Objectives and Actions

Approach
The General Conference authorizes the Director-General […] to implement the corresponding plan of action in the ecological sciences […], in order to:

• (i) Contribute to minimizing biodiversity loss through the use of ecological and biodiversity sciences in policy- and decision-making;
• (ii) Promote environmental sustainability through the World Network of Biosphere Reserves;
• (iii) Enhance the linkages between cultural and biological diversity, jointly with [Major Programme IV- Culture]

Main line of action 1: Minimizing biodiversity loss through research and capacity-building for ecosystem management
Focus will be on a broad-based interdisciplinary research agenda with respect to the ecological, social and economic dimensions of biodiversity loss and its reduction. Capacity-building will be key […], including the development of a network of learning centres for integrated ecosystem management and through South-South cooperation. In Africa, the regional postgraduate school in Kinshasa, Congo DR, will serve as the principal node for this network.
Efforts will be made to promote interdisciplinary and multisectoral approaches to sustainable development in higher education and in-service training institutions, particularly in post-conflict countries.
State-of-the-art synthesis will be undertaken and new research initiatives on arid lands and humid tropics will be launched, capping 50 years (2006) of UNESCO's involvement in these areas.

• Research, training and education related to biodiversity loss and global assessments
• Urban systems, carbon economies and ecosystem management for biodiversity use
• Research, training and ecosystem management of drylands and mountains
• Research and ecosystem management in coastal areas and humid tropics and South-South cooperation for capacity-building

Main line of action 2: Biosphere reserves - promoting environmental sustainability
Emphasis will be placed on linkages between biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development in specific biosphere reserve contexts. The WNBR and its regional networks will be used as vehicles for knowledge-sharing and exchange of experience, research and monitoring, education and training, and testing of participatory decision-making, thereby contributing to the emergence of "quality economies" and to conflict prevention.

• Establishing new biosphere reserves and transboundary biosphere reserves
• Strengthening of knowledge base on environmental sustainability - including the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP), and the Biosphere Reserve Integrated Monitoring (BRIM) programme
• Using biosphere reserves as platform for conflict prevention
• Statutory meetings and MAB Young Scientists Award Scheme
• Supporting regional and thematic MAB networks

Main line of action 3: Enhancing linkages between cultural and biological diversity
Cultural landscapes and sacred sites will receive special attention and allow to learn about biological and cultural diversity interactions. Special attention will be given to biosphere reserves and World Heritage sites.

• Establishing a knowledge base on cultural practices fostering local-level sustainable use of biodiversity in biosphere reserves
• Local and indigenous knowledge as a basis for equitable biodiversity governance in Small Island Developing States
• Raising awareness of the role of sacred natural sites, cultural landscapes and intangible heritage in ecosystem management and sustainable use of biodiversity