Biosphere Reserve

Menorca 211 Views

Última actualización: 20/08/2024

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Biosphere Reserve according to UNESCO

In October 1993, the Man and the Biosphere (MaB) Coordination Committee declared Menorca a Biosphere Reserve.
The MaB project was initiated in 1970 by UNESCO with the objective of internationally recognizing geographic areas representative of the Earth’s different habitats.
Biosphere reserves are selected for their scientific interest based on a series of criteria directly related to what is currently known as sustainable development.

What does it mean to be a Biosphere Reserve?

Although biosphere reserves are not protected by any international treaty, the simple fact of belonging to the select group of territories considered biosphere reserves is an indication that we are facing something “special”: there are only 686 (in 2019) territories in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves . But this title is not only honorary, since one of its objectives is that other territories with similar characteristics learn from the accumulated experience and can apply a similar model of sustainable development.

OBSAM and the Biosphere Reserve

The Observatori Socio-environmental de Menorca(OBSAM) is a project of the Institut Menorquí d’Estudis(IME) at the service of the Menorca Biosphere Reserve.
The OBSAM aims to collect and analyze local information in order to contribute to the observation of global change.
More specifically, the three objectives of the OBSAM are:

The permanent monitoring of sustainability in Menorca in all its aspects.
Scientific assistance to public institutions involved in the management of the Menorca Biosphere Reserve.
Public communication of the results of this monitoring and dissemination of the values and challenges of the Biosphere Reserve.

Thanks to OBSAM, a multitude of data and scientific studies on Menorca and its indicators of sustainability and social and economic development over time can be consulted on the Internet.

Protected Areas of Menorca

The declaration of Biosphere Reserve means that there is a set of areas that are considered of special interest and therefore have to be protected to prevent their deterioration or disappearance over time.
In the Biosphere Reserve of Menorca 3 zones are distinguished according to the level of protection of each one of them.

Core Zone: an area strictly protected according to conservation objectives.
This zone must contain unmodified natural ecosystems.
Within it, only human activities directly related to the transformation of nature and scientific research are allowed.
In Menorca, the core zone is the Albufera des Grau Natural Park.
They represent 7.3% of Menorca’s territory.
Amortization Zone: an area where only activities that are compatible with the protection of the core zone are allowed.
In Menorca there are different Amortization Zones distributed throughout the insular territory, declared by the Government as Natural Areas of Special Interest or Rural Areas of Landscape Interest (ANEI and ARIP).
They represent 38.5% of Menorca’s territory.
Transition Zone: a zone that surrounds the two previous zones and that should be the framework for the socio-economic development functions of the reserve.
In Menorca this zone is equivalent to the whole island.
Within the transition zone there are some areas considered Normal Protection Rustic Land.
It represents 54.2% of Menorca’s territory.

20 Years of Biosphere Reserve

In 2013 Menorca celebrated 20 years as a Biosphere Reserve.
To “celebrate” the Consell Insular de Menorca created a commemorative logo.
The logo is used in tourism fairs and other media.