The IberoMAB Network organizes a seminar on funding sources to ensure the sustainable development of biosphere reserves
Participants to the IberoMAB seminar on funding sources for the sustainable development of biosphere reserves. © Danilo Salas
The annual seminar of the Network of National Committees and Biosphere Reserves of Ibero-America and the Caribbean (IberoMAB Network) took place from 7 to 11 November 2016 in La Antigua, Guatemala. The aim of the event was to bring together representatives of IberoMAB with public and private entities that have the capacity to finance different types of projects related to the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable socio-economic development. The seminar also promoted the exchange of experiences on project funding among the representatives of the different participating countries.
The event was organized by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), the Autonomous National Parks Authority (OAPN) of Spain where the Secretariat of the IberoMAB Network is housed, and UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) through its BRESEP (Biosphere Reserves as a Tool for Coastal and Island Management in the South-East Pacific Region) project.
Over 40 participants from 20 different countries attended the seminar, including MAB focal points and national committees, representatives of national systems of protected areas, the IberoMAB Secretariat, United Nations organizations, UNESCO chairs, universities, foundations and associations, and managers of Ibero-American biosphere reserves.
During the seminar, the participants identified potential donors, sources and funding lines, as well as partners for project development in biosphere reserves. They also analysed the possibility of creating a portfolio of projects for development in Ibero-American biosphere reserves, in accordance with the guidelines of the Lima Action Plan.
The main thematic lines identified during the seminar for the design and development of projects were mitigation and adaptation to climate change, sustainable economies, and institutional and community development.
The seminar concluded by emphasizing the importance of funds that enable biosphere reserves, MAB national committees, focal points and the IberoMaB Network to carry out innovative projects that contribute to the well-being of the population living in and around the reserves, and of activities that have a regional impact and transform biosphere reserves into strategic centres for sustainable development.
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