î/ ^ï ï a ^Ç&^ - island vulnerability · ustica's natural sea réserve lucio messina dossier:...

UDC: 572. 02(22)

Title: Insula: internatiQnal journal of isl.

Cat. no: 211537Subscription no: lNote:

Date: 07 Mar 20

;^z^3

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL_ F ISLAND AFFAIRS

December 1993 ISSN 1021 - 0814 Year2 No. 2

î/;! i A

^ï ï A

"^ ^.....

^f/f^

^ -^:

.^Ç&^' ll|^»ii. * . *Ji

..,-.^"-»»",,^^'î ^. ^< IÏ ^

»

S^fKftf. tf^,

k^^ ^f^

.-e^sS' l "JiDU)

IhlBanaM"i fni/-î -'.ft f^ si fi ^Ê

^-4^[ , ^ !^f \^ ^iM/yii î

iibliothèque/Ubrarv

^- O

RECUPE- Tl l THES RFT (S

ontents

. s.

Within thé framework of thé Mediterranean Spécial Programme for Action(MEDSPA), promoted by thé European Community - Général Directorate for théEnvironment - two significant projects hâve been implemented over thé lasttwo years.

Thé Presidency of thé Région of Sicily commissioned substantial réclamationwork on thé coastal area of thé Egadi Islands and, in particular, thé cleaningup and restoration of certain areas of natural beauty of thé Island ofMarettimo, which had been drastically polluted by thé deliberate dumping ofhydrocarbons in thé sea.

At thé same time. effective coopération between thé Région of Puglia and théComune of thé Tremiti Islands has allowed for completion of thé reorganizationof thé System of sotid waste collection, transport and treatment in théarcipelago, a task which included thé intégral land réclamation of thé dumpingsites throughout thé whole territory.

EditorialPier Giovanni d'Ayala

News from and about Islands

Ecotourist Development in Banc D'ArguinNational Park, MauritaniaA. Crosby and M. Galan

Launching o f thé Campaign "Let's AdoptAn Atoll" at UlithiDuccio Canestrini

Ustica's Natural Sea RéserveLucio Messina

Dossier: Protected Areas

IntroductionJane Robertson

12

Thé World Héritage Convention: Protectingthé Outstanding Cultural and NaturalHéritage of Islande 14Bernd von Droste and Mechtild Rôssler

Which Islands Merit World Héritage Status? 17Jim Thorsell

Minorca Biosphère Réserve: Towards aModel of Conservation and Development 22Joan Rita, Cipriano Marin, M. Vidai,Antonio Rodriguez-Perea Onofre Rullan

Lanzarote: Island of VolcanoesCipriano Marin

Protected Areas and SustainableDevelopment in Small IslandsN. Ish\varan

Thé Baltic Sea, Islands andProtected AreasPéter Dogsé

28

31

34

International Parks: TransboundaryCoopération Between thé Islands ofCorsica and SardiniaAlberto Merler

Biosphère Réserve and DevelopmentOptions on thé Baltic Island ofHiiuma 43Toomas Kokovkin

Insula's Guest

Rex Nettleford, Jamaican Artistand Political Thinker 49

Islanders at Work

Hic Rodus: Hic Saltus 51Marco Tamorri and Susanna Fioretti

Thé Olive Tree Grave in MediterraneanIslands: Thé Case ofLesvos 55Theodosia Anthopoulou

Culture and TraditionalKnowledge

Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre,New Caledonia 62Renzo Piano

Insula's Page 67

UNESCO and MAB's Page 68

Book Reviews 69

Letters to thé Editer 71

Call for Contributions 73

Announceinents 74

s .

l temational Journalof Island Affairs

ISSN 1021 - 0814

December 1993

Year2 No. 2

Editorial Board

Editer:Pier Giovanni d AyalaCo-editor:Lino Briguglio

Scientific advisory committee:Prof. Salvino Busuttil, MaltaDr. Ronald G. Parris, USA, CaribbeanProf. Nicolas BIargaris, GreeceProf. Patrick Nunn, FijiProf. G. Prakash Reddy, IndiaProf. Hiroshi Kakazu, JapanProf. Orazio Rossi, ItalyDr. Henrique Pinto da Costa,Sào Tome e Principe

Published by INSULA, thé InternationalScientific Council for Island Development, withthé support of UNESCO in collaboration withthé Foundation for International Studies, Malta.

Articles published in this journal do notnecessarily reflect thé opinions ofINSULA, or ofthé Foundation for International Studies, or ofUNESCO.

Material appearing in this journal cannot bepublished without thé prior permission of théEditer.

