U.S. Department of State
95/05/01 US MAB Bulletin, Volume 19, Number 1
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs


                             U.S. MAB Bulletin
May 1995                                               Vol. 19, No. 1

                 From U.S. MAB Chair D. Dean Bibles 

The Constable Commission Report was presented in draft and verbally to 
the Executive Committee and was well received. It is now finalized and 
will be a major discussion at the summer National Committee meeting.  
The report lauded U.S. MAB for its accomplishments in the areas of 
interdisciplinary research, its move to strengthen the Biosphere 
Reserves and linkages with International programs.  The report 
emphasized the need to encourage cooperative programs between biosphere 
reserves and a broad range of stakeholders.  We now need to be prepared 
to take action on their recommendations in order to move U.S. MAB into 
the 21st century. 

I am grateful to the members of the commission and the staff that 
supported this intensive effort.  All the Commission members have a 
great deal of responsibility and still gave unselfishly of their time 
and ideas. 

The U.S. MAB representation at the International Conference on Biosphere 
Reserves in Seville was impressive.

Ambassador Elinor Constable spoke on national programs and the 
Commission’s report to U.S. MAB.  Papers and demonstrations were well 
received on two of our directorate core projects.  Several of our 
biosphere reserve managers attended and presented papers.  The Sonoran 
Desert Alliance effort was truly cross-cultural and international with 
participation by managers from the U.S. and Mexico and the O’odham 
Nation.

The conference was worldwide.  I personally worked on the drafting group 
for the Statutes of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and others 
representing U.S. MAB worked on The Sevilla Strategy.  Some of the very 
issues important to the drafting group, such as electronic communication 
among biosphere reserves, generation of funding support from the private 
sector, common standards for collection and exchange of data, and 
methods of information exchange for biosphere reserve managers, are all 
issues that are addressed in the Constable Commission Report and that we 
in U.S. MAB have addressed in our directorates and our participation in 
BRIM and EcoNetAmerica.

U.S. MAB was well represented at a recent conference on, Societal 
Dimensions of Biosphere Reserves-Biosphere Reserves for People, co-
sponsored by the German MAB National Committee, the German National 
Commission for UNESCO, the MAB-ICC Secretariat of UNESCO and UNESCO-
ROSTE, near Bonn, Germany.  I continue to be impressed with the quality 
of interdisciplinary research that U.S. MAB has completed and continues 
as well as the ability of our folks to explain these complex studies in 
very understandable ways.  We were able to learn a great deal from the 
exchange of information at this conference.

While in Germany, I took the opportunity to accept a kind invitation 
from the German MAB to visit The Rhone Biosphere Reserve.  This is an 
excellent model of mixed ownerships and communities attempting to 
achieve long-term societal and resource sustainability while finding 
means of making the economic adjustments to the rapid changes occurring 
in Europe and the world.

My visit to Austria MAB was quite productive, and I believe that some of 
the studies conducted by Austrian MAB in the mountain regions with heavy 
winter and summer use could be instructive in our mountainous areas. 

The trip concluded with an opportunity to visit French and UK MAB folks, 
UNESCO, and the World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC). These have 
proven beneficial in preparation for the Sevilla Conference and EuroMAB 
objectives.

The Central California Coastal Biosphere Reserve symposium on Biological 
Diversity of the Central California Coast was recently held in the 
Historic Presidio.  I found it particularity interesting to hear the 
challenging discussions on Coastal-Marine ecosystems and sanctuaries and 
biological diversity.  The discussions in which I was fortunate enough 
to participate were well done, and the Board of the Association for the 
Central California Coast Biosphere Reserve, who put so much effort into 
organizing the symposium, certainly deserve our thanks.
  


             EcoNetAmerica  -  A Developing Reality

The CYTED (Ciencias y Technologia para el Dessarollo/Science and 
Technology for Development) held a workshop in February, at the 
University for International Cooperation (UCI) in Heredia, Costa Rica to 
develop a network of biosphere reserves between IberoAmerica and Spain 
and Portugal. At this workshop, U.S. MAB presented the concept of also 
linking with the biosphere reserves of the United States and Canada to 
form an EcoNetAmerica. Agreement was reached that both goals should be 
pursued.

