Biosphere reserve Facts for Kids

Map shows the World Network of Biosphere Reserves as of 2013

A biosphere reserve is a ecosystem with plants and animals of unusual scientific and natural interest. It is a label given by UNESCO to help protect the sites. The plan is to promote management, research and education in ecosystem conservation. This includes the 'sustainable use of natural resources'. If, for example, fish or trees are taken for human use, this is done in ways which least damage the ecosystem.

A biosphere reserve consists of three zones: lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere.

i) Core zone: No human activity is permitted in this zone.

ii) Buffer zone: It surrounds the core area, where a limited access permits to local people for the gathering of resources.

iii) Free zones: It is the outermost zone, which is open to human settlements and resource gathering.

The program is run by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program. It has started a World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The MAB program has built up the World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 1971. Biosphere reserves, exchange knowledge and experiences on new ideas for sustainable development. They are areas used to develop new ways of doing things, test these ways and share the results. The objective is to get a balanced relationship between mankind and nature. The biosphere is very important to humans.

Images for kids

The Bee Lick Creek, of the Jefferson Memorial Forest, was designated as a National Audubon Society wildlife refuge.
Charles Waterton established the first nature reserve in 1821.
Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)
A forest of the Aulanko Reserve in Hämeenlinna, Tavastia Proper, Finland
A bridged stone river in Bistrishko Branishte, an early Bulgarian nature reserve established in 1934.
The Tarvasjõgi river at Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve in Estonia
Nature reserve near Budapest, next to Lake Naplás
Path on Szczeliniec Wielki, a famous nature reserve in the Stołowe Mountains in SW Poland
The Limmatspitz nature reserve of Pro Natura
Dena, a biosphere reserve in Iran
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand
Peñas Blancas, part of the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is the second largest rainforest in the Western Hemisphere, after the Amazonian Rainforest in Brazil. Located northeast of the city of Jinotega in Northeastern Nicaragua.
South Ural Nature Reserve in Russia
Cascade Head, Oregon, United States, is a UNESCO biosphere reserve

Biosphere reserve facts for kids

Images for kids

See also