Biosphere reserves for man and nature

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Biosphere reserves represent a new approach to nature conservation. They are model areas for new techniques and knowledge for sustainable relationship between man and nature, and recognized as models contributing to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals – the 2030 Agenda.

Biosphere Reserves and the Agenda 2030

The Global Strategy for the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) with its associated Lima Action Plan (2016-2025) underlines the MAB Programme’s instrumental role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. This alignment at the international level further supports the potential of the Swedish biosphere reserves to contribute to the implementation of the Agenda. While the Agenda points out the priorities and the direction of global development, the MAB Programme – with decades of experience in integrated sustainable development – can guide the local, regional and national implementation of the Agenda, by sharing generated know-how.

Publications: Swedish Biosphere Reserves as Arenas for Implementing the 2030 Agenda

Swedish biosphere reserves as arenas for implementing the 2030 Agenda

The Swedish programme "Man and the Biosphere" aim to encourage interdisciplinary research, demonstration of best practice locally and training in sustainable cultural and natural resource management. The programme contributes not only to a better understanding of the environment, including global change, but also to a greater interaction between science, local knowledge and regional and local governance. A beacon is the interaction between actors at different levels of society and that the initiative to establish biosphere reserves must come from local and regional levels.

Declarations of Biosphere reserves, in Swedish: biosfärområde (Biosphere Area), does not by itself provide a protection in a legal sense or any further restrictions or additional demands on existing protected areas.

Man and the Biosphere

Biosphere reserves are closely linked to the UNESCO scientific programme entitled "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB). The MAB programme aims to improve the relationship between man and the environment across the globe. Biosphere reserves are the most important means of achieving this under the programme.

The biosphere is the zone in which man and other organisms can live. Unesco uses the term "biosphere reserves" for areas combining nature conservation with human development. They are model areas where it is possible to test new knowledge and practical approaches to achieving a sustainable relationship between man and nature, and between use and conservation.

Three functions

The area covered by a biosphere reserve must be large enough for it to fulfil three functions:

  • Conservation of biological diversity (genetic variation, species, ecosystems, landscapes)
  • Development: economic and human development that is socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable
  • Logistical support for research, education, monitoring, etc.

Three zones

Biosphere reserves are organised into three geographical zones, known as core areas, buffer zones and transition areas.

  • Core areas are protected by law, e.g., nature reserves, Natura 2000 or National Parks.
  • Buffer zones surround or interconnect core areas. Activities and use of resources in these areas must be consistent with protection in the core areas. Restrictions in buffer zones are to be based on local voluntary agreements and may include economic instruments and/or compensation.
  • Transition areas are the outer zone of a biosphere reserve. Priority is given to sustainable development supported by the local community. Thus, this outer zone is important for economic and social development in the region. Land and water use may also occur in the core area and buffer zone, provided it is desirable and consistent with the aims of nature conservation.

701 reserves around the world

Since june 2019, there are 701 biosphere reserves in 124 countries around the world, a number that is growing with some twenty each year.

The biosphere reserves form a global network: the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.In the Nordic countries, we have had biosphere reserves since the 1970s. There are currently eleven biosphere reserves in the Nordic countries, seven of which are located in Sweden.

Lake Torneträsk, formed in 1986, was the first Swedish biosphere reserve. As it did not meet the criteria laid down in 1995 by the Seville Strategy and the framework for the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, it was withdrawn from the world network in 2010.

The role played by the Swedish Environmental Agency (Swedish EPA)

The Swedish EPA has played an active part in the MAB programme for many years. The EPA hosts the Swedish MAB committee and provide a base funding for seven biosphere reserves and biosphere candidate areas.

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