Papers by Ruida Pool-Stanvliet
The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme has been active in South Africa for almost 20 years. T... more The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme has been active in South Africa for almost 20 years. The country currently has six designated biosphere reserves with a few sites in various stages of the nomination process. Within the South African context, agencies are using a series of seemingly different instruments to practice landscape-scale management. The UNESCO biosphere reserve concept sometimes finds it difficult to obtain prominence amongst these different landscape initiatives. Biosphere reserves are special sites wherein sustainable development is promoted. For this reason, the biosphere reserve concept has much to offer towards long-term sustainable socialecological land management. In our modern age of population growth, dwindling natural resources and a general disconnectedness of humans from nature due to large scale urbanization, there is an urgent need for innovative ways in which to showcase sustainable living practices. South Africa has limited natural, economic and s...
Die Unesco-biosfeerreservaat-konsep word eers sedert betreklik onlangs in Suid-Afrika toegepas. D... more Die Unesco-biosfeerreservaat-konsep word eers sedert betreklik onlangs in Suid-Afrika toegepas. Die eerste biosfeerreservaat is in 1998 geregistreer en tans is daar ses geregistreerde biosfeerreservate in die land. Biosfeerreservate is baie spesiale landskappe wat internasionaal deur Unesco volgens die Mens-en-Biosfeer-program (Man and the Biosphere Program, oftewel MAB Program) geregistreer word. Die Wereldnetwerk van Biosfeerreservate bevat 610 reservate in 117 lande. Die eerste kennismaking met die MAB-program in Suid-Afrika het in die vroee 1990's in die Wes-Kaap beslag gekry. Suid-Afrika is in 1995 by die Seville-konferensie in Spanje verteenwoordig. Talle besprekings het gevolg, waarna die biosfeerreservaat-konsep met verdrag deur bewaringsorganisasies in die land geimplementeer is. Tans word die konsep in samewerking met ander landskapsinisiatiewe gebruik om biostreekbeplanning en volhoubare ontwikkeling te bevorder, asook om die netwerk van bewaringsgebiede te vergroot. ...
UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
South African Journal of Science
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched its Man an... more The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched its Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme in 1971, with its 'biosphere reserve' concept instituted 5 years thereafter. The aim of the MAB Programme is to improve the relationship between people and their natural environment, and provides an explicitly people-centred conservation approach that emphasises the synergies and trade-offs between environmental 'preservation' and environmental 'use'. These synergies, i.e. linking people and nature in pursuit of development goals, are being executed in landscapes designated as biosphere reserves. Sites are listed in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) and organised into regional networks in order to improve networking and collaboration. South Africa is a member of AfriMAB (regional MAB network for sub-Saharan Africa) and is the current coordinator of the southern Africa sub-regional network.
South African Journal of Science, 2013
The historical happenings in relation to the implementation of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MA... more The historical happenings in relation to the implementation of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme in South Africa have never been officially documented. The MAB Programme is a much undervalued framework in South Africa; the biosphere reserves have huge potential as landscapes where socio-ecological land management can be practised towards a more sustainable future for all. The global origin of the MAB Programme, its implementation in South Africa over the past few decades, and its challenges and benefits are discussed here. Origin and early development of the programme The MAB Programme originated with the Biosphere Conference held in 1968 in Paris and was formally launched by UNESCO in 1970. 1,2 The MAB Programme promotes the establishment of biosphere reserves throughout all biogeographical provinces of the world. Biosphere reserves are therefore designated by UNESCO and form part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which was launched in 1976 3 and is organised into a support structure of regional and sub-regional networks. At present the WNBR consists of 621 sites in 117 countries. 4 The Biosphere Conference firmly declared that the utilisation and the conservation of our land and water resources should go hand-in-hand rather than in opposition, and that interdisciplinary approaches should be promoted to achieve this aim. 2 The first international biosphere reserve congress was held in Minsk, Belarus in 1983. 2 The congress gave result to an 'Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves' that was adopted by the International Coordinating Council of MAB in December 1984. 2,5 In March 1995, the second world congress, an International Conference for Biosphere Reserves, was convened by UNESCO in Seville, Spain. The tangible results of the Seville Conference were the Seville Strategy for Biosphere Reserves and the Statutory Framework of the WNBR. 3 Since then, these documents have provided a common platform for the development of biosphere reserves, and define the principles, criteria and procedure for their designation. 6 The Seville Strategy specifically notes that 'biosphere reserves are established to promote and demonstrate a balanced relationship between humans and the biosphere' 3 .
Bothalia, African Biodiversity & Conservation
Background: Two of Lesotho’s protected areas, namely Bokong Nature Reserve and Tšehlanyane Nation... more Background: Two of Lesotho’s protected areas, namely Bokong Nature Reserve and Tšehlanyane National Park, form the core area of the country’s first proposed Biosphere Reserve. Biodiversity is a key aspect needed to justify nomination of a Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. Previously documented biodiversity of the two protected areas is limited in terms of coverage and scope as well as being outdated. The aim of the current study was to conduct a rapid assessment of the biodiversity, including endemism, of the proposed Biosphere Reserve to inform the formal nomination process.Methods: A field survey was undertaken over 112 033 ha in the core, buffer and transition zones of the proposed Biosphere Reserve during which species of both flora and fauna were documented. Purposeful recordings were made during different seasons to incorporate various flowering seasons of the plants, as well as faunal species that may hibernate or migrate seasonally.Results: A ...
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Papers by Ruida Pool-Stanvliet