About 40 technicians and managers of Biosphere Reserves of Latin America, Spain, Portugal, together with representatives of the Man and Biosphere Program of UNESCO and international organizations such as UNESCO, IUCN and FAO participate in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) of an international seminar on sustainable development of these green spaces protected in Latin America and the Caribbean “, which lasts until 13 November.
The meeting’s objective is to provide a place for the exchange of successful experiences in different countries with biosphere reserves and promote the work of the Network of National Committees of the MAB Programme of UNESCO (Red IberoMab), which serves as Spain Secretary. It is an intergovernmental scientific program that promotes innovative approaches to adequate economic development in terms of social, cultural and sustainable view, from an environmental perspective.
The seminar has provided a stage for the presentation of the first of the many success stories: the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Trifinio Fraternidad, sharing Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, with an institutionalized trinacionalizado management model, which has been the subject of a intense panel discussion in which they emphasized the importance of political will and social will as key ingredients in the process of proposing new biosphere reserves and the provision of facilities for successful management.
Previously, the event began with speeches by the director of the Training Center of the Spanish Cooperation AECI, Jose Lorenzo Garcia-Baltasar, and the Head of International Relations OAPN Alvaro Torres Suarez, co-finance institutions The event, to make way for technical experts who explained UNESCO MAB Programme, the MAB Programme in Spain, the Spanish Network of Biosphere Reserves and Reservations Network Iberoamericana.
Biosphere Reserves are places of learning for sustainable development, interdisciplinary approaches places to try, and to understand and manage change and interactions of social and ecological systems. The Spanish Network of Biosphere Reserves is the largest in the world today with 47 sites distinguished by UNESCO with this model of sustainable land management. Therefore, the Spanish Network of Biosphere Reserves provoked much admiration among the speakers of all countries, both human and financial resources that OAPN at the service of the Red, for the system of monitoring indicators established.
The new strategy of the UNESCO MAB Programme, the design of future Programme Action Plan and Exit Strategy, concocted in 2013 with the idea of improving the credibility and quality of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves has raised many issues were discussed at a round table on the first day of this international meeting.
Source: Magrama