Insula, thé International Journal oflsland Af-fairs, is distributed free to INSUIA's individualand institutional members. For subscription and

information please write to:INSULAc/o Division ofEcological Sciencesl. Rue Miollis

75732 Paris, CEDEX 15France

Tel: 33 l 45 68 40 56, Fax:33 1 40 65 98 97

Produced by Formatek Ltd., Malta. Greek amphora by thé painter Antimenes. British Mu-seum B226. By kind permission of thé British Muséum.

d'torîal

hen visiting thé Galapagos archipelago far offthé coast of Ecuador, Darwin felt astonished by théincredible biological diversity ofits natural environ-ment. A microcosm closed upon itself, as he wrote inhis logbook, leading him later towards his famoustheory of thé origin of species.

But islands, when cultivated, used and inhabited bymankind, do not remain closed ecosystems. Théhuman being, with his imagination and his endeav-our, swiftly transforms an island and its environ-ment into a starting point or a step for furtheradventures as well as for trading and discoverieswith other islands and continents. Thé history of théPolynesian sailors is an example. Wealth perhaps,novelties, new plants and animais are brought backfrom thèse sometimes far offjourneys transformingquickly thé original island's environment in a pecu-liar man-made landscape. An author recalls in thisissue thé centuries long environmental impact of théPortuguese colonists on Sào Tome and Principe,nowadays a small independent archipelago off théwestern coast of tropical Africa. Thé olive treesgrown for oil and olive fruit export in thé Greekisland of Lesvos are described in another article.

They are now confronted, after thousands ofyearsof constant care, with thé impact of a changingworld.

Sustainable development was perhaps not really inthé minds ofislanders till récent years. Their view ofthé world led them more than often towards thé

maxiinisation oftheir comparative advantages bothwithin an international naarket System or steinmingfrom their stratégie geographical location for worldwide powers, with scarce attention on thé environ-mental effects of monocultures or military basis.

International compétition suggests that nowadays,préservation and protection of their natural andcultural endowments could possibly represent a newchallenging option especially for those having some-how spared their resources in thé récent décades ofuncontrolled development. To corne on thé marketas internationally protected islands would repre-

sent a new comparative advantage. Thé UNESCOMan and thé Biosphère (MAB), biosphère réservesor thé World Héritage Convention are scientific andlégal instruments well suited for such purposes.This issue describes both thé régulations of suchSystems as well as thé case of thé Spanish islands ofLanzarote in thé Canaries and Minorca in thé

Balears, which hâve requested their whole surface,including thé surrounding sea be assigned thé sta-tus of biosphère réserves. Thé Estonian islands ofHiuumaa and Saarema are also biosphère réservesand collaborate with other European and Africanpartners towards innovative actions of sustainabledevelopinent.

In thé présent issue, we want to emphasise théadvantages of environmental protection policiesimplemented together with information based onsustainable économie activities. Small independentisland states could also benefit from thé examplescited in this issue. Other aspects treated in this issueare cultural identifies and monuments which are

also precious assets that can be enhanced under théUNESCO's World Héritage convention. Mediterra-nean expériences in marine parks and réserves arealso considered.

Renzo Piano, thé Italian architect of internationalréputé, describes in this issue thé Kanak CulturalCentre dedicated to Jean Marie Tjibaou that he wascharged to build by thé French government in NewCaledonia. An innovative project bringing togethermodem architectural design with traditional Kanakbuilding, features and culture.

This issue therefore contains many interesting fea-tures, and many more will appear in our futureissues. Thé next two dossiers will focus on "Tourismin Islands" and "Sustainable Development in SmallIsland States". As in thé past, readers are invited tocontribute.

ews from ai^d about slan s

cotourist evelopmentin anc 'Arguin1 Tational ark, X auritania

A. Crosby and M. Galan

he tourism developmentproject of Banc D'Arguin NationalPark (PNBA) in Mauritania, en-trusted to thé CEFAT (Centre forProfessional Training in Tourismand Environment) by thé FIBA isthé main élément behind this ar-ticle, where both personal opin-ions and thé technical data elabo-rated by thé two authors of thistext are combined.

Planning and designing tourismactivity in natural protectedspaces is not an easy task, espe-cially within a National Park. Butifthis design must be carried outwithinthe ecologically and sociallyfragile Banc D'Arguin NationalPark, thé task becomes a formida-blé mission.

We are not only considering théinhérent difficulty of technicallydesigning a determined area, butalso studying, analysing and as-sessing concepts such as conser-vation, sustainable development,économie and social profitability,and respect for or intégration ofthé objectives behind having de-clared this area a National Park.

Thé project, always realistic, is

Arturo Crosby is an international spe-cialist in environmental managementand eco-tourism. He is thé director of théjournal Natour. Manolo Galan is aspecialist in eco-tourism. Thé article isreproduced îrovaNatour November 1992with thé kind permission of thé journal.

based on thé exist-

ing natural and hu-man resources,

while minimizinginvestment and en-vironmental costs.It also takes thé in-

tegration of thé lo-cal inhabitants intoconsidération, whocan become au-thentic conserva-tionists and man-

agersofthePNBAwith thé help ofappropriate train-mg courses.

Thé National Parkextends aver a sur-face areaof 12,000km2, ofwhich 5,400is marina and thérest désert. Itcon-sists of 15 islands,7 isles and 3 largecapes with an av-erage depth of 5métrés, shapingthé coastline ofthisnatural space.

