Search Results (8)

Humanity is facing an unprecedented socio-ecological and climate crisis resulting from human impact on the planet, which requires a profound transformation in how we inhabit and develop our territories. Regenerative development is emerging as a key approach to strengthening living systems and improving environmental health. In this context, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserves are consolidating their role as strategic instruments that link biodiversity conservation with sustainable development through integrated and participatory land management models. Mexico stands out for its regional and global leadership in implementing these areas. Participatory governance, promoted by the Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme, encourages the active involvement of local communities. This article analyses the application of a regenerative and participatory design methodology in a Biosphere Reserve, evaluating both the process and the tools used. Beyond the fulfilment of sustainability objectives, it examines the lessons learned, results and scope from a regenerative perspective, providing critical reflections on its effectiveness as a strategy for the socio-ecological management of vulnerable territories. Full article

UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is implemented through a world network of biosphere reserves, which offer a holistic people-centered landscape-level conservation approach. When successfully implemented the program enhances social–ecological system sustainability and resilience. However, there remains a research gap in understanding and collating lessons from individual sites for the benefit of the program globally. We assess MAB implementation in South Africa’s oldest biosphere reserve, the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve (KBR; est. 1998). Using semi-structured in-depth interviews with directors and the coordinator, complemented by document analysis, we explore the governance and implementation learnings of the KBR as it has evolved. The KBR program implementation is guided by global necessity, but driven by the local context, which for the KBR translates to a non-profit organization cooperative governance model. The site faces a perceived lack of government financial support and awareness of the ‘biosphere reserve’ concept. Despite these challenges, successes have emerged in the formation of local partnerships to fulfil critical roles in socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation. The learnings from KBR, as it strives to become a model site for sustainability, are useful for other sites similarly operationalizing an international designation for local conditions. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the landscape’s cultural values in the practical work of biosphere reserves and to identify what opportunities there are to increase awareness and knowledge about these values. The paper draws upon data collected in a Swedish biosphere reserve, including a survey of residents, interviews with public officials involved in cultural heritage management, and an analysis of documents produced by the Biosphere Reserve Association. Residents showed a broad knowledge about the landscape’s cultural values, and they linked immaterial heritage to material objects. The residents’ strong identity and pride in relation to the landscape were confirmed by the officials, who argued that it is the deep layers of history and the cultural diversity of the landscape that make the biosphere reserve attractive. However, concepts related to the landscape’s cultural values were barely touched upon in the documents analysed; the landscape’s cultural values were presented as a background—as an abstract value. The findings reveal several unexplored opportunities and practical implications to increase awareness and knowledge of the landscape’s cultural values. Suggested actions include definition of goals, articulation and use of concepts, inventories of actors, increased collaboration, and use of residents’ knowledge. Cultural values of landscapes are often neglected in the practical work of biosphere reserves, despite the social and cultural dimensions of sustainable development being an important component of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. This research indicates several ways of bridging this gap between theory and practice. Full article

Alpine treeline ecosystems are generally expected to advance with increasing temperatures and after land-use abandonment. Multiple interacting factors modify this trend. Understanding the long-term processes underlying treeline advance is essential to predict future changes in structure and function of mountain ecosystems. In a valley in the Central Swiss Alps, we re-assessed a 40-year-old survey of all treeline trees (>0.5 m height) and disentangled climate, topographical, biotic, and disturbance (land use and avalanche risk) factors that have led to treeline advance with a combination of ground-based mapping, decision tree, and dendroecological analyses. Between the first ground survey in 1972/73 and the resurvey in 2012, treeline advanced on average by 10 meters per decade with a maximum local advance of 42 meters per decade. Larch consistently advanced more on south-facing slopes, while pine advance was greater on north-facing slopes. Newly established spruce mostly represented infilling below the previous treeline. The forefront of treeline advance above 2330 m a.s.l. occurred mainly on favorable microsites without competing dwarf shrub vegetation. At slightly lower elevations, treeline advanced mainly on sites that were used for agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century. This study indicates that although treeline advances under the effect of climate warming, a combination of additional ecological factors controls this advance at regional and local scales. Full article