The U.S. MAB Executive Committee agreed to support the attendance of 
selected representatives from the biosphere reserves of IberoAmerica at 
the Smithsonian/MAB “Forest Monitoring Symposium” to be held in 
Washington May 23Ð25, 1995.  The coordinator for the CYTED network 
program, Dr. Mario Rojas of the UCI in Costa Rica is on a committee with 
U.S. MAB and the Smithsonian to plan their participation.  These 
representatives will attend a special pre-symposium session on 
application of the metadata of MABFlora and MABFauna to the data bases 
existing on their own national biosphere reserves.  This will be the 
first hemisphere-wide meeting of biosphere reserve managers and 
scientists to discuss standardizing protocols for data collection, 
storage, and exchange.  Currently, U.S. MAB supports the pilot MABFauna 
at the University of California Davis.  Internet address: 
ice.ucdavis.edu  or http://ice.ucdavis.edu/

Representatives of new networks in Europe, Russia, and Asia are also 
invited to the workshop and symposium in a step toward a worldwide 
network of biosphere reserves within a MABNet.



       From the Executive Director

This issue will, I am sure, contain more than enough news about the 
International Conference on Biosphere Reserves in Seville.  A major debt 
of gratitude goes to all of the staff members of the international MAB 
secretariat of UNESCO.  Jane Robertson, Pierre Lasserre, Mireille 
Jardin, and NSF secondee James Edwards, deserve particular mention and 
praise.  Similar recognition and gratitude for their long hours spent in 
organizing this event must go to Cristina Herrero and the staff of the 
Secretariat of the Spanish MAB Program for making this Convention a 
success.  One can only hope that these International 
Congresses/Conventions on Biosphere Reserves will become a more frequent 
event (the last was held in Minsk, Belarus in 1983) so that more 
concrete and cooperative international actions can result from such 
gatherings. 

Although many topics were discussed and numerous actions recommended as 
a result of Seville, the development and implementation of “MABNet” was 
seen as a positive role and function for the International Network of 
Biosphere Reserves.  The concept of MABNet was endorsed and supported by 
the delegates at the Seville Conference.  Providing electronic access to 
and among the informational data bases that exist on biosphere reserves 
offers a serious scientific contribution to the debate on the pace and 
impact of global climate change and its effects on the biological 
diversity of the planet. Increased communication with the local 
residents, land managers, and scientists who are effectively dealing 
with biosphere reserves is one of the prime reasons for creating a 
MABNet.

The process of creating a functional MABNet is being based on the 
emergence of carefully planned regional networks.  Readers of this 
Bulletin are familiar with the work being done through the Biosphere 
Reserve Integrated Monitoring program (BRIM) being carried out by the 
North American and European MAB programs within the structure of 
EuroMAB.  The MAB program of the IberoAmerica countries, along with 
Spain and Portugal, are developing a biosphere reserve network under the 
umbrella of Science and Technology for Development (CYTED) coordinated 
from the University for International Cooperation in Belem, Heredia, 
Costa Rica by Dr. Mario Rojas.  Efforts are also underway to link the 
United States, Canada, and CYTED under the umbrella of EcoNetAmerica.  A 
regional network is also emerging within East Asia coordinated by the 
Republic of Korea MAB Program. In sum, a number of regional efforts are 
being organized to provide a foundation for a global MABNet.

Although many good and solid steps have been taken, there is still a 
long task ahead before a truly global network of biosphere reserves will 
be constructed and one can go “surfing” on the MABNet.  Seville was a 
good step forward in this process.

                          Roger E. Soles



       U.S. MAB BULLETIN

The U.S. MAB Bulletin is published quarterly by the U.S. MAB 
Secretariat, OES/ETC/MAB, SA-44C,  U.S. Department of State, Washington, 
DC 20522Ð4401. 

