Indonesia to Propose Three National Parks as New Global Biosphere Reserves

Indonesia will propose to have three national parks declared as new biosphere reserves at the 30^th Man and the Biosphere Program International Coordinating Council (MAB-ICC), scheduled to be held on July 23-28 in Palembang, South Sumatra.

“We will nominate Berbak Sembilang in South Sumatra and Jambi, Betung Kerihun Danau Sentarum in West Kalimantan and Rinjani in West Nusa Tenggara," Enny Sudarmonowati, head of the MAB-UNESCO’s national committee, said in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by tempo.co. 

MAB-ICC is UNESCO’s annual agenda to discuss the development of biosphere reserves to restore ecosystems.

According to UNESCO’s official website, “biosphere reserves are said to be areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems. Each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.”

Palembang will be the fifth host for the event outside of France, after Jeju in South Korea, Dresden in Germany, Jonkoping in Sweden and Lima, Peru.

There are currently 669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, with 11 in Indonesia, according to Enny.

She added that the MAB-ICC has given Indonesia the chance to prove its role as one of the countries with the most diverse biological resources in the world.

"As host, Indonesia needs to propose recommendations related to one of its biosphere reserves, Berbak Sembilang," said Enny, who is also the deputy of biological sciences at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Source : The Jakarta Post | Tempo.com