UNESCO's 'Man and
the Biosphere' programme (MAB), proposes an interdisciplinary
research agenda and education for capacity building, aimed at
improving the relationship of people, as citizens, with their
environment globally. Launched in early 1970 it notably targets
mass consumerism through the ecological, social and economic
dimensions of biodiversity loss and the reduction of this loss. It
uses its World Network of Biospereiosphere Reserves for
knowledge-sharing, research and monitoring, education and training,
and participatory decision- making in plans for
sustainability.
MAB was launched in
1970 and initiated work in 14 Project Areas covering different
ecosystem types from mountains to the sea, from rural to urban
systems, as well more social aspects such as environmental
perception. The MAB governing body, the International Co-ordinating
Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, usually
referred to as the MAB Council or ICC, consists of 34 Member States
elected by UNESCO's biennial General Conference. Between meetings,
the authority of the ICC is delegated to its Bureau, whose members
are nominated from each of UNESCO's geopolitical
regions.
MAB's work over the
years has concentrated on the development of the World Network of
Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).
The biosphere
reserve concept was developed initially in 1974 and was
substantially revised in 1995 with the adoption by the UNESCO
General Conference of the Statutory Framework and the Seville
Strategy for Biosphere Reserves. Today, with more than 400 sites in
over 100 countries, the WNBR provides context-specific
opportunities to apply scientific knowledge to planning at all
levels from government to community with the objectives
of:
* Reducing biodiversity loss,
* Improving livelihoods,
* Enhancing social, economic and cultural
conditions for environmental sustainability,
thus contributing to
the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular MDG
7 on environmental sustainability.
Regarding capacity
building, biosphere reserves can serve as learning and
demonstration sites to promote global citizenship and
sustainability, in the framework of the United Nations Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). In this respect the
reserves have:
* a conservation function - to contribute to the
conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic
variation;
* a development function - to foster economic and
human development which is socio- culturally and ecologically
sustainable;
* a logistic function - to provide support for
research, monitoring, education and information exchange
related to local, national and global issues of conservation and
development.
The aim of a
biosphere reserve is to encourage people to get involved with the
management of these functions. A management system is needed
that is open, evolving and adaptive, in order for the local
community to better respond to external political, economic and
social pressures, which would affect the ecological and cultural
values of the area. This can best be achieved through
organising the community system of 'people and environment' as an
interdisciplinary knowledge framework of cultural ecology. Cultural
ecology presents cross sectorial routes to engage people
with
* managing consumerism to reduce
inequalities;
* managing resources to improve
livelihoods;
* managing resources for environmental
sustainability;
* through plans for managing natural resources to
improve livelihoods and maintain conditions for environmental
sustainability.
As a process of enablement, the educational aim of
cultural ecology is to encourage people to create self-made
knowledge maps to position themselves within local plans for
sustainability in work, community, neighbourhood and home.
The practical objective of cultural ecology is to promote solutions
to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable
use. Therefore, involvement in a management plan presenting local
issues in their wider interdisciplinary aspects, promotes
both local and global citizenship.