“The mission of the United States Man and the Biosphere Program (U.S. 
MAB) is to foster harmonious relationships between humans and the 
biosphere through domestic and international cooperation in 
interdisciplinary research, education, biosphere reserves, and 
information exchange.” Adopted by the U.S. Executive Committee for the 
Man and the Biosphere Program, November 3, 1994.

U.S. MAB is supported by the Agency for International Development, the 
Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, the Department of Commerce--
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of 
Energy, the Department of the Interior-Bureau of Land Management, the 
Department of the Interior--National Biological Service, the Department 
of the Interior--National Park Service, the Department of State, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science 
Foundation, the Peace Corps, and the Smithsonian Institution.

The program is organized into six directorates: Biosphere Reserve, High 
Latitude Ecosystems, Human-Dominated Systems, Marine and Coastal 
Ecosystems, Temperate Ecosystems, and Tropical Ecosystems. 


                            Call for Papers

The Sixth International Symposium on Society and Resource Management 
will be held May 18Ð23, 1996, at Pennsylvania State University, 
University Park, Pennsylvania.

The 1996 symposium will focus on a better integration of social and 
natural resource sciences in addressing resource and environmental 
issues.  A commitment to the role of social perspectives in policy 
development and managing natural resources is emphasized.  This sixth 
symposium is being hosted by the Department of Agricultural Economics 
and Rural Sociology and The School of Forestry of the College of 
Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and 
Recreation Management of the School of Health and Human Development at 
The Pennsylvania State University.

Those interested in presenting a paper or poster or organizing a 
roundtable discussion for the symposium are encouraged to submit an 
abstract of no longer than two double-spaced, typewritten pages by 
November 1, 1995, to:

A.E. Luloff, Program Co-Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics and 
Rural Sociology, 111 Armsby Building, The Pennsylvania State University, 
University Park, PA 16802.



       Biosphere Reserve Directorate Funds Eight Projects

The Biosphere Reserve Directorate of U.S. MAB has selected eight 
activities/workshops for funding in FY 1995.  The proposals were in 
response to the Request for Proposals from the directorate issued in 
November 1994. 

The successful proposals represent a diverse array of workshops and 
programs.  Directorate Chair, Hubert Hinote expressed his satisfaction 
with the quality of proposals received.  Mr. Hinote said that the 
directorate was very pleased that through this small grants program the 
directorate could fund almost half of the proposals received and make 
substantial progress in promoting cooperative regional ecosystem-based 
initiatives.  The funded workshops and activities are:

“Adirondack Northern Forest: a Common Stewardship,” submitted by the 
Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.  U.S. MAB funds will 
be used to support forums in and about the Adirondack (New York) region 
on the themes of eco-tourism, forest-farm based economies, landscape 
ecology and conservation biology, and citizenship and governance.

“Glacier Bay and Admiralty Island Biosphere Reserve Scientific Data 
Needs Assessment and Studies Planning Workshop,” submitted by Glacier 
Bay Ecosystem Initiative, National Biological Service.  The workshop 
would invite members of all segments of the biosphere community, 
federal, state, local inhabitants, hunters, etc., to identify 
information needs and plan multidisciplinary studies to address 
ecosystem management issues.

“Aleut Traditional Knowledge Assessment,” submitted by Rural Alaska 
Community Action Program.  The project will collect information on the 
historic use by local residents of marine resources from the Aleutian 
Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

“Virgin Islands Biosphere Reserve Program Planning Workshop,” submitted 
by the Virgin Islands Resource Management Cooperative.  The workshop 
will focus on the sediment runoff effects on the Haulover Bay area of 
Virgin Islands National Park.  Invited participants will include local 
researchers, community leaders, developers, and government officials.

“Elevation of Isle Royale Biosphere Reserve to Fully Functional Status,” 
submitted by the National Park Service.  The project would develop a 
Lake Superior basin protected areas directory.  This would be the first 
U.S. step toward designation of additional protected areas and community 
partnerships in the Lake Superior binational region.

