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Coping with global and climate change in mountains using biospherereserves as observatory and monitoring sites

Dr. Thomas SchaafChief, Ecological Sciences and Biodiversity SectionUNESCO, Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme

Owing to global change, including climate change, many of the world's mountain ecosystems areundergoing drastic transformations which may affect the ability of mountain regions to provide criticalgoods and services to both mountain inhabitants and lowland communities. As mountains arevulnerable ecosystems, signals of global environmental change have been detected, that affect interaliathe water balance (snow and glacial melt) in the cryosphere and at lower altitudes; and biodiversity(floral and faunal composition) and the occurrence of rare and endangered species in the alpine andforest zones of mountains. Moreover, the livelihoods of mountain communities are jeopardized due to

changing environmental and economic conditions affecting land use, income opportunities and humanwell-being.

From 2003 to 2005, UNESCOs MAB Programme and twelve other research institutions anduniversities jointly implemented the project Global Change in Mountain Regions (GLOCHAMORE)which was funded under the 5th Framework Programme of the European Commission as well as byUNESCO-MAB. Its aims were to set up a world-wide network of mountain biosphere reserves(including Sierra Nevada Biosphere Reserve, Spain) to study global and climate change impacts onmountains, and to bring together global change researchers and biosphere reserve managers todevelop a research strategy for mountains.

Throughout the project, biosphere reserves in mountains were considered as ideal study andmonitoring sites because of their zonation pattern with core, buffer and transition zones reflectingdifferent land-uses: biosphere reserves include protected areas (with natural or near-naturalenvironments), and they also include areas inhabited by human beings which are used for economicactivities. Moreover, biosphere reserves dispose of a good research infrastructure (e.g. with long-termclimatic data sets, species lists, researchers etc.).

Out of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (today: 580 sites in 114 countries), several mountainbiosphere reserves had been selected for the GLOCHAMORE Project which represented the majormountain ranges in all world regions. A large-scale science conference and a series of five internationalworkshops (of which one had been held in Granada) have been organized to better understand thecauses and impacts of global change in mountains both affecting the biophysical environment and thelivelihoods of mountain people. As a result, the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy (available athttp://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001471/147170E.pdf ) had been developed as a blue print forconducting research and environmental monitoring covering the following themes:

Climate Land use change Cryosphere Water systems Ecosystem function & services Biodiversity Hazards

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Human and animal health Mountain economies Society and global change.

While all above-mentioned themes are pertinent for assessing and monitoring the impacts of global andclimate change on mountains, it was decided at an international workshop in Kathmandu (Nepal,November 2008), that a more restricted list of topics should be analyzed and studied in detail inmountain biosphere reserves, since some biosphere reserves in developing countries may not have thenecessary financial means to address all topics at the same time. These topics are:

Climate Biodiversity (in particular: key fauna and flora) Water systems (in particular: water balance and water quantity) Land use change (quantifying and monitoring land use) Mountain economies (employment and income)

In 2008, the UNESCO-MAB Secretariat created a follow-up project to the GLOCHAMORE Project,

which is now called Global and Climate Change in Mountain Sites - Coping Strategies for MountainBiosphere Reserves (GLOCHAMOST). The purpose of GLOCHAMOST is to implement theGLOCHAMORE Research Strategyin selected mountain biosphere reserves along the lines of the fivetopics mentioned above. Participating biosphere reserves are the following:

Canada: Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve China: Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve Germany: Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Reserve India: Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve Peru:Huascaran Biosphere Reserve Russian Federation:Katunskiy Biosphere Reserve Russian Federation: Teberdinskiy Biosphere Reserve Spain:Sierra Nevada Biosphere Reserve

Switzerland: Reservat da Biosfera Val Mustair-Parc Naziunal

While some differences exist, there are many similarities regarding the impact of global and climatechange affecting mountain biosphere reserves as can be seen from the reports submitted to UNESCO-MAB in late 2011 (available on the UNESCO-MAB website at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/mountains/glochamost/.

What we need to today are long-term observatories which can help to formulate and implementadaptation strategies to cope with global and climate change. Ideally, these observatories should:

1. Establish a baseline of biophysical and socio-economic factors and parameters:2. Monitor trends evoked by global and climate change;

3. Define adaptive management measures;4. Implement adaption schemes, in consultation with local and national authorities and local

people;5. Share information among similar observatories world-wide

The Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory is certainly a most welcome initiative in this direction. Ifit is so desired, the UNESCO-MAB Secretariat will certainly assist with the sharing and diffusion ofinformation from the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory to other mountain biosphere reserves

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002147/214702E.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Changbaishan_BR_GLOCHAMOST-2011.pdfhttp://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002146/214657E.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Nanda_Devi_BR-India.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Huascaran_BR-Peru_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Katunskiy_GLOCHAMOST_final_report_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Teberda_BR_GLOCHAMOST_2011_report.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Sierra_Nevada_BR-Spain_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Val_Mustair-Swiss_NP_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/mountains/glochamost/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/mountains/glochamost/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/mountains/glochamost/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/mountains/glochamost/http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Val_Mustair-Swiss_NP_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Sierra_Nevada_BR-Spain_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Teberda_BR_GLOCHAMOST_2011_report.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Katunskiy_GLOCHAMOST_final_report_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Huascaran_BR-Peru_2011.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Nanda_Devi_BR-India.pdfhttp://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002146/214657E.pdfhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Changbaishan_BR_GLOCHAMOST-2011.pdfhttp://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002147/214702E.pdf

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the world over for the sake of international scientific collaboration and to find joint solutions to thechallenges imposed by global change today.