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The United States Man and the Biosphere Program Revised by the US MAB Secretariat, Department of State, January 12, 2000.

"The mission of the United States Man and the Biosphere Program (U.S. MAB) is to explore, demonstrate, promote, and encourage harmonious relationships between people and their environments building on the MAB network of Biosphere Reserves and interdisciplinary research. The long-term goal of the U.S. MAB Program is to contribute to achieving a sustainable society early in the 21st Century. The MAB mission and long term goal will be implemented, in the United States and internationally, through public-private partnerships and linkages that sponsor and promote cooperative interdisciplinary research, experimentation, education and information exchange on options by which societies can achieve sustainability." Adopted by the U.S. National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere Program, July 26, 1995.

U.S. MAB is supported by the Agency for International Development; the Department of Agriculture-Forest Service; the Department of Commerce-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Department of Energy; the Department of the Interior-Bureau of Land Management, -National Biological Service, -National Park Service; the Department of State; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the National Institutes of Health; the National Science Foundation; the Peace Corps; and the Smithsonian Institution.

The program is organized into six directorates: Biosphere Reserve, High Latitude Ecosystems, Human-Dominated Systems, Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, Temperate Ecosystems, and Tropical Ecosystems.

Inquires concerning the U.S. MAB Program should be addressed to the U.S. MAB Secretariat, OES/ETC/MAB, Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-4401.

An Overview

The Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) promotes the study of the interrelationships of Earth's human and natural systems. Of current interest is the development of tools for ecosystem management which would provide for the sustainable use of natural resources and the maintenance of biological diversity. Monitoring of global environmental change has become centrally important. MAB coordinates the efforts of many nations to achieve a world that can benefit both man and his environment. The U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program is part of the world-wide MAB effort.

MAB International Program

The Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) was established at the 1970 General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). At this conference the International Coordinating Council (ICC) for MAB was chartered.

In many ways MAB builds on the former International Biological Program (IBP), but differs from IBP in that MAB is intergovernmental in structure and oriented toward solving management problems arising from the interactions between human activities and natural systems. MAB has an integrated, interdisciplinary, problem-focused research approach. MAB seeks to provide a bridge between fundamental science and technological applications.

MAB provided the first formal mechanism for bringing together and coordinating diffuse national and international research, conservation, and training activities through an international network of 352 biosphere reserves. Biosphere reserves are multi-functional areas nominated by MAB national programs. The criteria for selection are legal protection for conservation of a core area, active scientific infrastructure, involvement of regional stakeholders, and potential to demonstrate sustainable human use of the ecosystem.

One hundred twenty-eight nations currently participate in the MAB program. In each country a MAB national committee defines and organizes specific national activities to be under the aegis of MAB.

U.S. MAB Program

In 1974 the U.S. Department of State established a U.S. National Committee for the MAB Program, composed of representatives from supporting federal agencies and state and private institutions, which guides the development of national research, education, and training activities. Under its direction, U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program (U.S. MAB) projects are administered by directorates of selected experts.

The mission of the United States Man and the Biosphere Program (U.S. MAB) is to explore, demonstrate, promote, and encourage harmonious relationships between people and their environments building on the MAB network of biosphere reserves and interdisciplinary research. The long-term goal of the U.S. MAB Program is to contribute to achieving a sustainable society early in the 21st Century. The MAB mission and long term goal will be implemented, in the United States and internationally, through public-private partnerships and linkages that sponsor and promote cooperative, interdisciplinary research, experimentation, education and information exchange on options by which societies can achieve sustainability." Adopted by the U.S. National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere Program, July 26, 1995.

The U.S. National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere Program is currently chaired by David F. Hales. Mr. Hales was appointed as chair by Melinda Kimble, Acting Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs of the Department of State. The U.S. MAB Secretariat is located in this State Department bureau.

Current institutional members of the National Committee represent the following supporting federal agencies:

Agency for International Development
Department of Agriculture - Forest Service
Department of Commerce - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Department of Energy
Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management
Department of the Interior - National Biological Service
Department of the Interior - National Park Service
Department of State
Environmental Protection Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Institutes of Health
National Science Foundation
Peace Corps
Smithsonian Institution

The directorate chairpersons. and members from U.S. universities and private sector organizations complete the National Committee membership.

The Way U.S. MAB Works

U.S. MAB is organized into six program directorates. Five are research-oriented and provide opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration among natural and social scientists directed toward solving problems of biological diversity and sustained resource use. The newest directorate is focused on management issues of the U.S. Biosphere Reserve Program.