“Building Successful Community-Based Partnerships Along the U.S. - 
Mexico Border,” submitted on behalf of the International Sonoran Desert 
Alliance.  The project will prepare a bilingual regional profile, 
complete a regional economic analysis, complete a feasibility study for 
creating an international interpretive center, and prepare educational 
outreach materials in conjunction with Organ Pipe Cactus National 
Monument Biosphere Reserve in the United States; and complete 
development of the management plan for El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de 
Altar and Alto Golfo Biosphere Reserves in Mexico.

“Develop a Neighborhood Planning Handbook for the Borderlands of the 
Rocky Mountain National Park Biosphere Reserve,” submitted by Rocky 
Mountain National Park and Colorado Rockies Regional Cooperative.  The 
funds will be used to prepare and print a handbook on 
citizen/neighborhood planning of ecosystem management in the zone of 
cooperation of a biosphere reserve.

The funded projects geographically span the United States from the 
Virgin Islands to Alaska, and the Adirondacks to the Sonoran Desert.


                  Earthwatch Call for Proposals

The Center for Field Research invites proposals for 1996 field grants 
awarded by its affiliate Earthwatch.  Earthwatch is an international 
nonprofit organization dedicated to research and to public education in 
the sciences and humanities.  Earthwatch field grants average $20,000.  
These funds are derived from the contributions of Earthwatch members who 
pay for the opportunity to join scientists in the field and to assist 
with data collection and other research tasks.  Earthwatch field grants 
cover the costs of maintaining volunteers and principal investigators in 
the field and may help with other field expenses.  Preliminary proposals 
should be submitted at least 13 months in advance of anticipated field 
dates.  Full proposals are invited upon review of preliminary proposals.  
For more information contact:

Dee Robbins, Life Sciences Program Director
The Center for Field Research
680 Mt. Auburn Street
Watertown, MA 02172
Tel: (617) 926Ð8200, Fax: (617) 926Ð8532
E-mail drobbins@earthwatch.org or 
Sean Doolan, Scientific Development Officer
Earthwatch Europe
Belsyre Court
57 Woodstock Road
Oxford, OX2 6HU, UK 
Tel: (0865) 311 600, Fax: (0865) 311 383
E-mail Doolan@vax.oxford.ac.uk



       The Seville International Conference on Biosphere Reserve

U.S. MAB was well represented at Seville, Spain March 21Ð25, at the 
International Conference on Biosphere Reserves.  Ambassador Elinor 
Constable, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International 
Environmental and Scientific Affairs, spoke to the assembly on opening 
day and gave a brief view of the Constable Commission recommendations to 
U.S. MAB.  Ambassador Constable reported the commission’s recommendation 
to build a supporting constituency of public and private interests to 
support the research and management strategies of sustainability at the 
local and regional level.  

U.S. MAB Chair, D. Dean Bibles worked for several days on the drafting 
committee for the Statutes of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.  
Mr. Bibles also presented the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Biosphere 
Reserve Program.

U.S. MAB Executive Director Roger E. Soles presented an overview on the 
development of regional networks among biosphere reserves to the 
conference’s Commission on Science and International Networks.

The Temperate Ecosystems Directorate was represented with a presentation 
of LUCAS, the computer-based knowledge system environment engineered by 
Richard Flamm and developed and managed by Michael Berry and his 
students.  Penny Jennings Eckert presented, “Land use patterns in the 
Olympic and Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserves: developing a 
knowledge system environment for impact evaluation.”

Dr. William Walker, from the Human-Dominated Systems Directorate 
presented a paper on comparative studies of U.S. wetland areas of the 
New Jersey Pinelands and the south Florida/Everglades.

Hubert Hinote, Executive Director of Southern Appalachian Man and the 
Biosphere Foundation, and William P. Gregg, Director of International 
Programs for the National Biological Service, presented, “Toward a U.S. 
Modality of Biosphere Reserves: the Southern Appalachian Biosphere 
Reserve (SAMAB).”  Mr. Hinote reports that a lot of interest was shown 
in the organization of SAMAB and how it effectively works with the 
various sectors of the local communities.

