Cape West Coast Biosphere - SG 4

Biosphere Reserves (BR) are national sites of terrestrial and coastal or marine ecosystems or a combination thereof designated under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme to promote conservation and sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science.  The MAB Programme was launched in the early 1970s and was substantially revised in 1995 with the adoption by the UNESCO’s General Conference of the Seville Strategy and the Statutory Framework of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).

Sites are designated by the UNESCO International Co-ordinating Council of the MAB Programme at the request by the State concerned. Individual Biosphere Reserves remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the State where they are situated. Collectively, all biosphere reserves form a World Network in which participation by States is voluntary. Biosphere Reserves are much more than “protected areas” and they should not be viewed as islands isolated from its surroundings, but rather as an integral part of a regional planning and development strategy aimed at promoting sustainable development.

With the above being said, the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve (CWCBR) was registered in 2000 with UNESCO as South Africa’s 2nd Biosphere Reserve. The CWCBR was established in terms of section 21 of the Companies Act (61 of 1973) as an association incorporated not for gain to manage the operations of Biosphere Reserve in terms of the requirements of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme.