UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

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1 SC-04/CONF.204/6 Paris, 30 August 2004 Original: English UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION International Co-ordinating Council for the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme Eighteenth Session UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, Room IV (Fontenoy Building) October 2004 Item 13 of the Provisional Agenda: Capacity Building and Training Background 1. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Plan of Implementation has set a goal for reducing biodiversity loss by 2010, thus creating another new time-bound international development goal. To contribute to this important effort, attention has been focused on three main lines of actions and in particular one dedicated to science and capacity-building in ecological sciences, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development within the framework of the 32 C/5. 2. The MAB Programme has a long experience of research, capacity building and training related to environment and sustainable development. With the appearance of new initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa s Development (NEPAD), capacity building and training related to environment and sustainable development have emerged as key facets of the presentday MAB Programme. This document outlines some of the salient features of MAB s broad portfolio of capacity building and training activities although numerous activities undertaken at the national and regional levels are not fully covered. The objective of this document is to invite the MAB Council to put forward its comments and recommendations on some of the key activities and strategic partnerships highlighted here. The Council is also invited to provide advice on possible new modalities for promoting and supporting MAB training as well as on new priority subject areas suited for MAB education and training, particularly within the framework of the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development. 3. Activities and partnerships outlined in the present document are as follows: a) Global Initiative on Biodiversity Communication, Education and Public Awareness; b) Regional Post- Graduate Training School on Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands (ERAIFT); c) UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD); d. MAB Young Scientists Award Scheme; and e). Biosphere Reserve Management Training Centres. (SC-2004/CONF.204/CLD.16)

2 SC-04/CONF.204/6 page 2 Item 13.a. Global Initiative on Biodiversity Communication, Education and Public Awareness 4. The Division of Ecological Sciences and the Man and Biosphere Programme Secretariat have continued to promote UNESCO s position and coordinate all UNESCO inputs to the programme known as the Global Initiative on Biodiversity Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 5. UNESCO-MAB co-organized and hosted the fourth meeting of the CBD-UNESCO Consultative Working Group of Experts on Biodiversity CEPA (UNESCO Headquarters, October 2003). This meeting produced a report that constituted the base for a working document on the subject by the Executive Secretary of the Convention to the seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 7) to the CBD, that was held in Kuala Lumpur from 9 to 20 February The COP adopted decision VII/24 on Education and Public Awareness. In this decision, the COP, inter alia, welcomed the report of the Consultative Working Group at its fourth meeting and the proposals contained therein for further implementation of CEPA; and invited Parties to the Convention to establish appropriate linkages to the UNDESD in the implementation of their respective national CEPA programmes and activities (see below for information on the UNDESD process, for which UNESCO has overarching coordinating responsibilities). 7. The Council may wish to recall that in previous relevant decisions, the COP had requested its financial mechanism the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to make available resources for projects illustrating biodiversity CEPA in action. This is indeed a potential funding opportunity for implementing CEPA projects and activities in biosphere reserves. 8. Moreover, the Council Members and observers are invited to take into account as guidance in the discharge of CEPA-related activities in biosphere reserves the revised CBD programme of work on CEPA, which COP 7 adopted, on the basis of the expert advice formulated by the abovementioned Consultative Working Group (see paragraph 6). This programme of work, which is available on the CBD web site ( is made of the following main programme elements and operational objectives: PROGRAMME ELEMENT 1 Towards a global communication, education and public awareness network o ACTIVITY 1 Develop an electronic portal and an alternative information dissemination mechanism towards the establishment of a global network on communication, education and public awareness o ACTIVITY 2 Establish and enhance a global and national network of CEPA Focal Points, the Secretariats of relevant conventions, stakeholders and partners PROGRAMME ELEMENT 2 Exchange and use of knowledge and expertise o ACTIVITY 1 Research, collect and exchange communication, education and public awareness projects and case-studies o ACTIVITY 2 Establish teams (public relations, marketing, evaluation and curriculum development, voluntary basis), to assist CEPA programmes on

