For life, for the future Biosphere reserves and climate change

fast, we also have to act wisely and
sensitively to sites and local conditions.
We already have considerable
experiences, such as minimizing
impact of wind energy on birds or
bats. However, much more needs to be
discovered on how we can reconcile
ambitious measures of climate change
mitigation and adaptation with other
challenges to sustainable development.
In the end, sustainable development
is much more than reducing GHG
emissions to long-term acceptable
measures.
This is where UNESCO biosphere
reserves come into play. As “model
regions for sustainable development”
they have successfully defined many
recipes on safeguarding livelihoods
in rural communities, on combining
sustainable economies with biodiversity
conservation, on coping with
demographic change. Now, 40 years
after the foundation of MAB, climate
change clearly is another challenge
that has to be addressed, with priority,
in and by biosphere reserves. The
Madrid Action Plan has stated this
clearly. A recent survey has shown
many impressive examples from
current climate change action taken
in biosphere reserves in Costa Rica,
in Spain, in Korea, in Germany and
many other countries. The Dresden
Declaration which has been passed
by the participants of the anniversary
conference in June 2011 states clearly
what has to be done next. We are
looking forward to the endorsement of
this declaration by the UNESCO General
Conference in November. There
still is a lot to be done, in Germany
and around the world.
Germany will remain committed to
using the UNESCO biosphere reserves
and the MAB programme as ideal instruments
to act on climate change.
In closing, I would like to thank the
Director General of UNESCO and the
global MAB community for having
accepted the invitation to come to
Dresden. I thank every individual
around the world who has contributed
during the last 40 years to making the
MAB Programme the firm success
it is today. Together, through close
cooperation within the global MAB
community we will continue to build
on this success. On behalf of the German
government, let me emphasize
that I am looking forward to further
and even improved cooperation within
the UNESCO MAB Programme.
Martin Waldhausen is chairman of the
German MAB national committee
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