Press
Release No.2002-87
UNESCO'S ADDS
18 NEW SITES
TO WORLD NETWORK OF BIOSPHERE RESERVES
Paris, November 8 - Eighteen new
sites in 12 countries have been added to UNESCO's World Network
of Biosphere Reserves while five existing biosphere reserves have
been extended. One extension creates the first transboundary biosphere
reserve in Africa.
The World Network of Biosphere
Reserves now consists of 425 sites in 95 countries. Its focus
is all the more pertinent in the wake of the Johannesburg World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), where countries called
for action to reduce extreme poverty and hunger and ensure environmental
sustainability. "Biosphere reserves," says Peter Bridgewater,
Secretary of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, "represent
real, on-ground action with these ideas." A key aspect is
that local populations work together with all other concerned
parties to achieve these aims.
The new biosphere reserves and
extensions were approved by the Bureau of the MAB International
Co-ordinating Council at its meeting on November 6-8 at UNESCO
Headquarters in Paris. The new biosphere reserves are very varied,
differing in size, population density, ecological features, land
use and challenges:
The Chréa Biosphere Reserve
(Algeria) is located 50 km southwest of the capital Algiers, along
the northern and southern ridges of the Blida section of the Atlas
Mountains. This site plays a vital role in the area, notably as
a water reservoir for large cities like Algiers, Blida and Medea.
It is also important from a conservation perspective with rare
and endangered ecosystems specific to the northern Atlas Mountains.
Las Yungas Biosphere Reserve (Argentina),
in the high Andes of northern Argentina, has a great variety of
landscapes, ranging from abundant sub-tropical mountain forest
with high biodiversity to cloud-swept montane grasslands. The
rich culture of local people has marked the landscape.
Mornington Pensinsula and Western
Port Biosphere Reserve (Australia), located in a coastal region
close to Melbourne, is the country's first new nomination since
the 1970s. Port facilities, small farms, and nature reserves -
some of international importance for bird life - co-exist, raising
the challenges of promoting sustainable development in an urban/coastal
area by involving the numerous stakeholders from the public and
private sectors.
The "W" Region Transboundary
Biosphere Reserve covers more than one million hectares in Benin,
Burkina Faso and Niger. These three countries demonstrated great
political will by creating the first transboundary biosphere reserve
in Africa after a long process of study and consultation. This
site will serve as a model to experiment with different strategies
for sustainable development involving the participation of local
communities. It will mark the first concrete action by the Environment
Initiative launched by NEPAD - the New Partnership for Africa's
Development - at WSSD in Johannesburg.
The Mata Atlantica Biosphere Reserve
(Brazil) has been extended and now covers all the remnants of
the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This vast biosphere reserve ranges
from the dry area of northeast Brazil to humid rain forest in
the middle section, and the temperate forest of Southern Brazil.
This is the fifth extension of an already existing reserve, including
new areas in the south filling up remaining gaps in this large
site.
Canada's twelfth biosphere reserve,
Thousand Islands - Frontenac Arch , takes its name from a geological
ridge formation and the islands formed where Lake Ontario spills
over its eroded hilltops and valleys into the St Lawrence River.
The Dalai Lake Biosphere Reserve
(China), in the far northeastern part of the country, covers grassland
ecosystems and wetlands which are considered as internationally
important for migratory birds under the Ramsar Wetland Convention.
This region is thought to be one of the places where traditional
Mongolian culture originated. The lakes in the region supply water
to some 300,000 people and 2.5 million animals.
Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo Biosphere
Reserve (Dominican Republic) is the country's first biosphere
reserve. It covers almost half a million hectares in the southwest
of the country. It is made up of a complex mosaic of ecosystems
ranging from marine and coastal areas to various forest types
and summits up to 2,300 m, as well as a unique lake lying below
sea level.
Sumaco Biosphere Reserve (Ecuador),
situated in the tropical rain forest of the northeastern Cordillera
de los Andes, has now been extended, following a request from
the local population.
The Upper Niger Biosphere Reserve
(Guinea) plays an important role in the protection of the Sudano-Guinean
forest ecosystem of the catchment basin of the Niger River.
The Badiar Biosphere Reserve (Guinea)
covers an area of about 1.5 million hectares of savannah and open
woodlands. It is adjacent to the Niokolo Koba Biosphere Reserve
in Senegal and so authorities from both countries are encouraged
to cooperate in order to create a transboundary biosphere reserve.
The Valle del Ticino Biosphere
Reserve (Italy) consists of a "riverscape" along the
Ticino River in the north of the country, the meeting place of
the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, with a rich cultural identity.
The Hustai Nuruu Biosphere Reserve
(Mongolia) lies about 100 km southwest of Ulanbaatar, the country's
capital. It contains threatened steppe and forest steppe ecosystems,
which, elsewhere, have been destroyed by over-exploitation. The
site is noted for its successful reintroduction of the endemic
Przewalski horse.
Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve (Republic
of Korea) covers the central part and small marine areas of the
island, lying to the south of the mainland. The area contains
remarkably high biological diversity in the core areas, the buffer
zones play an important role in environmental education and the
transition area focuses on environmentally-friendly primary industries.
The biosphere reserve concept could be extended to the whole island.
The five new biosphere reserves
in the Russian Federation come as a follow up to a national workshop
held in 2001 to examine how the biosphere reserve concept could
help in associating nature protection and new enterprises in forestry,
agriculture and tourism, while benefiting local communities in
rural areas. The new sites are Darvinskiy, a peninsula of the
Rybinsky Reservoir on the Volga River; Nijegorodskoe Zavoljye
in the middle section of the River Volga focusing on restoration
and protection of forests; Smolensk Lakeland in the extreme west
of the country where ecotourism is a major feature; Ugra, conserving
natural and cultural landscapes on the Ugra, Zhizdra and Oka rivers;
and the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, with their marine
fauna and birdlife of Asian and American origin, and traditional
use by local communities.
Las Dehesas de Sierra Morena Biosphere
Reserve (Spain) covers 424,400 hectares in the North of Andalusia
in Spain on the border with Portugal, including three national
parks with Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests. It is also noted
for the prime examples of the ancient dehesas agro-pastoral systems
of Southern Spain, which have proven their worth as a means for
the sustainable use of natural resources.
In Spain in 1983 a small part of
the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands was designated a
biosphere reserve according to the criteria of that time. After
a first extension in 1998, the biosphere reserve concept has now
been applied to the whole island including some adjacent marine
areas and renamed La Palma Biosphere Reserve.
The Terras do Miño Biosphere
Reserve in the northwest Atlantic region of Spain, in the Province
of Galicia. This is a traditional cultural landscape with many
highly important natural habitats. It plays an essential role
in regulating the water supply for the surrounding larger region.
In the United Kingdom, the Braunton
Burrows site in North Devon, first designated in 1977, has been
completely revised and extended by a consultation process among
the local communities and the conservation and development authorities.
It is now renamed the Bideford Bay Biosphere Reserve.
All new sites and extensions 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
sustainability. It also represents a "label of excellence"
which helps secure funding and promote tourism and the local economy.
Membership in a structured network facilitates the exchange of
experience on how to make it work.
****
see also www.unesco.org/mab
For more information
contact:
On November 8: Amy Otchet, Bureau of Public Information, telephone:
(33) (0)1 42 93 54 95
From November 12 onwards: Peter Coles, telephone: (33) 1 45 68
17 10 / email: p.coles@unesco.org
