Special Designations

Biosphere Reserves

Definition

Biosphere Reserves are sites, that are part of a worldwide network of natural reserves set aside for conserving genetic resources, facilitating long-term research and monitoring, and encouraging education, training, and demonstration of sustainable resource use. A Biosphere Reserve is usually representative of a biogeographic province and large. Biosphere Reserves usually consist of a strictly protected core area and a surrounding managed use area  where manipulative research and other uses compatible with protection of the core area may be conducted. There also may be an area of cooperation peripheral to the managed use area, usually  not demarkated, where uses are managed cooperatively in harmony with the purposes of the Biosphere Reserve.

It is not possible to carry out fully the multiple functions of Biosphere Reserves inside national parks or some other protected areas. Consumptive use and manipulative research recommended in a model Biosphere Reserve's "managed use" area is inconsistent with national park policy. As a result, national parks usually represent the Biosphere Reserve's inner "core" area. Many Biosphere Reserves established in the United States consist of ecologically and functionally complementary sites under different administrators. These sites may be either contiguous or comprise a cluster of geographically separated sites that are part of the same Biosphere Reserve. The Biosphere Reserve thus can serve as a framework for cooperation regionally, as between a park and adjacent lands, on resource issues of mutual interest. Man and the Biosphere (MAB) sponsored activities have been developed to facilitate this cooperation. The addition of new administrative areas to existing Biosphere Reserves is encouraged in order to provide opportunities for developing the conservation, information sharing, and development roles.

Policy and Program Objectives

The NPS Management Policies states:

Parks may be nominated for recognition as Biosphere Reserves, or as constituents of Biosphere Reserves. Specific guidance for recognition is provided by the United States Man and Biosphere (MAB) program based on the general guidance of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Working within the MAB program, the Service may assist in determining the suitability and feasibility of including parks in U. S. Biosphere Reserves, may participate in research and educational activities, and may furnish information on its Biosphere Reserves for inclusion in domestic and international information systems.

The designation of park lands as Biosphere Reserves, or as constituents of Biosphere Reserves, does not alter the purposes for which the parks were established, change the management requirements, or reduce NPS jurisdiction over parks. To the extent practicable, superintendents of parks that are recognized as Biosphere Reserves will incorporate biosphere reserve objectives into general management plans, implementation plans, action plans, and park interpretive programs. Superintendents will pursue opportunities to use the biosphere reserve designation as a framework for local, regional, and international cooperation. ( 4.3.6)

Biosphere Reserves are dedicated to research on the structure, function and management of ecosystems, and on ways to pursue sustainable, integrated development. Research results can be communicated globally through the international MAB information network. Biosphere Reserves are also intended to be educational, demonstration, and training centers for sharing such knowledge. NPS Biosphere Reserve units should identify inventory, monitoring, research, management, interpretive, and demonstration projects dealing with regional and global issues as part of the park's Biosphere Reserve activities.

Authorities

The authority for NPS involvement in the Biosphere Reserve program is based on the NPS Organic Act and the NPS Omnibus Management Act of 1998.

Relationship to Other Guidance

See proposed Guidelines for the Selection and Coordination of  Biosphere Reserves in the United States, March 27, 1998; Draft Framework for Cooperation and Participation in the US MAB Program, March 14, 1998; Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves (Nature and Resources 20(4)); and Practical Guide to MAB, pp. 18-26, UNESCO. (All the above documents are available from the Washington Office, Natural Systems Management Office or the U. S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.)

Program Guidance

To be selected as a Biosphere Reserve or part of a Biosphere Reserve, a park must contain an effectively protected, minimally disturbed core area of value for nature conservation, research, and education. The core area should be typical of the biogeographic region. The park should develop a proposal with managers of surrounding lands that will allow for the desirability of having a "managed-use area" surrounding the core area, and an "area of cooperation" surrounding both. For details on selection criteria see the references listed in Relationship to Other Guidance, above.

