As natural resources are rapidly depleting owing to increasing human greed, ways are being devised for their sustainable use. There are others who believe human beings will find a solution to this 'resource exhaust' out in the space. For them sky is the limit.The earth hosts living creatures; however, without biosphere it is useless. The biosphere is the portion of the earth where living (biotic) organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving (abiotic) environment. The biosphere includes most water bodies (hydrosphere) and parts of lower atmosphere and upper lithosphere. It ranges from the deepest ocean floor, 20 kilometers below sea level, to the tops of mountains. If the earth were an apple, the biosphere would be no thicker than its skin.
Our habitat is limited in this thin layer of biosphere and all natural resources we 'exploit' is also concentrated here. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has appealed to all nations to designate some parts of their territory as biosphere reserve: i) to educate human beings about the delicacy of this thin life-supporting global skin or membrane of air, water, soil and organisms, and ii) to maintain a model of original natural ecosystems for future generations before we modify them beyond recognition.
In 1971, UNESCO created an intergovernmental scientific program "The Man and the Biosphere" (MAB) to improve the relationships between people and their environment. One of its major goals is to set up at least one (and ideally five or more) biosphere reserves in each of the 193 bio-geographical zones of earth. Ideally, each reserve should be large enough to prevent gradual species loss and combine both conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Today there are 651 biosphere reserves, including 15 trans-boundary sites, in 120 countries, in all regions of the world.
The biosphere reserves, as proposed by MAB, must contain three zones: i) A core area with an important ecosystem that is protected from all human activities except research; ii) A buffer zone that surrounds the core area and allows nondestructive research, education and recreation as well as sustainable logging, agriculture and fishing; and iii) A transition zone that combines conservation and more intensive but sustainable forestry, grazing, hunting, fishing, agriculture, and recreation by local people and eco-tourists.
UNESCO has maintained World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). The WNBR works to foster harmonious integration of people and nature through participatory dialogue, knowledge sharing, poverty reduction and other activities.
Nepal has been supporting the MAB program from the start. It constituted the MAB Committee in 1974. In next few years, Nepal saw campaigns for environmental awareness and creation of dozens of active organizations at national and local levels, putting it on world map of environmental champions; the credit also goes to Nepal MAB Committee. Nepal has many success stories on Integrated Conservation Development Projects (ICDP) to share with rest of the world. But it is yet to designate a biosphere reserve of its own.
Nepal has an impressive network of 20 protected areas which include 10 national parks, three wildlife reserves, six conservation areas and one hunting reserve, altogether constituting 23.31 percent of the country's landmass. Most national parks and reserves have designated buffer zones that benefit local communities through various conservation activities and ecotourism. One idea is conversion of one or more of these protected areas into biosphere reserves. But a better idea might be Protected Forests.
"Protected Forest" means the national forests declared as "protected", pursuant to the Forest Act 1993. These areas were protected due to their environmental, scientific and cultural importance. There are six protected forests in Nepal, including Panchase Forest (spanning Kaski, Parbat and Syangja).
A good candidate for the country's biosphere reserve could be Panchase Protected Forest which has great biological, cultural, and religious diversity and is also beautiful. Panchase represents important middle mountain ecological zone which conjoins the lowland ecosystem (Chitwan–Nawalparasi) and the Annapurna massif. With an area of 57.76 sq km, the forest is characterized by sub-tropical and temperate vegetation and altitudes vary from 1,450m to 2,517m. More important, Panchase contains three zones, as required by any biosphere reserve.
Of some 600 flowering plants in Panchase, over 200 have medicinal and economic value. Among the 412 species of orchid reported in Nepal, 113 species have been found in the region including two endemic species (Panisea panchasenensis and Eria pokharensia). Harpan Khola originating from Panchase is the main feeder stream of famous Phewa lake in Pokhara. Currently, Panchase is pilot site for a program being undertaken as a part of immediate action identified by National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA).
MAB program's focus has shifted from simple protection of nature to developing areas displaying close interaction between man and environment. Many countries have designated biosphere reserves in line with their commitment to protecting biodiversity, while also fulfilling basic requirements of the people whose livelihood depends on natural resources. The biosphere network and MAB Program are also meant to promote international cooperation through knowledge sharing, experience exchange, capacity building and promotion of best practices. Nepal should be a part of this endeavor.
The author is conservation scientist with Nepal Academy of Science and Technology
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