1st Participatory Planning Workshop
Costa Rica, March 3, 2021. The work process began in Costa Rica for the nomination of the Coco-Galapagos Swimway as a Transboundary Biosphere Reserve with a Participatory Planning Workshop held in San José, on March 3, which had the participation Haydée Rodríguez, Vice Minister of Coasts and Seas of MINAE and technical focal point of CMAR; Franklin Paniagua, Vice Minister of Natural Resources; Rafael Gutiérrez, Director of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC); Ricardo Meneses, Technical Secretary pro Tempore of CMAR; Directors of Conservation Areas and other officials of the Costa Rican government; Juan Criado, representing the UNESCO San José Cluster Office; Zdenka Piskulich, Director of the Forever Costa Rica Association, Rosario Alvarez, Director of MigraMar, and Carlos Chacón, Coordinator of PACÍFICO; as well as other representatives of NGOs and civil society organizations.
Supporting the process of nomination and designation of the Coco-Galapagos Swimway as a Transboundary Biosphere Reserve is a natural step within the strategy to support swimways by PACÍFICO, CMAR, MINAE, MigraMar and other partners. Once the nomination process is completed by Costa Rica and Ecuador, and designation by UNESCO, this swimway will become the first Marine Transboundary Biosphere Reserve in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. This process will also be carried out in Ecuador and will include activities in both countries aimed at guaranteeing the greatest possible participation of various actors from the productive, community, institutional and conservation sectors.
Biosphere Reserves are geographically defined areas that include terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems and their populations, where the relationships between the environment and human activities are managed in a sustainable way, conflicts over the access and use of natural resources are prevented and mitigated, and biodiversity is managed for the benefit of all. The territory of these reserves may be within a nation or it may extend over the territories of more than one nation, thereby becoming Transboundary Biosphere Reserves, as will be the case of the Coco-Galapagos Swimway.
On one hand, during the workshop it was highlighted that binational governance, communication, control and surveillance and financial sustainability agreements are reached in the Transboundary Biosphere Reserves, while maintaining the sovereignty of the countries. On the other hand, in the discussions it was addressed that the figure of the Biosphere Reserve is distinguished from other mechanisms because it recognizes the need to conserve in the midst of a context of use and management of natural resources. These areas consist of an area that is the core of protection, usually protected areas such as the Galapagos Marine Reserve or the Cocos Island National Park (PNIC), a buffer zone where various human activities are carried out, and a transition zone. In this context, there was also a conversation on the topic of the work to expand the Marine Protected Areas in Ecuador, in the area of the swimway to the marine border with Costa Rica and the PNIC, Seamounts Marine Management Area, and the Corcovado National Park.
Additionally, it was emphasized in the workshop that Biosphere Reserves offer local solutions to global challenges and become learning spaces for sustainable development. They meet conservation, economic development, research, and educational objectives. In the Reserves, research and observation is permanently carried out, as well as training and support to local communities in the use, management and protection of ecosystems. Thus, it is possible to maintain and ensure access to the services provided by nature, such as climate regulation, water purification, oxygen production, food, health, safety and equity.
Biosphere Reserves are nominated by national governments following a procedure of extensive consultation with various stakeholders, as well as specialized studies. They are then appointed within the intergovernmental framework of the Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) by the Director-General of UNESCO following the decisions of the MAB International Co-ordinating Council. Biosphere Reserves remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located.
To achieve the nomination of the Coco-Galapagos Swimway, it will be necessary to build consensus in both Costa Rica and Ecuador, where the interests of governments, the private sector and environmental and social organizations converge around a sustainable development model. This will facilitate the adoption and implementation of a binational and regional collaborative framework for the special management of this highly valuable area of conservation and sustainable development.