Maria LOPEZ SANDOVAL, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, FLACSO Ecuador, Ecuador
Jorje ZALLES, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, FLACSO Ecuador, Ecuador
Transboundary Biosphere Reserves (TBR) are conceived by the UNESCO as learning sites for sustainable development. Beyond the overall functions of biosphere reserves, i.e. conservation, sustainable development and logistic support for scientific research and education, TBRs have a specific dimension because of their international location, which often brings tensions and conflicts. Thus, their designation inherently requires fostering cross-border cooperation, planning and governance. TBRs are comparable to transboundary protected areas (TBPAs), which proliferate in the Southern African region and in the European Union. Examples in the Southern African region have been scrutinized from a critical perspective, outlining that TBPAs may often relate to branding and marketing strategies, while in the European Union, the development of TBPAs has been largely favored by the availability of specific funds earmarked for cross-border regions. Latin America has been largely absent in TBPA/TBR discussion withing the sustainable developmen framework; therefor this presentation contributes to the debate on sustainable transitions in cross-border rural areas by focusing on the Bosques de Paz TBR in Latin America, placed in the border region between Ecuador and Peru. We will present the overall situation of biosphere reserves in the normative context of Ecuador, focusing on a main challenge of the bioreserve model which is to adapt to local and national models of territorial manegement. Bosques de Paz (created in 2017, 1,616,987 ha) comprises the Biosphere Reserves Bosque Seco in Ecuador (501,040 ha, designated in 2014) and the Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares in Peru (1,115,947 ha, designated in 1977). The site, located in the Tumbesian region, an area of high biodiversity and endemism along the Pacific coast and western Andean foothills near the Equator, resulted of the Peace Treaty between the two countries that was signed in 1998.
Mots clés : transboundary biosphere reserves|Latin America |sustainable development |enviromental conservation|terrritorial systems
A104100ML