BIOSPHERE RESERVES: A TOOL FOR COASTAL AND ISLAND MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTH-EAST PACIFIC REGION

REGIONAL NATIONAL The three-year project was launched in December 2014 with an event that gathered representatives from all participating countries in the city of Castro, on Chiloé Island, Chile. At the meeting the participants discussed and established the main objectives and activities necessary to initiate the project. Subsequent meetings took place in Lima, Peru (July 2015), Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador (November 2015) during the Fourth World Congress of Biosphere Reserves (Lima, Peru, March 2016), and in Bogota, Colombia (June 2016), to discuss the progress made and various challenges in each country. Chile is currently working to extend the Juan Fernández Biosphere Reserve to include its marine area and to strengthen governance of the Fray Jorge Reserve, by establishing a management committee and preparing and implementing its Biosphere Reserve Management Plan. The workshop Biosphere reserves products and services, tools to improve living conditions was organized by the MAB Programme through the BRESEP Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia (MINAMBIENTE), and held in Bogota in June 2016. The purpose of the workshop was to identify products and services made possible by biosphere reserve classification, in order to add value to local socio-economic activities. The BRESEP and SPINCAM projects work together to support each other s activities and results. Ecuador is working to extend the Biosphere Reserve of the Archipélago de Colón (Galapagos) to include its marine area, and is developing a management plan for the biosphere reserve. It is also working to create a new biosphere reserve in the Gulf of Guayaquil. Peru is focusing on strengthening and developing the management strategy for the Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve, which was extended to the coastal area in March 2016, and is also working on a proposal for a transboundary biosphere reserve with Ecuador. Panama is working to extend the Darien Biosphere Reserve to include marine and coastal areas. It has held meetings with communities and developed educational projects in the area. Chile and Ecuador are currently meeting to assess the possibility of a partnership agreement between the Archipélago de Colón (Galapagos) and Juan Fernández Biosphere Reserves. CONTACT SC-2016/WS/27 The Technical Workshop on Ecosystem Management and Planning for Protected Marine and Coastal Areas was jointly organized by the BRESEP Project and SPINCAM and held in Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador in November 2015. The general objective of the workshop was to create synergies and promote the exchange of experiences between experts from both projects, who use different approaches to marine and coastal ecosystem management. The workshop also highlighted the identification of tools to determine ecosystem services and threats to the marine environment, in order to contribute to the definition of conservation priority areas in the context of integrated marine and coastal management. Man and the Biosphere Programme Colombia is focusing on a study to analyse the feasibility of establishing the first biosphere reserve on the Pacific coast, specifically in the Tribuga-Cupica-Baudó zone. Miguel Clüsener-Godt m.clusener-godt@unesco.org María Rosa Cárdenas Tomazic m.cardenas@unesco.org Man and the Biosphere Programme Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences UNESCO Web: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/ environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/ island-and-coastal-areas/bresep/ Cover: Fany McGhan y Laurie Batista In addition, two training workshops were organized for the representatives from the BRESEP countries. United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural Organization RESERVAS DE LA BIOSFERA COMO UNA HERRAMIE PARA LA GESTIÓN DE ZONAS COSTERAS E ISLAS EN EL PACÍFICO SUR ORIENTAL BIOSPHERE RESERVES: A TOOL FOR COASTAL AND ISLAND MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTH-EAST PACIFIC REGION

BIOSPHERE RESERVES WORKING TOGETHER Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and/ or coastal ecosystems that promote solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. The MAB Programme is working with MAB committees in each country and with the following national institutions: Biosphere reserves are nominated by governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the countries in which they are located. Their status is internationally recognized and they function as designated zones for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing change and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity. Colombia: Directorate of Marine and Coastal Affairs at the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MINAMBIENTE) and the Institute of Environmental Research in the Pacific (IAAP) Left to right: Indrik Myneur; Fany McGhan y Laurie Batista; Fabián Rodas L. T he objective objective of the BRESEP (Biosphere Reserves as a Tool for Coastal and Island Management in the SouthEast Pacific Region) Project is to create and strengthen existing biosphere reserves in coastal zones and islands in the South-East Pacific in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru. The project promotes biosphere reserves as a tool for sound innovative practices from a social, cultural and environmental perspective, with a view to bringing added value to local socioeconomic activities and, thereby, improving the livelihoods of the region s population. BRESEP aims to build the capacities of the actors involved and create a collaborative network between the five participating countries that will compare information, knowledge and experience on themes such as loss of biodiversity, marine and coastal management, and improvement in the standard of living of the population through local, sustainable socio-economic activities. The BRESEP Project is coordinated by the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, thanks to the financial support of the Flemish Government of Belgium and the support of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), with the goal of developing tools and training programmes for the integrated management of coastal areas. The BRESEP Project was launched in December 2014, in Castro, Chiloé Island in Chile, and will last three years. Today, some 98 million people live in 669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries. More than 210 reserves are located on islands and in coastal areas. Only seven biosphere reserves are located along the Pacific Coast of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru, but two the Archipélago de Colón (Galapagos) in Ecuador and Cape Horn in Chile use exceptional management practices that merit sharing through this project. Today, there are 669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries. More than 210 of them are on islands and in coastal areas. Chile: National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) Ecuador: National Biodiversity Directorate, Ministry of the Environment (MAE) Panama: Directorate of Protected Areas and Wildlife Ministry of Environment (MiAmbiete) Peru: National Service for Protected Areas (SERNANP) The MAB Programme coordinates activities for the BRESEP Project in cooperation with the Southeast Pacific Data and Information Network in Support of Integrated Coastal Area Management (SPINCAM), a project coordinated by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific. SPINCAM is funded by the Flemish Government of Belgium and also focuses its work on the south-east Pacific coast of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru. The project establishes a framework of indicators for integrated coastal management at national and regional levels, focusing on the state of the coastal and marine environment and socioeconomic conditions. The purpose of the indicators and coastal spatial data is to support future development and management practices for a sustainable coastline.