Términos que acontecen en nuestro trabajo

By the 4th _{session of the ICC held in Paris in November 1975, a number of countries}

had announced firm plans to establish biosphere reserves, leading the ICC to suggest that a list of proposed sites be circulated to all countries for verification. The ICC also established a formal procedure through which biosphere reserves were to be proposed. Countries were invited to complete a simple form containing basic information about the proposed reserve to be examined by the MAB Bureau. Compared with the

biosphere reserve nomination form to be introduced later in the programme’s history, the form was remarkably simple – in essence, a one-page checklist with sixteen

64

parameters to be supplied12_{. If the Bureau found a proposed site worthy of biosphere}

reserve status, the proposing member country would receive a certificate signed by the Director-General indicating that the site would henceforth be considered “part of the biosphere reserve network”. UNESCO (1976), p. 20 and p. 45.

In the spring of 1976, the MAB Bureau met, examined the forms received, and

approved the world’s first 57 biosphere reserves distributed across nine countries: Iran, Norway, Poland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Yugoslavia and Zaire. It should be noted that these sites represented just a fraction of the sites provisionally suggested by MAB member countries as potential sites. At the Bureau meeting held in June the following year, a further 61 biosphere reserves were added to the list representing an additional 18 countries. This brought the total number of biosphere reserves to 118, and the Bureau was in 1977 able to confirm that most of the world’s important biomes were now represented on the list.

In a 1980 article published in the journal Environmental Conservation under the title “The Relevance of MAB”, Michel Batisse anchored his assessment of this relevance in MAB’s ability to convene networked research pilot projects across regions, where possible with a basis in the “biosphere unit”. An example was provided in the “International Network of MAB projects in the Humid Tropics”, which served to facilitate collaboration at three levels – between tropical countries within one region, between different tropical regions, and between tropical and temperate regions. In defining MAB’s relevance, Batisse placed particular emphasis on the role of MAB as a facilitating flows of science-based information. He notes that MAB seeks to:

“[…] develop systematically the dissemination of knowledge and of available experience through diversification and reinforcement of the information-flows between countries having similar ecological conditions—an effort that has seldom been attempted before. At the same time, it endeavours to produce research results in a form that is helpful to decision-making—particularly by involving planners and resources managers in the overall orientation of MAB as

12 _{Name, Geographical location, Altitude, Area, Legal protection, Land tenure, Physical features,}

Vegetation, Noteworthy fauna, Zoning, Modification by man, Scientific research potential, Principal reference material, Staff, Budget and Address.

65

an intergovernmental programme, as well as in the formulation of field research projects and in the discussion of their results.” Batisse (1980), p. 183

In addition to this objective, Batisse notes that MAB is “geared towards the

applicability of the knowledge acquired to the realities of environmental management” (Batisse (1980), p. 184). MAB’s relevance is thus defined quite firmly in its role as a facilitator of information flows within and between regions and scientific disciplines – as well as between the research and natural resource management communities. In a follow-up to this article published in the same journal, Batisse in 1982 – in the lead-up to the first MAB Congress held in Minsk the following year (see below) - laid out the biosphere reserve concept in detail. Entitled “The Biosphere Reserve: A Tool for Environmental Conservation and Management”, the article contained what has been commonly referred to as the “fried egg” sketch of the Biosphere Reserve, illustrating the basic concept of the core, buffer and transitional zones/areas as concentric circles, each zone nestled within the next – supplemented by a second sketch containing multiple core areas within a surrounding buffer zone.

Figure 2: Classic biosphere reserve zonation model, as presented on the Netherlands UNESCO National Commission website13

66

In addition to this explicit introduction of the zonation scheme, Batisse made a number of significant statements on the role of the Biosphere Reserve in relation to other conservation area concepts and global networks.

“The approach taken for the entire MAB Programme is to associate the populations concerned as fully as possible with the formulation and implementation of research projects. It is even more important to take this approach when establishing and managing a protected area, which imposes changes and restrictions on the use of land.

Many conservation areas — including the prestigious national parks in Third World countries — are threatened today by the pressure of expanding local populations who do not understand the significance of these areas, who have not been consulted about their delineation or management, who have been submitted to severe disruption of their traditional ways of life, who need more and more land for grazing or hunting, and who receive almost no returns from the massive tourist industry which ignores their concerns and at the same time can even spoil the protected lands (Lusigi, 1981). The biosphere reserve constitutes a technique, among others, to reverse this very dangerous trend.” Batisse (1982), p. 107.

In extension hereof, Batisse further saw a role for Biosphere Reserves to “play an increasing role in the maintenance and transfer of indigenous technologies for land and water resources uses, thus helping to preserve cultural diversity in a world oriented towards uniformity.” (Batisse (1982), p. 109). The particular attention given to the value of the biosphere reserve as a planning and management tool through which local populations would be able to take leadership in conservation and sustainable use of natural resources marks an early divergence from the more distinct focus on ecological research dominating the programme until then, as well as an early indication of the programme’s future direction.

Along with the increased focus on management, some explicitly stated features of the early MAB programme - such as the potential of biosphere reserves to serve as

67

“benchmarks to evaluate changes in the environment, and [..] usedfor continuous monitoring of physical or biological processes” were now referred to as having been too ambitious, even if some potential for the network to contribute to integrated monitoring of the environment were still acknowledged (Batisse (1982), p. 106-107). Finally, Batisse reaffirms the conservation function as the “primary function” of the biosphere reserve, however stresses that emphasis must be placed on ecosystems that do not receive adequate protection through other mechanisms – and that biosphere reserves should represent a “scientific approach” to conservation, however without detailing what such an approach might entail.