Abstract
Winkler, K. J., and J. Hauck. 2019. Landscape stewardship for a German UNESCO Biosphere Reserve: a network approach to establishing stewardship governance. Ecology and Society 24(3):12. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10982-240312
Highlights
UNESCO Biosphere Reserves function as model areas for the sustainable development of humans and nature (Ruoss 2013)
We explore the potential of landscape stewardship for the governance of the extended Biosphere Reserve Wadden Sea of Lower Saxony
The individual interviewees named stakeholders belonging to different stakeholder groups with a median value of 13, showing that most interviewees were aware of stakeholders from various stakeholder groups across political levels and sectors
Summary
UNESCO Biosphere Reserves function as model areas for the sustainable development of humans and nature (Ruoss 2013). A large part of their area is typically composed of a “transition zone” that focuses on sustainable economic and social development (Ishwaran et al 2008). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confers the Biosphere Reserve title with the aim to preserve both ecological and cultural values in areas with special relationships between people and landscapes (UNESCO 1996). As part of their recognition of these relationships, biosphere reserves should aim for participatory, multistakeholder governance (Price 2017, Reed et al 2017). As such, suitable platforms to confront complex land-use challenges because different opinions can be considered and compromises can be found, as opposed to many conservation areas where one objective—nature protection —is typically the dominant management priority (Schultz et al 2015, Plummer et al 2017). Bennett et al (2018) suggest that biosphere reserves are areas where efforts to establish landscape stewardship may be likely to succeed
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