The U.S. National Committee directed that the membership of the directorates reflect a mix of scientists of various disciplines, as well as a mix of federal and private sector scientists. All directorate members are appointed for 3-year terms. At present, scientists from 16 universities and eight managers of biosphere reserves are among those serving on the various directorates. Each directorate has a mission statement to reflect its basic framework and goals.

The research directorates initiate proposals for projects or requests for proposals (RFP) from others. The directorate then takes the role of coordination and review. The projects are competitively peer-reviewed, whether they are initiated by the directorate or are in response to a RFP. The RFP is published in the U.S. MAB Bulletin and the Federal Register and is reprinted in various scientific and research journals.

U.S. MAB in International Cooperation

As an international program, U.S. MAB cooperates both bilaterally with the MAB Programs of other nations and multilaterally through UNESCO and other international organizations and regional programs.

In cooperation with the MAB Programs of Europe and North America (EuroMAB), U.S. MAB has a lead role in developing the international biosphere reserve network. The Biosphere Reserve Integrated Monitoring (BRIM) program was established to link the scientific community of the world to the numerous data bases created in the 175 biosphere reserves within the EuroMAB countries. U.S. MAB published ACCESS, a directory of the biosphere reserves with information on research and monitoring activities and common data bases. ACCESS 1996 provides the results of a survey of permanent monitoring plots existing on EuroMAB biosphere reserves.

In collaboration with the MAB Programs of Czech Republic and Sweden, U.S. MAB is assisting in development of standardized formats for reporting the results of flora and fauna biological inventories, MABFlora and MABFauna. MABFauna is available on the Internet at http://ice.ucdavis.edu/MAB/.

In collaboration with the MAB Programs of other Western Hemisphere countries, U.S. MAB works with oeCiencias y Technologia para el Dessarrollo" (CYTED) to develop communication linkages and standardized reporting formats for the scientific data existing on the biosphere reserves. MABNetAmericas is the developing international communication link of 100 biosphere reserves in 17 countries in the Western Hemisphere. Additional research sites and institutions will be added to MABNetAmericas as they adopt compatible reporting formats, standards, and protocols.

U.S. MAB promotes the above regional linkages with MAB Programs and with UNESCO MAB as part of an eventual worldwide cooperative network among the MAB Programs and their biosphere reserves called MABNet. The creation of MABNet is seen as a major contribution to a Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS).

International collaboration also plays an important role in U.S. MAB research directorate program activities. Research grants initiated by the Tropical Ecosystems Directorate specifically request participation by local scientists in the study of the trinational region of Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala. Interdisciplinary research, education, and information exchange are all part of these funded projects. The High Latitude Ecosystems Directorate involves both Canadian researchers and indigenous peoples in its core project research. U.S. MAB has supported Arctic scientists of other nations through the Northern Sciences Network.

Model Biosphere Reserve

A biosphere reserve is a unique category of protected area dedicated to solving problems associated with human impacts on natural ecosystems.

A model biosphere reserve consists of a protected (core) area, a managed use area (buffer zone), and a zone of cooperation (transition area.).

Biosphere reserve status is awarded by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) to those protected areas that combine scientific research and monitoring, conservation, education, and training. Each site is nominated by its country MAB Program. Together the 337 biosphere reserves in 85 countries form an international network that represents the world's major ecoregions.

A protected area consists of examples of minimally disturbed ecosystems and has secure domestic legal protection. Only activities that do not adversely affect the natural habitat are allowed. The managed use area protects the core area.

The zone of cooperation is the area in which conservation and management innovations are applied. It may contain settlements, croplands, managed forests, recreation areas, and other economic uses characteristic of the region.

Since 1984 the management agencies of a site have been required to serve as a focal point for regional environmental cooperation. Biosphere reserves thus help to bring together the diverse regional stakeholders so as to find practical strategies to deal with the complex and interrelated environmental, land use, and socioeconomic concerns affecting a particular region.

Biosphere Reserve Directorate

The Biosphere Reserve Directorate was approved by the U.S. MAB National Committee in July 1994. The Biosphere Reserve Directorate is charged with establishing a cooperative program and with providing guidance to the 47 existing U.S. Biosphere Reserves as they implement the U.S. MAB objectives of conserving biodiversity and encouraging sustainable development of natural resources.

The directorate's initial activities will promote the regional integrator function of biosphere reserves and encourage communication among U.S. Biosphere Reserves, facilitate inclusion of local stakeholders in decisionmaking on ecosystem management issues, and educate the public about the important role of biosphere reserves.

The U.S. MAB Strategic Plan for U.S. Biosphere Reserves Program sets forth several goals which were approved by the U.S. MAB National Committee in 1994:

• create a national network of biosphere reserves that represents the biogeographical diversity of the United States and fulfills the internationally established roles and functions of biosphere reserves;
• foster cooperative partnerships among all stakeholders in biosphere reserves;
• acquire and integrate knowledge for sustaining biodiversity, cultural values, and viable economies within an ecosystem/landscape context;
• promote public awareness and education that strengthens the commitment of stakeholders to MAB concepts;
• establish mechanisms for sharing and disseminating data and information among U.S. biosphere reserves and between U.S. Biosphere Reserves and others.

High Latitude Ecosystems Directorate

Special emphasis has been placed on the high latitude regions of the Earth as potentially responding earliest to effects of global climate change. These regions include the zones of continuous and discontinuous permafrost and some of the most undeveloped land areas of the northern hemisphere. They support indigenous human populations which, until very recently, have practiced a subsistence-based economy and lifestyle.

Now these regions are undergoing rapidly accelerating social change, including increased pressure for resource extraction, and growing resident populations. These changes have increased scrutiny of resource use and management.

The present core research project of the directorate, "Human-Environment Interactions and Institutional Frameworks: Alternative Caribou Management Systems in the Arctic," compares two caribou management systems, the Western Arctic Herd in Alaska and the Beverly and Kaminuriak herds in Canada. Researchers are measuring management effectiveness in terms of agreement between managers and users on harvest and herd monitoring practices, the quality of biological data, and the extent to which users and managers hold common beliefs on factors affecting caribou population size and migration.

Among the areas of interest to the High Latitude Ecosystems Directorate for concentrated project activities and proposed research are:

• sustaining resources and indigenous populations;
• monitoring climate change and interactions with local systems;
• integrating local human and resource concerns in the design process for industrial development;
• maintaining aquatic areas and wetlands;
• maintaining and protecting biological diversity and cooperating in research and policy development to recover any systems that are lost or are in the process of being damaged.

Human-Dominated Systems Directorate

There are areas in which human activity has so altered the underlying ecosystems that a very different environment is created. Population growth has caused ecosystem alteration more rapidly and over wider areas than ever before. Urbanization and intensification of agriculture creates problems for human health and food production. Other processes, such as resource extraction and tourist development, also create altered and distinct human dominated ecologies. Many areas suffer from problems such as air pollution, soil degradation, deforestation, and the loss of beaches and coastal areas. As a result, the capacity of natural systems and the viability of various types of human interventions need to be better understood.

The current core project of the directorate, "Ecological Sustainability and Human Institutions: Case Studies of Three Biosphere Reserves," addresses the practical considerations of management of three wetland areas: the South Florida-Everglades ecosystem, the Maryland Eastern Shore, and the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

Among the areas of interest to the Human-Dominated Systems Directorate for project activities and proposed research are:

• developing generic principles of ecosystem management for ecological sustainability;
• developing a conceptual model of human-environment interactions and effects;
• applying the principles and model to regional ecosystems by characterizing the natural and anthropogenic stressors, identifying ecological endpoints for evaluating the health of the ecosystems, characterizing the interactions between humans and the ecological systems, and exploring ecosystems management policies to achieve sustainability;
• comparing human-environment interactions and ecosystem management policies for different regions;
• developing a methodology and process for application of ecosystem management for achieving ecological sustainability to other ecological and human systems.

Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Directorate

Encroachment on coastal areas is increasing worldwide. Habitats are being lost to construction and exploitation of natural resources. This trend will lead to global deterioration in the quality and productivity of the marine environment.

Biodiversity loss and ineffectual management of natural resources are of growing concern. The need to resolve the conflict between continued fishery harvest and preservation of marine ecosystems is recognized. Greater cooperation among all affected parties: local, state, and federal governments; universities; interest groups; and private industry in developing and implementing natural resource management goals is fundamental to achieving use and protection of marine ecosystems.

The most important natural resource management goals are promoting sustainable economic production, conserving natural marine resources and biodiversity, sustaining cultural values, and providing information on the condition of the marine environment.

The Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Directorate core project, "Ecological and Socioeconomic Impacts of Alternative Access Management Strategies in Marine Protected Areas," will address these four goals and include the natural and socioeconomic sciences and management communities.

The project focuses on the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of alternative access strategies in Marine Protected Areas. The project will examine existing management strategies in different marine ecosystems. The project:

• focuses on critical management strategies that influence ecological, economic, and sociological sustainability in marine and coastal environments;
• fosters analyses and recommendations for other current and emerging management issues on sustainability of marine and coastal resources;
• illustrates how sociological, cultural, and economic factors can be integrated into natural science analyses of marine ecosystems;
• illustrates MAB's role as a liaison among management agencies, user groups, and the scientific community.

