On November 24th and 25th in Tunis (Tunisia), the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med),in collaboration with the Spanish Autonomous National Parks Organization (OAPN), held a workshop to encourage and strengthen the partnerships and learning opportunities for a better management and governance of Biosphere Reserves in the Mediterranean.

The administrative units in charge of biosphere reserves in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, France and Italy, were invited to this event to discuss biosphere reserves management issues. These reserves represent "living laboratories for sustainable development" and are learning centers for human and environmental adaptation. The Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are the only United Nations designated sites that specifically call for a mutual reinforcement between conservation and sustainable development. This reciprocity requires cultural sensitivity, scientific expertise and policy based on consensus and participative decision making.

To date, there are 631 terrestrial, coastal and marine BRs worldwide. At the level of the Mediterranean, we count 45 BRs in Spain, 13 in France, 10 in Italy, 7 in Algeria, 2 in Egypt , 3 in Morocco and 4 in Tunisia.

IUCN-Med and OAPN will continue their collaboration on BRs through the development of a comparative study between BRs in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, France and Italy. These BRs are more likely to share common management challenges and could have some successful experiences that they could share between them. This analysis should recommend a set of actions to strengthen governance, management and cooperation between BRs in the Mediterranean.

In this context, an expert was hired by IUCN-Med to prepare a study, which preliminary results will be presented and completed during this workshop. The document derived from this study, once approved, will be presented by IUCN-Med to potential donors, in order to support the implementation of regional actions. It could also be used by partners in their meetings to develop joint activities to support conservation and management of biosphere reserves in the Mediterranean.

Exchange of experience between Spain and Morocco:

A week before the Tunis workshop on November 19th and 20th, IUCN-Med, in cooperation with the National Agency for Autonomous Parks (OAPN) of Spain and the MAB-Spain program, held a workshop in Tetouan for the improvement of the management of Biosphere Reserves and Protected Areas of Morocco.

This meeting between the Spanish and Moroccan officials aimed at exchanging management experiences, establish monitoring instruments and define the means of intervention for Biosphere Reserves and Protected Areas in Morocco. The monitoring program in place in the Spanish Biosphere Reserves Network was taken as reference.

For more information: Maher Mahjoub

Photo: Chaambi Biosphere Reserve (Tunisia) - © Direction Géneral des Forêts