3 SC-04/CONF.204/6 page 3 both regional and national levels, as requested o ACTIVITY 3 Demonstrating CEPA to the Parties and linking CEPA with the working programmes under the Convention PROGRAMME ELEMENT 3 Capacity development for communication, education and public awareness o ACTIVITY 1 Develop CEPA skills at the national level/regional level 9. With regard to biodiversity communication, education and public awareness, the MAB Secretariat has embarked in a joint project with the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971) and DANONE aimed at producing a game on water and wetland ecosystems for the primary school level. The game is to be tested through the UNESCO Associated Schools Project network in February 2005 and will finally be distributed to all UNESCO Member States in the fall of The Council is invited to endorse the approach described in the CEPA framework above, including making full use of the funding opportunities potentially available through the GEF in support of the implementation of the CBD Programme of Work on CEPA. The Council is also invited to provide any additional guidance on how to prioritize CEPA activities, such as those in biosphere reserves. Item 13.b. Regional Post-Graduate Training School on Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands (ERAIFT) 11. Progress has been made in the development of the ERAIFT School since the last MAB Council in March ERAIFT has been designated as a Regional flagship MAB Project in the 32 C/5 approved by the General Conference in September ERAIFT could serve as an example to develop similar institutes benefiting all parts of Africa. The objective is to respond to the need to train in situ conservation and development practitioners in Africa, as envisaged in NEPAD, a new generation of managers, specialists and decision-makers, capable of applying the Ecosystem Approach recommended by CBD, and to pursue the various MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), particularly MDG 1 (poverty alleviation) and MDG 7 (environmental sustainability), respectively. In this respect, biosphere reserves, especially transboundary biosphere reserves (TBRs) could be pilot and demonstration sites for students involved in scientific research and integrated management of field activities. 12. A major event marked the last school term of The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, honoured ERAIFT with his visit on 10 August 2003 as part of his official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr Matsuura awarded diplomas to the second set of graduating students in the presence of the Minister of High Education, the Dean of the University of Kinshasa, several professors, representatives of UNDP, FAO, the European Union, the Embassy of Belgium and several members of the families of the graduating students. The Director-General, in the context of the 2003 Regional Participation Programme, presented Mr Emile Ngoy, Minister of Higher Education, a set of new computers and IT equipments as UNESCO s contribution for the reinforcement of the digital mapping and ERAIFT s remote sensing laboratory. As he declared in his speech on this occasion: This regional school constitutes an important contribution of the MAB Programme to capacity building in Sub- Saharan Africa which will play a significant role in the UNESCO-NEPAD partnership. In the

4 SC-04/CONF.204/6 page 4 same context, in his letter of 20 September 2003 to the Director of ERAIFT, the Director-General specifically stated: Rest assured that UNESCO, involved in the creation of ERAIFT from the very beginning, will continue to bring its support to human and technical capacity building of the School thereby assuring the School of UNESCO s continual support. 13. Following the 17 th MAB Council recommendations, the third set of students started on 22 March 2004 and the academic year was marked by the first internationalization of ERAIFT. Twenty-three multidisciplinary students (including five women) were chosen by the Academic Advisory Committee of ERAIFT using the CAMES (the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education) criteria for this third batch of ERAIFT DESS students. Students from the following countries are represented: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d Ivoire, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger and Togo. The arrival at ERAIFT of students from several African countries marks the beginning of a new era and a significant development in the regional aspect of the School. It also adds value to the overall image of ERAIFT. A feasibility study on the creation of training centres in biosphere reserves using the ERAIFT model as recommended by the 17 th MAB Council was undertaken by the Secretariat; this feasibility study is available to the Council members (see agenda item 13.e. and doc SC-04/CONF.204/INF.9). In the same context, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in June 2003 between ERAIFT and ENEF (Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forêts) of Gabon in order to promote regional networking and academic exchanges with African Universities and Research Centres. Substantial extra-budgetary funds from the Government of Belgium and from the European Commission have enabled ERAIFT to pursue its activities for Links have been established with Columbia University in a joint programme on Biosphere and Society (CUBES), which is seeking to build capacity in developing countries through connecting communities. ERAIFT-ENEF and ERAIFT-Columbia University are good examples of South- South and South-North partnerships. 14. The MAB Council may wish to note the progress made in the implementation of the ERAIFT project and encourage the strengthening of ERAIFT as a regional flagship MAB project using this project as a model for the development of other regional training facilities for forests and other ecological systems, including arid lands and wetlands. To this end, the Council is invited to comment on the role of the ERAIFT as a Centre of excellence for NEPAD applying the Ecosystem Approach and to provide guidance for its future directions. Item 13.c. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) 15. In December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 57/254 on a United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) spanning from 1 December 2005 to 31 December The General Assembly designated UNESCO as the lead agency in charge of promoting the Decade. 16. UNESCO s Division of Ecological Sciences is the focal point within the UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector for the Sector s participation in work related to the UNDESD.

