Abstract
UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) are two themes in UNESCO’s Natural Science Sector. Biosphere Reserves of the MAB Programme are more focused on building international, regional, sub-regional, and ecosystem-specific cooperation as “learning places’’ for sustainable development with a focus on biodiversity. The IGGP supports research and capacity development in Earth Sciences and comprises two sub-programmes: the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) and the UNESCO Global Geoparks Programme (UGGP). UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) use a bottom-up approach to engage local communities in capacity building, via tourism development, with the common goal of promoting and protecting the area’s geological and cultural heritage. Here, we present the results of comparing local involvement from two case studies from Japan, the Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve and the National Mount Hakusan Tedori-river Geopark, along with two case studies from Russia, the Altaisky Biosphere Reserve and the regional Geopark Altai. In this study, we found more involvement by local community members in the Geopark than in the Biosphere Reserve in Japan. The Russian case studies show a complete opposite result with more involvement of local communities in the BRs, and less participation in Geopark management. The purpose of this project was to provide information to improve local involvement in both Japanese and Russian Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks through changes in education and management styles.
Highlights
UNESCO’s Natural Science Sector has Secretariats for two Programmes that deal with designations of sites with significant international values
In Japan, we studied the Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserves (MHBR) and the National Mount Hakusan Tedori-river Geopark (MHTGP)
The similarities were that each BR and GP in each country had overlapping territories (MIDA), both GPs were aspiring UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) still not recognized by UNESCO, and both BRs have shown similarities in demographic situations, livelihoods, and geographical location
Summary
UNESCO’s Natural Science Sector has Secretariats for two Programmes that deal with designations of sites with significant international values. These two Programs are: International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) [1] and the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme [2]. These two programmes provide designations internationally, such as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (BR) and Global Geopark (UGGp). Both designations are complementary to other designations by UNESCO, such as World Heritage Sites. In the case of UGGP, the main focus is on sustainable use and conservation of geological heritage, and in terms of BR, biodiversity is the main focus
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