The Concept

From a historical concept to a tool

Since farming economies appeared five centuries ago, the human population has increased more than 10,000-fold. Demographic growth and increasing consumption have made severe pressures on all ecosystems and risk causing the collapse of the earth's life support system.

UNESCO believes that utilization and conservation of land and water resources should go hand in hand, and that an interdisciplinary approach and long term vision are key. Biosphere reserves are much like laboratories where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. They outpace traditional confined conservation zones, combining core protected areas with zones where sustainable development is fostered by local dwellers and enterprises. Their governance systems are often highly innovative. In some cases, new legislation can be introduced. Biosphere reserves have three inter-connected functions:

• Conservation: landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation
• Development: economic and human and culturally adapted
• Logistic support: research, monitoring, environmental education and training

They generate knowledge and experience which can be used in the wider land and seascape. They are tools to help countries implement the results of the WSSD and in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Ecosystem Approach. They are "learning sites" for the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development.