5 SC-04/CONF.204/6 page Based on biosphere reserve experiences related to education in relation to sustainable development and related issues, the MAB Secretariat has contributed inputs to the work of a UNESCO Task Force on UNDESD, particularly in terms of identifying guiding principles for implementing UNDESD activities and determining the Natural Science Sector s input to UNDESD (including the specific contribution of the MAB Programme). 18. In terms of principles, the participation of the MAB constituency and its input to UNDESD should take place in the working framework defined by Agenda 21, the 1997 Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Plan of Implementation. In this regard, priority should be given to educational activities on the protection and management of the natural resource base of economic and social development, ways and means of how changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, and poverty reduction. Institutional issues and relations with major stakeholders should also be the subject of activities implemented in the context of the Decade, such as strengthening institutional arrangements for sustainable development at the regional and national levels and mechanisms for ensuring the active participation of all stakeholders. Moreover, the WSSD WEHAB (water-energy-health-agriculture-biodiversity) approach should be followed as a very effective tool to organize work related to UNDESD, while the links to other international priorities such as the MDGs should also be taken into account. 19. In terms of the Natural Science Sector s input to UNDESD (including the specific contribution of the MAB Programme), this can be summarized as follows: provision of scientific content; quality control/assurance of the contents of UNDESD activities and products; participation in strategic decisions; MAB s potentially significant contribution to the design and implementation of demonstration activities. 20. An International Implementation Scheme with a timetable for activities up to December 2005 was developed and considered by the UNESCO General Conference at its 32 nd session in This scheme is to guide implementation of DESD activities in collaboration with partners at local, national, regional and international levels. It clarifies the concept of education for sustainable development and its relationship with Education for All (EFA), the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Scheme is available on the UNESCO web site ( 21. The Council is invited to endorse the above-described approach as a guide for UNDESD implementation in biosphere reserves and other MAB project sites, and to provide the MAB Secretariat with any guidance it may have with regard to how best to relate with relevant programs of UNESCO, as well as other organizations. Item 13.d. MAB Young Scientists Awards 22. At its session in July 2003, the MAB Bureau discussed various management issues related to the MAB Young Scientists Awards Scheme, which was established in 1989 to support the involvement of young researchers in the MAB Programme. In its deliberations, the Bureau referred to document SC-03/CONF.217/12 entitled Management and Financing of the MAB Young Scientists Award Scheme (available to the Council in English and French). In the