For several decades, studies and conventions have highlighted the importance of the ecosystem services provided by natural resources and biodiversity for humanity and the need to move their management towards a sustainable model. Inthe United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015), among its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there isalsoSDG 15, “Life on Land”, specifically dedicated to biodiversity, forests and desertification. The aim is to “sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt the loss of bio-diversity”. The UNESCO “MAB—Man and Biosphere” Programme could achieve this goal by establishing Biosphere Reserves (BRs). Among them, the establishment of the BR “Etna river valleys” is an opportunity to adopt sustainable development models in the “Etna Park system” (UNESCO site since 2013) for the regeneration of virtuous relationships between cities and rural areas and the promotion of the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity through strategies of territorial enhancement with a multifunctional vision of agriculture and territory. This research aims to provide, through the methodology of “Rough Sets”, a useful tool to support the strategic choices that stakeholders will be called upon to make for the management of the complex environmental, cultural and economic mosaic that characterises the BR “Etna river valleys”.The results show both weaknesses and strengths in the transition towards a sustainable land management model, which will nonethelesshave to be supported and accompanied by information and financial support. Full article

UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) are two themes in UNESCO’s Natural Science Sector. Biosphere Reserves of the MAB Programme are more focused on building international, regional, sub-regional, and ecosystem-specific cooperation as “learning places’’ for sustainable development with a focus on biodiversity. The IGGP supports research and capacity development in Earth Sciences and comprises two sub-programmes: the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) and the UNESCO Global Geoparks Programme (UGGP). UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) use a bottom-up approach to engage local communities in capacity building, via tourism development, with the common goal of promoting and protecting the area’s geological and cultural heritage. Here, we present the results of comparing local involvement from two case studies from Japan, the Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve and the National Mount Hakusan Tedori-river Geopark, along with two case studies from Russia, the Altaisky Biosphere Reserve and the regional Geopark Altai. In this study, we found more involvement by local community members in the Geopark than in the Biosphere Reserve in Japan. The Russian case studies show a complete opposite result with more involvement of local communities in the BRs, and less participation in Geopark management. The purpose of this project was to provide information to improve local involvement in both Japanese and Russian Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks through changes in education and management styles. Full article

The creation of Transboundary Biosphere Reserves (TBRs) is one of the most outstanding contributions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB). Recent revisions have shown that there is a gap between its biodiversity conservation proposals and the theoretical convergence of nations towards sustainable development goals with the practices in action. By applying the landscape approach to the case study of the rural system of the Spanish–Portuguese border, declared Meseta Ibérica TBR (MITBR), it is verified that the spatial zoning of TBRs is a prominent factor in this gap, since they do not correspond to the landscape units and bioregions. This has led to the formulation and implementation of strategic proposals for the reorientation of TBRs towards the stimulation of landscape networks in the transboundary framework. Agroecological networks in this territory stand out, which brings together one of the highest concentrations of indigenous breeds in Europe. A breeder replacement experience was carried out based on the social networks of the MITBR that protect the landscape. The main conclusion of this article is that TBRs are effective in practice through the promotion of cross-border networks of governance and social participation, and mainly through agroecological ones due to their outstanding effect on biodiversity. Full article

Since 1984, the Galapagos Islands have been included in the program UNESCO—MAB (Man and Biosphere Programme) due to the increasing need to safeguard their outstanding natural ecosystems and promote economic progress based on principles of sustainable development and environmentally friendly technologies. The Ecuadorian government, also by special laws, has legislated in favor of the environmental protection of the archipelago, with the intention to control the flow of migrants from the continent to the islands. Today, with the further problems created by the massive influx of tourists, is it necessary to establish planned areas of urban expansion that are already equipped with a suitable system of collection and treatment of wastewater. This paper focuses on the city of Puerto Ayora, the main town of the island of Santa Cruz, where increasing human pressure has led to, among various other consequences, an increase in water demand, which has highlighted the inadequacy of the current wastewater treatment system, based primarily on single-family septic tanks without additional depuration. Among the various actions proposed to solve the increasing health and environmental hazards, caused by the partially treated wastewater, a centralized sewer system for the drainage and the depuration of the wastewater produced by the users connected to the network has been proposed in order to serve the community of Puerto Ayora. This project is currently experiencing a slow implementation process due to technical difficulties. Our intention is to propose a different wastewater management system, which is modular, easily replicable and which requires low maintenance. A flexible and easily manageable system, such as that proposed, could be implemented in other contexts such as, for example, in developing countries. In this specific case, the main purpose of this study is to investigate how to ensure a healthy environment for tourists and residents, without neglecting our duty to respect the ecosystems of this extraordinary island, by defining a model of wastewater management which should be economically and technologically sustainable in this particular context. In fact, the soil, formed by lava rock does not allow for very deep excavations and being so far away from the mainland means that technologies that are easily maintainable on site must be deployed. The study was carried out according to the Millennium Development Goals, Ecuadorian legislation, the suggestions of the Pan American Health Organization, relevant scientific literature and some data collected from site surveys. Full article