Mercury Sunrise Contaminates Both Polar Regions

PARIS, France, March 25, 2002 (ENS) - Two new natural wetland areas on the borders of Poland and Ukraine were added by UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves on Friday, at the close of its biannual Council meeting in Paris.

Poland and Ukraine aim to merge the two sites into a single biosphere reserve, possibly by the end of this year. Negotiations for the merger are being prepared at the ministerial level between the two countries. The merged site would become the sixth trans-border biosphere reserve worldwide.

Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB) Secretary Peter Bridgewater says the trans-border biosphere reserve could be expanded later to include a third site in Belarus where the borders of the three countries come together.

"The idea is to foster cooperation between the three countries to streamline the use and management of the shared natural resources," Bridgewater said.

The new biosphere reserve sites are adjacent wetland areas in West Polesie, Poland and Shatskiy, Ukraine. The rivers, lakes, moors and forest are a haven for birds.

Lake Svityaz, Shatskiy National Park, Ukraine. (Photo © Dr. O.M. Bajzac courtesy Irish Peatland Conservation Council)

The human side of the Man and Biosphere Programme is receiving more emphasis now, and the role of people in conserving the natural areas they inhabit is understood as critical to the program's success.

Bridgewater says the choice of these sites in Poland and Ukraine highlights how "the concept of biosphere reserves is evolving from focusing on nature conservation and science to one that actively includes local communities in their management and economic development."

UNESCO's biosphere reserve concept is being used as a framework to accommodate the different interests and users of the protected ecosystems, including nature conservation, improving livelihoods for local inhabitants and carrying out scientific research and education.

For this reason, at the same meeting, the United Kingdom decided to withdraw four remote sites that it considers no longer meet these new criteria for a working biosphere reserve, even though they remain sites of natural beauty.

The four withdrawn sites are the Islands of Rhum and St. Kilda, off the west coast of Scotland and Claish Moss and Caerlavaerock, also in Scotland.

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves covers areas or territories which encompass terrestrial or coastal ecosystems, and are "intended to reconcile biodiversity conservation with the rational use of biological resources," UNESCO says.

Launched in 1971, the MAB Programme operates through more than 100 national committees of scientists and decision makers. UNESCO member nations join the program on a voluntary basis.

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves was created in 1976 by UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme, an international program of research, education, and distribution of data concerning the biosphere.

There are now 409 MAB reserves worldwide. Some of them are well known, such as Ayers Rock-Uluru in Australia, the Pantanal in Brazil and the Cevennes in France.

Some countries have several biosphere reserves: the Russian Federation has 25; China, 21; Spain, 20; Germany, 13; Australia, 12; Mexico, 12; Argentina, 10; and France, 10.