UNESCO designated this Friday 14 new biosphere reserves in 14 countries, including the Nino Konis Santana National Park in Timor-Leste, described as “one of the ecologically most significant landscapes” in Southeast Asia.
The designation announced yesterday, which also included Serra da Estrela in Portugal, is Timor-Leste’s first and a milestone in the creation of the park — named in honor of a commander in the fight for the independence of the Lusophone country — on the eastern tip of the island, at the intersection of Wallacea’s biodiversity hotspot and the Coral Triangle.
The Nino Konis Santana reserve “hosts the country’s largest remaining primary forest, with coral reefs containing about 500 fish species,” in addition to Lake Iralalaro, “the most important freshwater site in Timor-Leste,” and Nusa Tenggara, which houses 50 species of aquatic birds, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The Timorese biosphere reserve hosts 168 bird species, including some threatened such as the yellow-crested cockatoo, and reptiles like the cobra-necked turtle, as well as endemic bats, four of which may be new species for science.
“A sacred Jacob Island, surrounded by coral reefs and limestone cliffs, holds deep spiritual significance for the local communities,” who “fish with hand lines and traditional nets, weave the Tais fabrics, cultivate vanilla and cocoa,” and “are the living fabric of this landscape,” the UNESCO describes.
UNESCO biosphere reserves are territories of exceptional ecological value, integrating inhabitants and nature, conserving biological and cultural diversity, promoting sustainable development and linking communities in a global network.
Together with World Heritage natural sites and Global Geoparks, they contribute to protecting more than 13 million square kilometres of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, under UNESCO’s auspices.
Together with the new biosphere reserves in Timor-Leste and Portugal, new counterparts were designated in Albania, Algeria, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Canada, Islamic Republic of Iran, Mongolia, Montenegro, Paraguay, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Aruba became the second country to have its entire territory designated as a biosphere reserve.
Extensions were also approved for five existing biosphere reserves in China, Italy and Spain.
The designations raise the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves to 797 sites in 145 countries.
This year, for the first time, an entire city was designated as a biosphere reserve, Quebec (Canada).
“The designations this year span all continents, showing the full breadth of what it means to live in harmony with nature. UNESCO will continue to work with governments, communities and scientists to ensure that these living laboratories stay at the forefront of the global response to climate crises and biodiversity,” the agency says.
The Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) stated in a press release that the approval of Serra da Estrela’s candidacy to the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves was announced yesterday at the 38th session of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), held at the Itaipu Roga Convention Center in Hernandarias, Paraguay, since June 3.
With this approval, Portugal now has 14 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the ICNF recalled.
Serra da Estrela now holds two UNESCO designations for the same territory: the UNESCO Global Geopark designation, recognized in July 2020, and now the Biosphere Reserve.
The candidacy was promoted by AGE — Associação Geopark Estrela, with scientific coordination by Helena Freitas of the Functional Ecology Center at the University of Coimbra.
Environment and Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho noted that the recognition is “an opportunity to strengthen Serra da Estrela’s sustainability, placing innovation and environmental education at the service of communities and future generations.”
