Togo amongst 18 new Biosphere Reserves sites added to UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme

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Submitted by IQ4News on Thu, 30/06/2011 - 7:41pm

Dresden, 30 June - The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), meeting in Dresden (Germany) from 28 June to 1 July, has added 18 new sites to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which now numbers 580 sites in 14 countries.

Togo made it to the list of the new sites, alongside countries like Lithuania, Maldives, and, Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The Biosphere Reserve complex in Oti-Keran/Oti-Mandouri, Togo, including Keran National Park and the ‘Reserve de Faune l’Oti-Mandouri’, covers 179,000 ha, with 16,710 inhabitants in the northern part of the country.

The Reserve is a key area, which helps to maintain the connection between Oti-Keran and WAP complexes - W (Niger), Arly (Burkina-Faso) and the Pendjari National Park (Benin), acting as a transboundary migratory corridor for elephants and other big mammals, such as buffalo.

The Oti-Keran/Oti-Mandouri Bisophere Reserve encompasses various ecosystems, including shrubland, savannas, forest galleries, and grasslands. Communities have been involved in the design and management of the reserve, especially monitoring activities. Research is also being carried out in collaboration with national and international universities, focusing on the dynamics of ecosystem and biodiversity evolution as well as socio- and socio-cultural issues.

The MAB Programme has been pioneering a scientific basis for sustainable development for 40 years. Biosphere reserves are places recognized by MAB where local communities are actively involved in governance and management, research, education, training and monitoring at the service of both socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation. They are thus sites for experimenting with and learning about sustainable development.