Dr. Gregg also substituted for Dr. Michael Ruggiero in presenting an 
overview of EuroMAB’s Biosphere Reserve Integrated Monitoring Program 
(BRIM).  He shared the results of a pilot project involving biosphere 
reserves from 10 countries to test software and guidelines for databases 
on vertebrate fauna records and Internet access of the records.

Representing the International Sonoran Desert Alliance were Floyd Flores 
and Fernando Valentin from the O’odham Nation, Maria Elena Barajas and 
Enriqueta Velarde from Mexico, Harold Smith, Superintendent of Organ 
Pipe Cactus National Monument, and Carlos Nagel from the Friends of 
Pronatura.  Mr. Nagel was pleased with the reception of the group 
presentation.  Howard Ness reported that he received numerous comments 
on the quality of this panel presentation that was considered 
inspirational and a good example of cooperation between nations and 
diverse cultural groups.

Raymond C. Shearer, Manager, Coram Experimental Forest presented a 
poster on the nearly 50 years of research at Coram and its importance to 
studies on the ecology and silviculture of the area.  

Several U.S. representatives worked on the Seville Action Plan, which 
places high priority on promoting electronic linkages and urges 
biosphere reserves to adopt standardized protocols to facilitate 
information exchanges and access to existing data.

Bill Gregg noted that there seemed to be less divergent views on the 
basic concept of biosphere reserves than at the First International 
Congress.  He was pleased that more than 20 countries without presently 
designated biosphere reserves attended the meeting.

All participants interviewed were pleased with the quality of the 
program and with the opportunities to meet other biosphere reserve 
managers and researchers.  As Mr. Shearer noted, “We gained a greater 
appreciation of the world-wide need for cooperation among scientists and 
managers of these valuable properties.”

Penny Eckert, Bill Gregg, Hubert Hinote, Carlos Nagel, Howard Ness, and 
Raymond Shearer contributed to this article.



       Smithsonian/MAB Forest Monitoring Symposium

The Smithsonian/MAB Biodiversity Program (SI/MAB) has been fostering an 
international network of permanent, long-term biodiversity monitoring 
plots of different sizes and scales.  These forest plots are located in 
a wide range of biosphere reserves and other protected areas.  The 
SI/MAB Biodiversity Monitoring Database (BioMon) will link the 
monitoring plots, while the Biosphere Reserve Information Management 
System (BRIM) links the biosphere reserve sites.  Using BRIM and BioMon, 
we hope to have most of the forested biosphere reserves in the Americas 
connected through EcoNetAmerica by the year 2000.

The first EcoNetAmerica meeting will take place at the Smithsonian 
Institution on May 21-22 and will be followed by the SI/MAB “Forest 
Monitoring Symposium: The International Network of Biodiversity 
Monitoring Plots” from May 23Ð25.  The objectives of the symposium are:

--  assess the current state of plot-based forest biodiversity research 
worldwide;

--  address the feasibility of using plots as a framework for monitoring 
multilayers of taxa;

--  discuss the importance and application of plot-based research 
results to management and conservation;

--  determine the socioeconomic applications of plot-based results;

--  promote an international network of sites in which comparable 
methodologies are used;

--  promote the international network of sites with on-going 
biodiversity monitoring as active centers for multi-disciplinary 
research and training.



                  Draft Statues Prepared at Sevilla

A revised draft of the Statutes of the World Network of Biosphere 
Reserves was written at the International Conference on Biosphere 
Reserves at Sevilla.  This new draft will be submitted to the MAB 
International Co-ordinating Council (ICC) in Paris, June 12Ð16, 1995.  
After consideration and possible changes by the ICC, the statutes will 
be submitted to the General Conference of UNESCO at its session in 
November 1995.

The draft statutes stress the three functions of biosphere reserves as: 
conserving landscapes, species, and genetic variation; fostering 
economic and human development, which is socioculturally and 
ecologically sustainable; and supporting education, training, and 
research related to issues of conservation and sustainable development.

