Sector board volunteers are the latest in a long line of contributors to life in the Noosa Biosphere. Please add acknowledgements to the Noosa Wiki
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Boronia Keysii © Stephanie Haslam
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Biosphere at a Glance
There is often confusion about what it means to ‘live green’. Some people talk about being ‘sustainable’ without knowing what it really is. Most people who hear the word ‘biosphere’ are unsure of what it means.
We hope to clarify all that. Try this for starters: sustainability to us is about, ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’.
Now, let’s see what else we can clear up for you…
In October 2007 Noosa was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
What is a biosphere reserve?
- Biosphere reserves are sites that demonstrate innovative approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They share their experience and ideas regionally, nationally and internationally within a world network of biosphere reserves.
- Biosphere reserves go beyond confined protected areas to where sustainable economic development is made possible through partnerships with local people.
- Biosphere reserves are about developing quality economies based on local community action and entrepreneurship, sound science, public-private sector partnerships and networking.
- Biosphere reserves also provide living laboratories to experiment with and showcase various approaches to sustainable development that are culturally relevant to local communities.
- There are over 550 biosphere reserves in 102 countries.
- The Noosa Biosphere Reserve is the first in Queensland and covers approximately 150,000 hectares of freshwater/tidal and terrestrial areas.
- The second biosphere reserve in Queensland is Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve. Both local biospheres have a close working and planning relationship.
- Find a map of the Noosa Biosphere boundaries here.
What will the Noosa Biosphere Reserve aim to do?
- Contribute to the implementation of existing international agreements promoting conservation in Australia.
- Include a wide variety of environmental, biological, economic and cultural programs, incorporating largely undisturbed areas, and extending to include major towns and cities, and taking in coastal and marine environments.
- Strengthen the emerging regional and thematic global components of the functioning World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
- Promote scientific research, monitoring, training and education.
- Contain an extensive and functional occurrence of all Biosphere Reserve zones that fully reflect the natural and human dimensions of the area.
- Operate on the basis of open, evolving and adaptive relationships with all sections of the community to promote management that is culturally creative and ecologically, economically and socially sustainable.
- Promote awareness and understanding through information exchange, community capacity and network building, collaborative partnerships, education programs of sustainability and responsible stewardship of the area’s ecosystems, resources and values.
More information
For more information, please download the Plan of Management below. For more reference documents go to Documents & Resources.
Further Reading PDF's
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Acknowledgements
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