Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development-12th China Biosphere Reserve Network (CBRN) Convention was held in the UN Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo

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On 20th May, the Forum on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development-12th China Biosphere Reserve Network (CBRN) Convention was held in the UN Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo Park.

The forum was jointly organized by the Chinese National Committee for MAB (Man and Biosphere) and the UNESCO Office in Beijing. It received over 120 participants from the UNESCO Office in Beijing, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Oceanic Administration, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, CBRN members, the Xinhua News agency and other media organizations.

Tackling the theme of the ‘International Year of Biodiversity 2010’, the forum advocated the belief that “biodiversity is essential for the well-being of all life – including human beings”. Strategically perched in the UN pavilion, the forum constitutes a high-level forum for introducing the relationship between humans and biodiversity to international visitors in the Shanghai Expo Park. The forum also functioned to disseminate information on the active role of UNESCO biosphere reserves in balancing biodiversity conservation and economic development. Case studies on the contribution of Chinese biosphere reserves to sustainable development were presented at the forum to elaborate on the achievements of the CBRN in promoting a commitment to sustainable management of natural resources in protected areas through: biosphere protection and communications, a combination of policies and empirical practices and capacity building for biosphere reserve managers.*****

The UNESCO Office in Beijing and the Chinese National Committee for MAB carried out a pilot research project in the Wuyishan Biosphere Reserve on “Building Ecologically Harmonious Civilization”. The results of this project describe how the biosphere reserve could be used as a learning site for sustainable development. A joint publication on this project was officially launched by Prof. XU Zhihong at the forum.

UNESCO-MAB started in 1971. The Chinese government began its participation in UNESCO-MAB in 1978. The goal of this programme is to identify driving factors for biodiversity loss, and to coordinate socio-economic development with biodiversity conservation so as to reduce the loss. To date, there have been 557 biosphere reserves set up under the framework of MAB in 107 countries, constituting the World Biosphere Reverse Network (WBRN). There are now 28 WBRN biosphere reserves in China, which have become demonstration sites for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN-DESD) (from 2005 to 2014).

• Source:United Nations in China
• 01-06-2010

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