6 SC-04/CONF.204/6 page 6 discussion, a number of suggestions and recommendation aimed at improving the Award Scheme was put forward for further discussion by the Bureau Members, notably: 23. The number of applications that each MAB National Committee can submit each year could be reduced from three to one. The rationale behind this suggestion was that as the Bureau only can select 10 winners annually (given the present budget constraints), it creates an unnecessary workload for the MAB Bureau and the Secretariat to process and screen up to 100 applications that are received annually. Also, this change could possibly help ensure improved fair geographical distribution of Awards annually. 24. The establishment of non-financial Awards, such as MAB Diplomas and MAB Medals for young scientists, including from developed countries. Recognition from MAB, in the form of a medal or a diploma, could provide an important incentive for young scientists around the world and help them in their future careers. 25. Identification of ways and means of raising extra-budgetary funds for the Awards. Although non-financial Awards could be important, the Bureau still stressed that it would be highly beneficial if it could allocate more than 10 Awards annually, and that some innovative thinking was needed to seek to mobilize funds, possibly from the private sector, for this purpose. The MAB Secretariat is therefore in the process of designing a fund raising strategy for the Award scheme. 26. The MAB Council may wish to discuss and provide further guidance on the above points. 27. To help ensure a fair geographical distribution of Awards over time, the Council may also wish to consider the possibility of instructing the Bureau to select at least one Award laureate annually from each UNESCO region (i.e. Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America and Latin America and the Caribbean). 28. Finally, the Council is invited to adopt any recommendations it seems fit in favor of the future development of the MAB Young Scientists Award Scheme. In particular, the Council is invited to discuss and recommend ways and means of improving the financing available for the Award scheme beginning Item 13.e. Biosphere Reserve Management Training Centres 29. Following the discussion at the 17 th session of the MAB-ICC on the issue of Biosphere Reserve Management Training Centers (BRMTCs), a consultant report has been produced on the topic (see SC-04/CONF.204/INF.9). The report recalls the rationale behind and the expected benefits of BRMTCs, in particular opportunities of providing training opportunities for key stakeholders involved in, or concerned with, biosphere reserve management issues, as well as opportunities to use and share experiences in the areas of conservation and sustainable development gained in biosphere reserves more effectively. The report stresses that, in many ways, BRMTCs would seem to be particularly relevant in the context of the UNDESD starting in This being said, as expressed by the Council at its last session, envisioning BRMTCs is one thing, financing them is another.

7 SC-04/CONF.204/6 page It is important to stress that BRMTCs can take different forms and shape, ranging from the establishment of entirely new physical and institutional infrastructures (costly), to the establishment of partnerships and networks among biosphere reserves and relevant existing institutions (e.g. universities, ministries, NGOs) operating under a common BRMTC programme (less costly). Several examples in Brazil (the focus of the second part of the report) exists on such partnerships; e.g. the eco-job training centres for young people in the Sao Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve, are established as partnerships among local city administrations, the Biosphere Reserve Coordinator, private businesses, Sao Paulo University, NGOs and external donors (e.g. United Nations Foundation) and are based at already available physical structures around the biosphere reserve. Another related example is the proposal for a training programme for the managers of the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve, developed in January 2004 jointly by the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve Council, together with the Friends of Mata Atlântica and WWF. This programme will bring together a number of stakeholders involved in a range of important training and research topics, such as ecotourism. 31. Another cost-effective option is the establishment of UNESCO Chairs dedicated to biosphere reserve issues. One such example is the UNESCO Chair on Biosphere Reserves established in 1999 at the Georgian State Agrarian University (Georgia). Although they do not refer directly to biosphere reserves in their titles, a good number of other UNESCO Chairs are actually also actively supportive of biosphere reserves with which they have established mutually beneficial partnerships for training and research Of course, in the best of all circumstances each biosphere reserve, particularly those designated under the Statutory Framework, would have its own dedicated BRMTCs. However, this would in many cases be probably neither feasible nor necessary, as other relevant training opportunities might already exist. Therefore, it might be more realistic to envision regional BRMTCs. The benefits of the latter would be that they could help pool resources and focus on ecosystems and development issues of regional concern. This is also the model successfully implemented by ERAIFT for which substantive external funding has been assured until The Council is invited to provide its guidance on how Member States best could cooperate in the pursuit of establishing BRMTCs at the national and/or regional levels and actions the MAB Secretariat could take in order to facilitate such cooperation. 1 Examples include the UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the South Valley University, Egypt (Wadi Allaqui Biosphere Reserve), the Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Bucharest, Romania (Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve), the Ecotechnie Chair at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India (Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve), and the Ecotechnie Chair at the Viet Nam National University (Can Gio Mangrove and the Cat Tien Biosphere Reserves). Several Chairs in the pipe-line for establishment will also work with biosphere reserves, such as the proposed UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development and Environmental Education at the Universidad del Pais Vasco, that will liase with the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (Spain). Information concerning the procedures for establishing UNESCO Chairs is available on the web site of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme: