Integration of Conservation Strategies of Plant Genetic ... - Genres

they had already become extinct.
This way, biosphere reserves contribute to improving the stability and diversity of regional
ecosystems of global or regional importance.
3.2 Development and Land Use
A major aspect of the biosphere reserve concept is, if necessary the development of new land use
systems or reintroduction of uses passed on from one generation to the next. They illustrate the
traditional connection between the indigenous population and surrounding environment. These
systems often reflect centuries-old human experience of handling nature and the environment.
They often provide valuable information for rational further development of land uses. The
partnership of
regional population, administrations, scientists and private enterprises accellerates the application
of new scientific and technological knowledge to reach a sustainable basis for the existence of man
and nature without destroying social traditions with their ruling values.
3.3 Environmental Research and Monitoring
Due to the conservation of ecosystems - including areas of human use - biosphere reserves
provide ideal sites for monitoring changes. Biosphere reserves are suitable areas for studies in
particular in the fields of ecosystem research - stucture and function - through an ecological
monitoring. Since these areas are partly subject to unlimited protection, long-term research
projects can be conducted there in a unique way. The collection of data in geographical
information systems (GIS) - which are sited at the administrations of biosphere reserves - provided
the basis for safeguarding large and continuously increasing quantities of data and making
them accessible for interested parties. Due to the inter- and intra-specific complexity of the
ecological issues, only long-term research an observation programmes allow to detect the kind
of data that meet the information demand of the regional population, management, administration
and science at the same time.
The incorporation into the international biosphere reserve network provides a basis for
implementing the global "ecological environmental monitoring". This requires a harmonized and
coordinated continuation of national and regional ecological monitoring endeavours as well as the
technical improvement of more efficient DP-systems. Standardisation, scaling and sharing
environmental data and the issues concerning the establishment of a coordinating central body will
be a task of the near future.
In other concept of protected areas - such as e.g. national parks, nature parks - research and
observation is regarded as a secondary objective and it serves primarily the collection of direct
information on the issues that are associated with the objectives of protection.
Entering the field of sustainable development in practice one has to confess that new - mostly
unknown - horizones have to be reached. The only way to do this scientificly sound is through
research programmes which are appropriatly considering the diversity of parameters governing
the relations of man and the biosphere. Biosphere Reserves are ideal sites to conduct those
nessessary interdisciplinary studies which must cover the sciences and humanities. Their aim is to