The criteria for an area to be qualified for designation as a biosphere 
reserve includes: significance for biological diversity conservation; 
representative of a biogeographic region and include gradation of human 
interventions; appropriate size; provide for demonstration of approaches 
to sustainable development on a regional scale; provide for 
participation by public authorities, local communities, and private 
interests; provide for management of human use and activities in the 
buffer zone; facilitate programs for research, monitoring, education, 
and training; and a management policy for the area as a biosphere 
reserve and designated authority to implement the policy.

The status of each biosphere reserve shall be subject to a periodic 
review on selection criteria every 10 years.  A report of this review, 
prepared by the state or other authority concerned, will be sent to the 
MAB Secretariat.  The Secretariat will have a qualified independent 
organization evaluate the report, send it to the Advisory Committee for 
Biosphere Reserves, and then to the ICC.  If the ICC is not satisfied 
that the biosphere reserve still meets the criteria, the state concerned 
will be asked to take measures for improvement.  If the ICC finds that 
no improvement has been made, the Director-General of UNESCO will notify 
the state concerned that the area is no longer a biosphere reserve.

UNESCO shall seek financial support from bilateral and multilateral 
sources to reinforce individual biosphere reserves and the functioning 
of the biosphere reserve network.

A full text copy of the draft statutes is available from the U.S. MAB 
Secretariat upon request.



                Computers for Biosphere Reserves

Intel, Conservation International and UNESCO, announced a joint project 
to equip 25 biosphere reserves with computer equipment and access to the 
Internet global information network.  The announcement was made March 
21, at the International Conference on Biosphere Reserves at Seville.  

Under the agreement, Intel will provide $270,000 to pay for costs of 
hardware and software, as well as for technical support and training.  
Conservation International, which has projects in several biosphere 
reserves, will provide software for its Geographic Information System, 
and both Conservation International and UNESCO will provide training 
through a series of regional workshops.

Conservation International’s Geographic Information System (CISIG) is 
the first-ever multilingual geographic information software available, 
currently operating in English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions, with 
French to be available soon.  CISIG integrates geographical, biological, 
and ecological data with social and economic factors, displaying them as 
visual images.  Among its applications are assessing the environmental 
impact of development projects and evaluating trends of deforestation 
and human disturbances.



       Tropical Ecosystem Directorate Planning GIS Workshop

The U.S. MAB Tropical Ecosystem Directorate (TED) and U.S. A.I.D. Mayan 
Forests (MAYAFOR) program met in Tikal, Guatemala, February 22Ð24.  The 
directorate members reviewed the progress of their core project to date, 
made an onsite visit of the TIKAL project, and planned a Maya Tropical 
Forest Geographic Information System (GIS) Workshop for August 1995.

In preparation for the GIS workshop, five expert panels were created 
focused on topics of critical concern to the future of the region: 
biological resources, landscape processes, cultural-economic resources, 
corridors, and conservation law.

Panel leaders will collect data on these topics from a broad range of 
sources from Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize and apply the data gathered 
to base maps of the Selva Maya.

The panel leaders and a projected 25 participants will meet in August to 
combine their data into a GIS-focused data base.  It is expected that a 
report, maps, and data base will be distributed to all participants, 
interested NGOs, and the conservation community in November 1995. For 
further information contact Jim Nations for administrative matters and 
Chris Rodstrom for technical matters at: Conservation International, 
1015 18th Street, N.W., Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036, Tel: (202) 
429Ð5660, Fax: (202) 887Ð5188.


                           Biosphere Reserves:
              the Vision From Seville for the 21st Century 

This vision statement and 10 key directions for biosphere reserves were 
approved by the Seville Conference.

