UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme and LVMH are working together to reconcile conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use by implementing sustainable development respectful of local cultural contexts.
One of their joint initiatives, the Amazon programme, is addressing the direct and indirect drivers of deforestation in the Amazonian region within 8 biosphere reserves located in Bolivia (Pilón-Lajas and Beni Biosphere Reserves), Ecuador (Yasuní, Sumaco and Podocarpus-El Condor Biosphere Reserves), Brazil (Central Amazon Biosphere Reserve) and Peru (Manu and Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserves).
The programme is based on participatory and inclusive approaches, combining scientific, local and indigenous knowledge and will be implemented by the biosphere reserve teams with support from the MAB national committees, UNESCO offices and a scientific committee led by Eduardo S. Brondizio, professor at Indiana University (USA) and co-chair of the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Eduardo S. Brondizio explains the current situation in the Amazon region: "Fifty years of development interventions have left behind a trail of degradation and social inequalities that today converges with climate change in a devastating Covid-19 pandemic, creating one of the most complex puzzles of our time in terms of environmental governance and development. The Amazonian biosphere reserves represent one of the pieces to solve this puzzle."
Eduardo S. Brondizio presents the scientific objectives and methodology of the programme, addressing the common drivers of deforestation in the different Amazonian countries, the challenges of combining scientific and local and indigenous perspectives, the benefits that the scientific work of the project (a joint diagnosis and a geodatabase) will bring to communities, and the importance of place-based initiatives.
The Amazon programme focuses on two major issues with the collaboration of local actors.
Reforestation and rehabilitation of degraded lands
Preventing and improving the management of fires in the biosphere reserves in order to help safeguard the ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest.
For example, an initiative in the Beni Biosphere Reserve (Bolivia) aims to build a greenhouse and provide families living in 4 communities with seeds of high-quality native timber species (mahogany) and crops (plantain, coffee, cocoa and citrus) to create plots under agroforestry systems in fallows, areas traditionally used for agriculture by local people. The initiative will strengthen productors' production, transformation and commercialization capacities while promoting a sustainable long-term economic activity.
Creation of sustainable employment and alternative sources of income
Promoting and ensuring over the long-term livelihoods for local populations which do not involve recourse to deforestation
For example, an initiative in Yasuní biosphere reserve (Ecuador) seeks to empower youth from Limoncocha, a Kichwa community of about 600 people in which plastic pollution has become a recurring problem. The project will value a local association collecting and recycling plastic to improve their infrastructure, thus enhancing circular economy and reducing environmental impacts in the biosphere reserve while creating income and strengthening technical and marketing capacities for young Kichwa people.
