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Achieving sustainability: Indicators and Management Tools for UNESCO Biosphere Reserves


UNESCO biosphere reserves are internationally recognised model regions for sustainable development. With the development of a set of indicators and management tools based on them, the Institute for Rural Structural Research (IfLS), on behalf of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), supports biosphere reserves in meeting this requirement. At a digitally implemented specialist workshop on 30 June, representatives of the MAB National Committee and biosphere reserves, as well as of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), discussed the application of these materials and their potential use to promote sustainable management in UNESCO biosphere reserves.

Proposals for relevant thematic fields and evaluation questions are intended to give biosphere reserves an idea of how sustainable management in the three economic sectors can be systematically processed and what sustainable development in all areas of life or the role model role of local authorities can mean. Operationalised by the set of indicators, concrete indications are given on how sustainability can be quantified. The indicators are applied in five tools that can take on different functions in the management cycle (planning, acting, documenting, auditing). Sharpened by the workshop, these tools are to be completed by the IfLS and made available to biosphere reserve administrations within the framework of a guideline.

Contact persons at the IfLS: Dr Ulrich Gehrlein (gehrlein[at]ifls.de) and Christoph Mathias (mathias[at]ifls.de)