a resilience network for nature and culture in the C22nd. Biosphere Reserves: Tonle Sap BR Cambodia

There is now a consensus among many scientists about the strong potential of the resilience concept to build and maintain options to enhance social, economic and ecological security. To bring this about requires fundamental understanding of, and managing feedback and interrelations among, ecological, social and economic components of systems across temporal and spatial scales. Biosphere reserves are a key asset of the MAB Programme focus on resilience

Resilience has several implications for sustainable development: Sustainable development should seek ways to build or maintain resilience of desirable paths. Create or maintain arenas for flexible co ‑ operation among diverse groups of people. Watch indicators of slowly changing variables that provide early warnings of resilience loss and approaching thresholds. Stimulate incentives to build resilience, mechanisms for learning, and technologies that are ecosystem ‑ friendly.

When, through loss of resilience, the supply of ecosystem goods and services is diminished, human societies suffer from effects such as soil erosion, floods and crop failure. An example of loss of resilience is mankind's historical Over-fishing of coastal ecosystems. Reduction of the genetic pool for many traditional food crops and domesticated animals is another example.

Attempts to manage social and economic capacity to adapt to and shape change cannot easily be done by dividing the world into economic sectors. That approach overlooks too many interactions. Instead, capacity needs to be managed in an integrated and flexible manner at appropriate spatial and time scales to tune and create synergies between economic development, technological change and the dynamic capacity of the natural resource base.

In social ‑ ecological systems, the building of open, flexible networks of institutions at multiple scales seems to be crucial for resilience. What we need to create are actor ‑ oriented paradigms with developed boundary institutions and global regimes receptive to local institutions. Policy ‑ makers and managers must take into account that "events" are socially constructed; responses vary between stakeholders and across scales. Therefore, they need to use models that are dynamic, adaptive and event ‑ based.

Some key issues for ensuring resilience in ecological systems Conservation of arable land Soil health care Water conservation and management Integrated gene management Integrated pest management Integrated nutrient supply Improved post ‑ harvest technology Integrated Natural Resource Management Committee

The flip side of resilience is often denoted "vulnerability. Vulnerability refers to the propensity of social and ecological systems to suffer harm from exposure to external stresses and shocks. Is there a further dimension we need to include?

Food security Ecological security Socio-economic; Health Security Cultural Paradigm An additional view: Cultural diversity

There is no optimal path for systems of people and nature, but there are desirable and undesirable paths. We can use resilience to break down undesirable paths, and create or sustain desirable paths. In resilient systems, change has the potential to create opportunities for development, novelty and innovation. In a vulnerable system even small changes may be devastating to both social and ecological systems.

What are the ideas and concepts we need to embrace to ensure the pathway of high resilience and low vulnerability?

Learning to live with change and uncertainty, Adaptive strategies of social ‑ ecological systems accept uncertainty and change. They take advantage of change and turn it into opportunities for development. Nurturing diversity for resilience. Diversity is not just insurance against uncertainty and surprise. It also provides a mix of components whose history and accumulated experience help to cope with change and facilitate redevelopment and innovation following disturbances and crises.

Creating opportunity for self ‑ organisation towards socio-ecological sustainability. This factor brings together the other factors in the context of self ‑ organisation. Sustaining the capacity for a dynamic interplay between diversity and disturbance is an essential part of self ‑ organisation. The learning process is of central importance to the social ‑ ecological capacity for building resilience. Combining different types of knowledge for learning. People's knowledge and experience of ecosystem management embed lessons for how to respond to change and how to nurture diversity.

we cannot understand and manage the ‘natural’ environment unless we understand the human culture that shaped it. Our management itself becomes thus an expression of that culture. all landscapes consist of a both a natural and a cultural dimension. (Tress et al 2001) Mount Kenya BR

And the cultural paradigm is important in ensuring resilient landscapes because we need:  an ability of the system to maintain a particular pathway or set of conditions, despite disturbances;  a high degree of system self ‑ organisation;  a high degree for the system to build and increase the capacity for learning and adaptation. Biosphere Reserves are one way to express these needs

In brief, Biosphere Reserves form a world network of 425 sites in 95 countries. They are nominated by countries, who see them as useful ways to aid the conservation of Nature, in tandem with sustainable development. BR’s can show people how resilience is important and how to work with it, as well as promoting ecological and cultural memory – and even equity issues. Fontainebleau BR

BR’s are in fact, ecological learning systems. BR’s optimise the roles and efficacy of formal science and traditional knowledge in building a “learning management” system, or adaptive management. And monitoring changes in the natural, social and cultural environment is key to the management strategy. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Arganarie Biosphere Reserve, Morocco Modern BR’s are also building Quality Economies, (eco jobs, eco opportunities) to help socio-economic resilience

Biosphere Reserves are coupled human-environment Systems par excellence. In a way, a network of resilience parachutes for the world! Clayquot Sound BR, Canada

I’m resilient because I live in a Biosphere Reserve – How about you? Thank you!