No legislation is required to establish a Biosphere Reserve. Candidate areas are proposed by local organizations in the region of the potential biosphere reserve. Proposals are reviewed by the MAB Biosphere Reserve Directorate and then by the US MAB National Committee. The U.S. MAB National Committee then verifies official concurrence of the site administrator(s). The administrator(s) of each proposed site completes a nomination form that contains a declaration of commitment to UNESCO's Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves, which sets forth the functions of Biosphere Reserves and the objectives of the international Biosphere Reserve program. The nomination form also requires the administrator to identify, in a preliminary way, anticipated implementing actions, and to provide a map of the proposed Biosphere Reserve. To facilitate understanding of the biosphere reserve concept and as a basis for beginning implementation, U.S. MAB may, at the administrators' request, convene informal discussions, workshops, or public meetings. The nomination, signed by the Chairman of the U.S. MAB National Committee, is transmitted to the UNESCO MAB Secretariat for final approval and designation.

Biosphere Reserves ideally consist of a core area, managed use area, and an area of cooperation (see Definition, above). In parks that are Biosphere Reserves or constitute parts of one, the portion of the park managed primarily for natural values can be the core area, and areas of the park managed primarily for other values can form the Biosphere Reserve managed use area. Alternatively, the core area can be the entire park with the managed use area outside its boundaries. The area of cooperation adjacent to the managed use are can have an open boundary.

Relationship to Other Designations

Wilderness Areas can be designated as core areas of Biosphere Reserves, or be included within larger tracks delineated as core areas. Biosphere Reserves may also subsume Research Natural Areas, Experimental Research Areas, World Heritage Sites, National Natural Landmarks, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and parts of National Trails.

Research in Biosphere Reserves addresses needs of the biogeographical region in which the park is located. Long-term monitoring and research are important for obtaining baseline data, trends data, and understanding of ecological processes, knowledge that can be applied in sustainable management of the resources in the park and the larger region. Much of the research in Biosphere Reserve parks should be designed to address issues of concern to the region as well as the park, and, when the park is part of a Biosphere Reserve with multiple land managers, research should be coordinated with other agencies or organizations. Cooperative research with other Biosphere Reserves in both the United States and other countries should be encouraged. The park's general management plan should reflect management objectives compatible with the Biosphere Reserve concept. Communication with the public about Biosphere Reserves should focus on human-environmental relationships. The role of the park as a Biosphere Reserve should be interpreted to the public and take a world view. Demonstration and training are also Biosphere Reserve goals. Parks designated as parts of Biosphere Reserves should publicize this status through plaques, brochures, audio-visual presentations, exhibits, and other materials describing the MAB Program, as well as the role of Biosphere Reserves in the National Park System. The core area of a Biosphere Reserve must remain an essentially undisturbed, unmanipulated, and protected area; non-damaging recreational uses compatible with primitive or wilderness areas are acceptable. The managed use area can include a wide range of recreational activities provided that they are compatible with maintaining core area biological diversity and associated natural processes.

Individual government agencies are responsible for funding their own research in Biosphere Reserves, although limited financial assistance may be available by competitive research proposal submission to the U.S. MAB National Committee. Priority should be given to funding long-term research, cooperative studies, and demonstration projects.

Roles and Responsibilities

UNESCO's International Coordinating Council for MAB provides overall worldwide policy recommendations; a secretariat in UNESCO's Division of Ecological Sciences in Paris provides administrative support for coordinating MAB activity in all participating countries.The U.S. MAB National Committee gives policy guidance and sets priorities for the U.S. MAB Program. It receives administrative support from a U.S. MAB Secretariat in the U. S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.A U.S. MAB Biosphere Reserve Directorate recommends biosphere reserve priorities, approves nominations, and assists with coordination of domestic and international MAB activities in biosphere reserves.The regional director appoints an individual responsible for coordinating MAB activities, the regional MAB coordinator. The regional MAB coordinator  works closely with the Washington Office MAB Coordinator, attached to the Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, in the selection of biosphere reserves and planning activities within them.

Superintendents of biosphere reserves are responsible for managing park portions of biosphere reserves in a way that maintains their value and integrity as biosphere reserves. Superintendents are also responsible, in cooperation with the NPS support offices and regional science advisors, for recommending a program of interdisciplinary research that includes studies on regional and global issues, for using the resulting information in developing cooperative approaches to management, and for communicating the results of these studies to potential users and the public. All park personnel should be informed about the purpose of biosphere reserve designation so they can communicate its role to visitors