Temperate Ecosystems Directorate

The temperate zone is occupied by two-thirds of the population and most of the industrialized nations of the Earth. Consequently, human activities have substantially affected natural ecosystems and ecological processes. The per capita rates of resource consumption and pollution are far higher than in other latitudinal zones, and modifications to natural ecosystems are extensive. The temperate zone encompasses a wide variety of ecological systems ranging from wet forests to grasslands and deserts to aquatic ecosystems of lakes, rivers, and freshwater wetlands.

The core interdisciplinary project of the Temperate Ecosystems Directorate, "Land Use Patterns in the Olympic and Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserves: Implications for Long Term Sustainable Development and Environmental Vitality," examines the effects on land cover of changes in land use and ownership on the Olympic peninsula and the southern Appalachian highlands. A computer modeling environment derived from this research, Land Use Change Analysis System (LUCAS), is a useful tool for managers to examine the land cover consequences of land use patterns over time.

LUCAS was designed to store, organize, and integrate social, economic, and biological information. LUCAS is a "knowledge environment" managers utilize when making decisions about land uses, regulations, investments in infrastructure, resource production, maintenance of biodiversity, and harmonization of coastal and terrestrial interfaces. It provides decisionmakers with a means for asking questions about how various social and economic conditions may affect land uses, how various land uses may affect landscape structure and functions, and how landscape structure may affect outputs such as water quality, species persistence and distribution, and the social and economic functions of local communities and regions.

Of interest to the Temperate Ecosystems Directorate for project activities and research:

• human modification of ecosystems structure and function;
• development and application of environmental management practices that provide for commodity production and preservation of biological diversity.

Tropical Ecosystems Directorate

Dramatic changes in land-use have had enormous effects on maintenance and quality of life of people in the tropical latitudes. The magnitude of the change is affecting the biological diversity of the planet, causing losses of precious genetic material, changing the chemistry and composition of the oceans and the atmosphere, seriously depleting the fertility of soils and nature's ability to replenish that fertility, changing the climate of the Earth, and greatly influencing the biogeochemical cycles of the planet.

Therefore, governments, researchers, resource managers, local communities, and resource users in the tropics are concerned with how we can stem the tide of negative global change and protect biological diversity, while also providing conditions supportive of the growth and development of social systems needed to maintain a healthy human population.

The current core project of the Tropical Ecosystems Directorate, "A Regional Approach for Sustainable Development and the Conservation of Natural Resources in the Maya Tri-National Region of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico,"supports interdisciplinary and binational research.

Among the areas of interest to the Tropical Ecosystems Directorate for concentrated project activities and proposed research are:

• restoring tropical forests;
• producing management plans that outline the steps for restoring tropical landscapes or wetlands;
• improving communication between social and natural scientists or managers who are working on the conservation of tropical ecosystems;
• generating data bases which contain available solutions to the problems of natural resource management in the tropics.

U.S. NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE PROGRAM

Mr. David F. Hales
Chair, U.S. MAB
Global Environmental Center
U.S. Agency for International Development

Mr. D. Dean Bibles
Past Chair, U.S. MAB

Dr. Gordon Cragg
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health

Dr. Michael P. Crosby
Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

Dr. Francisco Dallmeier
SI/MAB Biological Diversity Program
Smithsonian Institution

Dr. Jerry W. Elwood
Office of Health and Environmental Research
Department of Energy

Dr. Dennis B. Fenn
Biological Resources Division
U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior

Dr. Thomas A. Hanley
Pacific Northwest Research Station
USDA Forest Service
Department of the Interior

Dr. Mark A. Harwell
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
University of Miami

Dr. Peter R. Jutro
Senior Scientist
Environmental Protection Agency

Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy
Former Chair, U.S. MAB
Smithsonian Institution

Mr. John Matuszak
Global Environmental Center
U.S. Agency for International Development

Dr. Robert J. Naiman
School of Fisheries
University of Washington

Dr. Joanne Roskoski
Directorate for Biological Sciences
National Science Foundation

Dr. Roger E. Soles
U.S. MAB Secretariat
Department of State

Dr. Michael Soukup
National Park Service
Department of the Interior

Dr. Barbara Weber
Office of Research
U.S.D.A - Forest Service
Department of Agriculture

Dr. Diane E. Wickland
Office of Mission to Planet Earth
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mr. David C. Williams
Bureau of Land Management
Department of the Interior

Dr. John Wilson
Asia and Near East Bureau
U.S. Agency for International Development

Mr. Brooks Yeager
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Department of State

[End of Document]

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