Paris, September 21 (No.2001-98) - Eighteen new sites in 13 countries have been added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves and two existing biosphere reserves have been extended. The reserves provide a framework for the study and conservation of the environment and for the sustainable utilization of natural resource. A key aspect of the World Network, which now consists of 411 sites in 94 countries, is that local populations work together with all other concerned parties to achieve these aims.

The new sites and extensions were approved by the Bureau of the International Co-ordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme at its meeting on September 19-21 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The meeting follows on the announcement, September 5, that MAB has been selected to be this year’s laureate of the prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for Concord (Spain).

The new biosphere reserves are very varied, differing in size, population density, ecological features, land use and challenges. They are:

Laguna Oca del Rio Paraguay in Argentina, a vast systems of oxbow lakes and meanders in the huge flood plain of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers, near the city of Formosa;

2 sites in Brazil: the Central Amazon west of Manaus which is renowned for its luxuriant tropical rainforests, consisting of a complex grouping of protected areas and major research sites;

Caatinga, in the poor, arid region of North East Brazil, where there is a need to reconcile traditional agriculture with a growing need for irrigated fruit production, and to link up remaining natural areas, many of them protected as private reserves;

South West Nova in Canada where a long consultation process with local communities, private companies and federal and provincial authorities has led to agreement on a collective approach to conservation and wise utilization of forest and water resources;

2 sites in China: Baotianman in Heinan Province in the headwaters of the Yangze, Huaihe and Yellow rivers. Biologically, this is one of the richest sites in the country where numerous plant and animal species are raised, notably for food and traditional medicine.

Saihan Wula - in the province of Inner Mongolia, along the border of Mongolia - a transition area between forest, grassland and desert. The challenge here is to fight poverty by improving the system of livestock grazing and encouraging non-polluting small industries;

2 sites in India: the Gulf of Mannar - on the southern tip of the Indian sub-continent facing Sri Lanka - with its many islands and coral reefs where it is imperative to protect and wisely use the highly diverse marine resources;

the Sunderban mangroves in the vast Delta of the Ganges, where a careful balance needs to be found between local communities’ development needs and the conservation of biological riches, including the increasingly rare Bengal tigers;

the Issyk Kul Biosphere Reserve in Kyrgyzstan focusing on the management of livestock grazing and the prevention of soil erosion as well as using the fish stocks of Lake Issyk Kul wisely;

in Madagascar the biosphere reserve concept is used for demonstration projects to alleviate poverty while conserving the country’s unique flora and fauna: Sahamalaza-Iles Radama is a complex of coral islands and reefs in the extreme North-West with pressures from traditional and international fishing interests;

3 sites in the Russian Federation which is promoting the integration of local economies and social interests with environmental protection in the sites of Visimskiy in the forests of the central Ural Mountains, Nerusso-Desnianskoe-Polesie in the wetlands on the frontier with Ukraine, and Vodolozerskiy in the boreal forests of the extreme North-West of the country;

Kruger to Canyons in South Africa, including the famous Kruger Park, where local communities and authorities have rallied together under the biosphere reserve framework to promote eco-tourism and the maintenance of cultural values;

Redes in Spain is the third biosphere reserve in the Province of Asturias, characterized by great biological and cultural diversity and is part of the effort underway to create a Gran Cantabrican biosphere reserve - the first biosphere reserve in Europe to cover an entire “ecoregion”; the Entelbuch Biosphere Reserve in Switzerland which enables the local community to promote ecologically-friendly economic growth;

Cat Tien, Vietnam, last remaining sizeable tropical forest, with a great diversity of species which has yet to be studied fully and is under great pressures to meet the needs of local communities;

Golija-Studenica in Yugoslavia with its great biological diversity and Studenica Monastery, a cultural World Heritage site;

The two extensions concern the Cerrado Biosphere Reserve in the savannahs of central Brazil and Babia Gora in the Western Carpathian mountains in Poland.

The sites were proposed by the countries concerned. Membership in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves entails official UN recognition of local and national efforts to meet global concerns on environmental protection. It also represents a “label of excellence” which helps secure funding and promote tourism and the local economy. Membership in a structured network furthermore facilitates the exchange of experience on “how to make it work”.

The emphasis of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves on maximizing the “harmony and concord between conserving unique natural environments and human populations” was acclaimed by the award of the Prince of Asturias Prize for Concord 2001. The prestigious prize of the Prince of Asturias Foundation in Spain aims to recognize and reward “scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic work performed by individuals, groups or institutions world wide”.

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