1. Biosphere Reserves Pete Frost Countryside Council for Wales (Almost) everything you ever wanted to know, but were afraid to ask……

2. What are they?

3. What are they for?  Conserving biodiversity, with  Sustainable use  Living laboratories for sustainable development

4. What’s different about them?  Social  Cultural  Spiritual  Economic

5. What do they do? Conservation Development Logistic

6. What do they look like?

7. But in reality…

8. How do they work?  Stakeholder participation  Management Plan  Designated authority or mechanism  Mechanisms to manage human use in Buffer Zone  Programmes for research, monitoring, education, training

9. What’s the role of:

11. What do UNESCO do?  Assess applications  Maintain the world list  Maintain the website (http://www.unesco.org/mab/wnbr.htm)  Promote networking  Review existing Biosphere Reserves

12. Networking  Capacity building  Focus on different ecosystems  Research and monitoring  Sustainable development in action

13. The Periodic Review  UK re-joins UNESCO  UNESCO asks for a report  DETR commissions review  Some UK Biosphere Reserves de- listed

14. What about the Dyfi? No zonation Too small

15. The good news!  The most promising BR in the UK  Easy to create Core Area and Buffer Zones from existing Nature Reserves and protected areas (SSSI)  Transition Area could cover the catchment

16. What are the options?  Do nothing  Apply to de-designate  Bring it up to standard

17. How do we do it?  Listen to informed local opinion  Relay the result to the National Assembly  National Assembly works via the UNESCO UK MAB Committee and the Foreign Office

18. ….Form filling  Very long  Very detailed  Lots of supporting information

19. Then what? The hard work really starts!