According by the UNESCO, biosphere reserves are exceptional areas for research, long-term monitoring, training, education and public awareness where local communities can manage its resources and learn for sustainable... [ view full abstract ]
According by the UNESCO, biosphere reserves are exceptional areas for research, long-term monitoring, training, education and public awareness where local communities can manage its resources and learn for sustainable development. There has been a great deal of theoretical research about sustainability since the concept of “sustainable development” was publicly displayed in 1987, more than three decades ago. “Originally, sustainability was about socio-political and socioeconomic regimes that are viable in the long run because they do not overstrain the environment […] but then the Bruntdland Report introduced the notion of sustainable development based on the optimistic assumption that sustainability and development go together rather than contradicting each other” (Friedrichs, 2014:86). Nowadays a gap still remains regarding how sustainable development can be put into practice and into how it can be reached avoiding natural damages and social unbalances. It is well known that beyond biosphere reserves there is a range of other legal figures designed for protecting the environment and, at the same time, developing economic growth, social and even ecological and climate justice: from protected landscapes and natural areas to national or state parks. Communication plays a key role in terms of creating awareness to implement sustainability policies. This paper aims to explain how these natural places are socially communicated and, to some extent, how they are publicly and legally managed in order to integrate interests and avoid social conflicts. Over a three months research journey in more than twenty natural sites from five countries we compare how this natural heritage is depicted and communicatively presented, and how environmental and decision making policies influence governance, public involvement and participation strategies (communicative law). Countries were mainly selected regarding its number of biosphere reserves as Spain is first in the world (48) and because before Trump’s Administration the USA had 47 biosphere reserves, while nowadays it has only 30 sites catalogued as such. Other aspects regarding the countries' selection process were linked to economics (Chile is the only OECD member in South America) and to socio-political issues (neo-constitutionalism in Ecuador and the peace process in Colombia). To enrich our analysis different management models (from the State to the NGOs) were also taken into account. To name just a few, visited places in afforementioned countries were, among others, five Biosphere Reserves in Spain (Terres de l'Ebre and Menorca) Chile (Torres del Paine and Araucarias) and USA (Rocky Mountain); five USA national and state parks in Colorado and Utah; four protected areas in Ecuador (Cotopaxi volcano National Park, Cuicocha lake and geo-botanical reserves of Pululahua and Buenaventura); and, finally, the Bogota's hills in Colombia. Applied methods were: a) analysis of tourism brands, green labels, leaflets, brochures, signals and maps; b) In-deep interviews to ten people including politicians, government officials, academics, park rangers, social activists as well as tourist guides—; and c) Participant observation. Our research shows that some conflicts between public bodies, private companies and affected communities are found in these areas independently from what figure is chosen to protect them. We conclude that beyond theoretical approaches biosphere reserves are not always better than national parks, state parks and other protected areas in order to communicate and put into practice social, economic and environmental policies for sustainability and for sustainable development.
Keywords: environmental communication, communicative legislation, soft law, biosphere reserves, national parks, natural protected areas.
9d. Law and sustainability
