Prince of Asturias Awards

Concord 2001

To date, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, structured and coordinated under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme, includes 563 listed reserves of this type in 114 countries (with 34 nature areas in Spain), the aim of which is to harmonise the preservation of unique natural settings with their human populations.

Biosphere reserves are “areas of inland, coastal or marine eco-systems, or a combination thereof, recognised internationally as such within the framework of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme”. As highlighted in the nomination dossier, the work carried out in these reserves “combines the conservation of eco-systems and their bio-diversity with sustainable use of natural resources to the benefit of local communities”. There are strict rules regarding the designation of these areas; the criteria for actions taken within them being established in the 1995 Seville Conference. They are always to conserve bio-diversity, maintain the well-being of eco-systems, learn from natural systems and their changes, further knowledge on the sustainable management of natural resources and cooperate in resolving the problems all this entails.

Urulu (Ayers Rock) in Australia, Mount Olympus in Greece, Yellowstone Forest in the USA, the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and the upper reaches of the Orinoco River in Venezuela figure amongst the many emblematic areas. This vast network is coordinated regionally through seven smaller networks (Central and Southern Africa, the Arab World, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, the East and South Atlantic and Central Asia), all of which are coordinated by an International Coordinating Council made up of 34 countries.