

The primary result of the Biosphere Conference was the establishment in 1970 of the Man and the Biosphere Program. Within this program is the World Network of biosphere sites, which sought to have the main ecosystems of the world protected and monitored, with some scope for training. The term biosphere reserve was in References to the overall UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program.

Biosphere reserves were seen in the 1970s as sites of natural excellence in the areas of science, conservation, and natural resource education, and were intended as model places from which lessons could be learned and applied more widely to other protected areas. Plants and animals within the biosphere reserves were to be protected, particularly in regard to genetic diversity. Environmental and ecological research was to take place within biosphere reserves, and facilities for training and education were to be provided.

In the early 1980s, emphasis shifted as key links between conservation and development were made more widely in the world. Partly as a result of experience from the first decade of biosphere reserves, local people were increasingly regarded as critical to the success of a biosphere reserve. This is reflected in the expansion of purpose of a biosphere reserve, which moved beyond the original concept of conservation, monitoring, and training. Indeed, the concept of biosphere reserves is an evolving one. In addition to conservation, biosphere reserves are also intended to provide logistical support for the research, education, monitoring, and exchange of information made possible through the activities within the biosphere reserve. Both human and economic developments are to be fostered in a socioculturally and ecologically sustainable manner.

The 1990s forwarded the concepts of conservation and sustainable development. One of the most important events during this time was the International Conference on Biosphere Reserves in Seville in March 1995. The resulting Seville Strategy proposed that the original concept of research and monitoring comprised only two of ten key directions. Subsequent actions have evaluated the Seville Strategy and show it to be of varying impact, depending upon local and national circumstance.

One of the benefits of a biosphere reserve designation is the potential economic benefit through tourism or other forms of external funding. Another benefit is that some biosphere reserves are located on the boundaries of more than one country and, as such, are ideal ways to develop long-term cooperation. Finally, one of the most important benefits is to promote awareness about sustainable development and conservation among local people, governmental authorities, and other stakeholders.

The model biosphere reserve area comprises a core zone, buffer area, and transition area. The core zone is the strictly protected area, and the buffer area is for limited public access, research, and education. Activities such as low-impact farming, settlement, and recreation may take place in the outer transition area. The boundaries of the protected area may be quite fixed, with the transition area as more flexible and changing. In fact, the entire zonation scheme is, like the biosphere reserve concept itself, subject to evolution and revision according to local and global concerns.

Bibliography:

Michel Batisse, “Developing and Focusing the Biosphere Reserve Concept,” Environmental Conservation (v.9/2, 1986);
Sanford Rikoon and Theresa L. Goedeke, Anti-Environmentalism and Citizen Opposition to the Ozark Man and the Biosphere Reserve (Edwin Mellon Press, 2000).