THE ITALIAN NETWORK

 

THE ITALIAN NETWORK OF MAB AREAS

The first registrations of Italian reserves on the MAB programme date back to the 1970s and concern areas whose conservation is aimed at maintaining and safeguarding their biodiversity. The first to be registered, in 1977, were the ‘Collemeluccio-Montedimezzo’ and ‘Foresta del Circeo’ State Nature Reserves, managed by the Italian State Forestry Corps, followed, in 1979, by Miramare, established as a Marine Nature Reserve by Italian Interministerial Decree dated 12/11/1986, and entrusted to WWF Italy for management. Following the passing of the Seville Strategy and the updating of the Biosphere Reserve concept, which reaffirms that the fundamental goal to be achieved with the establishment of a MAB-UNESCO Reserve is to find a long-lasting balance between the conservation of biodiversity, the promotion of sustainable development and the safeguard of related cultural values, the type of protected area subject to MAB recognition changes. It was therefore agreed in Seville that this objective could be pursued by attributing the following complementary functions to the territories included in the Reserves:

  • =Conservation of biological diversity, genetic resources, species, ecosystems and landscapes, and cultural diversity;
  • =Development, centred mainly on local populations, according to ‘sustainable’ territorial land management models;
  • =logistics, to support demonstration, information, environmental education, research and monitoring projects related to local, national and global conservation and sustainable development needs.

ITALIAN BIOSPHERE RESERVES

Biosphere Reserves are means to promote the sustainable development of a territory, simultaneously fostering the conservation of the environment and the economic and social growth of the community that resides within it.