The Vision

What future does the world face as we move toward the 21st century:  
Current trends in population growth and distribution, globalization of 
the economy and the effects of trade patterns on rural areas, erosion of 
cultural distinctiveness, increased demand for energy and resources, 
centralization of access to information, and uneven spread of 
technological innovations--all these paint a sobering picture of 
environment and development prospects in the near future.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) 
began working toward sustainable development, incorporating care of the 
environment and greater social equity, including respect for rural 
communities and their accumulated wisdom.  Agenda 21, the Conventions on 
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, and others, show the way 
forward at the international level.

The global community needs working examples that encapsulate the ideas 
of UNCED for promoting both conservation and sustainable development.  
These examples can only work if they express all the social, cultural, 
spiritual and economic needs of society, and they are based on sound 
science.

Biosphere reserves offer such a model.  Rather than becoming islands in 
an increasingly impoverished and chaotic world, they can become theatres 
for reconciling people and nature; they can bring knowledge of the past 
to the needs of the future; they can demonstrate how to overcome the 
problems of the sectoral nature of our institutions.

Thus, biosphere reserves will not only be a means for the people who 
live and work within and around them to retain a balanced relationship 
with the natural world, they will also contribute to the needs of 
society as a whole by showing us a way to a more sustainable future.  
This is at the heart of our vision for biosphere reserves in the 21st 
century.

The Seville Conference

The Seville Conference adopted a two-pronged approach:

  to examine past experience in implementing the innovative concept of 
the biosphere reserve;

  to look to the future to identify what emphases shouldnow be given to 
the three functions of conservation, development and logistical support.

The Seville Conference concluded that, in spite of the problems and 
limitations encountered with biosphere reserves, the program as a whole 
had been innovative and had had many successes.  In particular, the 
three functions would be as valid as ever in the coming years.  In light 
of the analysis undertaken, 10 key directions were identified by the 
Conference and are the foundations of the new Seville Strategy:

1. strengthen the contribution that biosphere reserves make to the 
implementation of international agreements promoting conservation and 
sustainable development, and especially to the Convention on Biological 
Diversity.

2. develop biosphere reserves in a wide variety of environmental, 
economic, and cultural situations, from largely undisturbed regions to 
the peripheries of great cities.  There is a particular potential, and 
need, to apply the biosphere reserve concept in the coastal and marine 
environment.

3. strengthen regional and thematic networks of biosphere reserves as 
components within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

4. reinforce scientific research, monitoring and training in biosphere 
reserves since conservation and sustainable usein these areas require a 
sound base in the natural and social sciences.  This need is 
particularly acute in countries where biosphere reserves lack human and 
financial resources.

5. ensure that all zones of biosphere reserves support conservation, 
sustainable development, and scientific knowledge.

6. extend the transition area to embrace large areas suitable for 
ecosystem management and use the biosphere reserve to explore and 
demonstrate approaches to sustainable development at the regional scale.  
In short, this view of a biosphere reserve is wider than that of a 
protected area.

7. reflect more fully the human dimensions of biosphere reserves.  
Connections should be made between cultural and biological diversity.  
Traditional knowledge and genetic resources should be conserved, and 
their role in sustainable development should be recognized and 
encouraged.

8. promote the management of each biosphere reserve essentially as a 
“pact” between the local community and society as a whole.  Management 
should be open, evolving and adaptive.  Such an approach will help 
ensure that reserves--and their local communities--are better placed to 
respond to external political, economic, and social pressures.

9. bring together all interest groups in a partnership approach to 
biosphere reserves both at site and network levels.  Information should 
flow freely among all concerned.

10. invest in the future.  Biosphere reserves should be used to further 
our understanding of humanity’s relationship with the natural world, 
through programs of public awareness, information and education, based 
on a long-term, inter-generational perspective.



       New Members on the High Latitude Ecosystem Directorate

The High Latitude Ecosystems Directorate attracted new members in 
response to a search for candidates to complement Phase 2 of its core 
project.  The U.S. MAB Executive Committee complimented the directorate 
on such well-qualified nominations. 

Ernest (Tiger) Burch has 35 years experience in Arctic research in 
sociocultural anthropology.  Dr. Burch is well known in his field and is 
a member of the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of 
sciences’ National Research Council.  His research has ranged from 
sociological studies of traditional native life to ecological 
investigations of contemporary native life.

Rachel Charline Craig is Public Relations/Information and Inupiat 
Ilitqusiat Coordinator for the Northwest Arctic Borough and is an 
Inupiaq speaker and native Alaskan.  Ms. Craig has 22 years of 
experience in public relations and cultural affairs.  She has special 
interests in cultural preservation, elder and youth programs, and 
quality of the food chain.  Ms. Craig has worked extensively on village 
issues.

Don Russell is Manager of Northern Conservation Division, Canadian 
Wildlife Service.  Mr. Russell has had 21 years of experience in 
research on Arctic caribou populations.  He managed development of an 
ecosystem modeling effort that can explore implications of development 
or climate change on the caribou population and its ecosystem.

Anthony M. Starfield is Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and 
Behavior, University of Minnesota.  Dr. Starfield has a national 
reputation in complex modeling and is interested in integrating natural 
and social science models.  His current research interests include 
genetic drift in small, wild populations, qualitative ecosystem 
modeling, and risk and decision analysis.

Reappointed to the directorate is Thomas Andrew Hanley, team leader 
“Wildlife Ecology: Land/Water Interactions Research program,” for 
U.S.D.A.-Forest Service.  He is actively involved in the Northern 
Sciences Network.  Dr. Hanley’s 19 years of research have been oriented 
toward physiological relations between animals and their habitat, and 
how human modifications of habitat translate to physiological and 
demographic responses by animals.

Moving from acting chair to chair of the directorate is Dr. Jack Kruse, 
Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, and Professor 
of Public Policy at University of Alaska, Anchorage. Continuing as 
members of the directorate are Dr. Marilyn Walker, University of 
Colorado; Dr. David Klein, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Dr. Dale 
Taylor, National Park Service; and Dr. Elizabeth Andrews, Program 
Manager, Subsistence Regional Research, Alaska Department of Fish and 
Game.



                           Publications

To order publications from the U.S. MAB Secretariat, OES/ETC/MAB, SA-
44C, Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-4401, please include 
self-addressed mailing labels.

NEW PUBLICATIONS

from U.S. MAB:

La Selva Maya: Temas Claves y Recomendaciones de Accion. 
Informe de un Taller, Flores, Guatemala 8Ð9 de Febrero, 1993. 
1995 (19pp.)

Plan Estrategico para el Programa de las Reservas de la 
Biosfera de los Estados Unidos, Directorio de las Reservas de 
la Biosfera. 1995 (28pp.)

The United States Man and the Biosphere Program, a revised 
pamphlet of introduction to the U.S. MAB Program.
1995 (26pp.) 


STILL AVAILABLE 

from Others:

Action Plan 1994Ð1996, developed by The Southern Appalachian 
Man and the Biosphere Program (SAMAB) 1994. (17pp.) available 
from SAMAB Executive Director, 1314 Cherokee Orchard Road, 
Gatlinburg, TN 37738, Tel: (615) 436Ð1701, Fax: (615) 436Ð
5598.

International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE)  
Newsletter.  Volume 6, No. 1, January 1995 contains a report 
from the San Jose, October 1994 ISEE Third Biennial 
Conference, a profile on the Center for Energy and 
Environmental Studies at Boston University, meeting, 
publication, and job announcements, etc. Available from ISEE, 
P.O. Box 1589, Solomons, MD 20688. USA


       2nd U.S. Biosphere Reserve Managers” WorkshopThe Biosphere 
Reserve Directorate is seeking a U.S. biosphere reserve interested in 
planning and hosting the second biosphere reserve managers” meeting for 
fall 1995.  The purpose of the workshop will be to share ideas on all 
aspects of biosphere reserve management.  The expenses of the meeting 
will be met by the directorate.  If interested in this opportunity 
please contact Hubert Hinote, SAMAB, 1314 Cherokee Orchard Lane, 
Gatlinburg, TN 37738, Tel: (615) 436-1701, Fax: (615) 436-5598.