Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserves already deal with ecosystem services and sustainable development.

Xu et al. (1) make a most useful contribution to the debate on protected areas (PAs) in China and make a welcome focus on ecosystem services rather than threatened species. Nonetheless, their continued focus is on the establishment of PAs, rather than wider landscape-scale approaches, which are more suitable to the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, they say, “First, ...

Urban Biosphere Reserves: Integrating Conservation, Community and Sustainability

Automated Mapping and Updating Techniques in Transboundary East European Unesco Biosphere Reserves Development

The article contains a brief overview of joint research activities (done using GIS methods) in the East European chain of valuable areas of the world connecting five countries: Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine. Mentioned territories are currently under focus of such international organizations as Man and Biosphere UNESCO, which are performing some initiatives in this region. The firs...

Reviewing Biosphere Reserves globally: effective conservation action or bureaucratic label?

The Biosphere Reserve (BR) model of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme reflects a shift towards more accountable conservation. Biosphere Reserves attempt to reconcile environmental protection with sustainable development; they explicitly acknowledge humans, and human interests in the conservation landscape while still maintaining the ecological values of existing protected areas. Conceptu...

Building capital through bioregional planning and biosphere reserves

The need to implement innovative approaches to sustainability is now more critical than ever. This discussion draws on parts of the puzzle that must be assembled to achieve integrated, cross-tenure and jurisdictional management of whole regions and their peoples for a sustainable future. A regional, landscape ecology approach helps us to move on from theory and historical lessons to boldly desi...