NOUADHieOU

CAPBKNC(LE DES PEL NS

ILE-mO RITE 0 lILE DE L-AR NT

ILESKK)«NE CHAM

*

NOUAMHHAR

Location map of Banc D'Arguin National Park

Thé average height is 20 métrésand thé climate is a mixture ofcoastal climate and "cold désert ,producing a warm, continentalclimate.

Thé local population is primarilycomposed of thé Imraguen fisher-

menand désert nomads. Thebirdsthat dwell within this omitho-logical sanctuary, where manyEuropean migratory birds corneto nest, are thé PNBA's greatesttreasure.

On arriving, one has to make anumber ofadjustments. Time is


An impressive whale skeleton can be seen near thé entrance, giving thé centre a surrealistic air

measured in a différent way, prob-lems are "no problem", one canimagine thé food, hygiène isephemeral. Thé local hospitalityis warm and inviting, although lhâve not yet discovered thé priéeofits counter-effects.

We arrived at Iwik, leaving be-hind thé first Imraguen fishingtown, thé Ile D'Arguin and OuedChebka, an idéal spot for camp-ing, and Cap Tegarat and Tafarit,where one can observe thé incred-ible contrast between sea anddésert (hère a runway for lightaircraft has been built), and after-wards Ten Alloul by thé sea (atown made up of tin houses).

Iwik is thé site of a French coop-eration base, a pre-fabricated in-stallation consisting oftwo roomsfor thé investigators, another twofor their assistants or guides, awarehouse for thé equipment, ra-

dio-communications room, diningroom, kitchen, small laboratory,toiletsandshowers. Themajorityof people who visit this centre tocarry out différent studies areEuropeans. Thé centre runs onsolar (10%) and aeolic energy(90%). Under normal conditions,thé water purifier which runs onsolar energy, purifies 500 litresper day. An impressive whaleskeleton can be seen near thé en-trance, giving thé centre a surre-alistic air primarily due to théfact that it is completely sur-rounded by sand. However, théImraguen village of Iwik is only250 métrés away. Thesettingsunsuddenly appears like a mirage,an illusion, between thé désertand thé sea.

Greetings and introductions. Weleave our baggage in our roomsand are offered tea in thé diningroom, in thé Saharan style and

flavour: three small glasses oftearanging from bitter to sweet,which hâve a remarkable ener-getic efiect. From that momentonwards this particular tea com-prised our main menu during ourstay. We also ate, from thé same,dish, boiled white rice with fish,which we shaped into little ballsand cooked ourselves; this be-came our prime form of nourish-nient.

At seven o'clock in thé momingwe waited at thé beach in Iwik foran Imraguen fishing launch thatwould give us thé opportunity tomarvel at thé islands' ornithologi-cal species. Thé Imraguen peopleare thé only ones capable ofnavi-gating in thèse boats with theirLatin sails, without runningaground in thèse shallow waters.

Thé beach was full of dead fish.

Thé village consisted of houses


built of tin and driftwood. Wecould feel and breathe thé povertybeforeoureyes. However, wewereseparated by a gréât communica-tion gap. It is difficult to describeour tour of thé islands, especiallyin thèse flimsy boats; pink fla-mingos, pélicans and at least fif-teen other ornithological speciescould be found. We also caughtsight of dolphins and a marineturtle. Ail this was accompaniedby tea and fresh fish, prepared onthé Imraguen boats.

Thé most photographie island isNair. OnecangoashoreinNiromi,Tidra and Riji. Arel is a favouritenesting place for birds and Tidra,thé largest in size, can be consid-ered as thé richest in général.

In view of thé fact that we lackeda fair wind during our boat trip,thé Imraguen, to our astonish-ment, commanded thé wind bywhistling. That night was a spe-cial one, with a full moon aver ourheads, thé howling ofhyenas anda gusty wind. This provided anidéal atmosphère for chattingabout nothing and discovering théworld. Thé mind reacts surpris-inglyin appropriate surroundings.

Next day we met thé shipownersand mayor oflwik, who expressedtheir enthusiasm towards théproject of hiring their boats fortouristic purposes, without leav-ing their fishing tradition aside.

Our next stop was Rgueibat wherea Dutchman has embarked on aboatbuildingproject, teachingthenatives how to build and repairtheir own boats. Thé people hèreare more friendly. Thé Dutchmanhas built a house and a small'shipyard' near thé beach. On ei-ther side there are huge contain-ers where ail thé necessary build-ing materials are kept.

We also tasted a putarga, 'théMauritanian caviar', made ofdriedfish. Thé larger part of thé fishingindustry is concentrated on dry-

ing - thé task of thé women.

Thé désert provided thé settingfor a new expérience - thé no-mads. In Chebkra there are sev-eral nomad encampments.

Khaimas, camels, goats and pleas-ant, friendly and hospitable peo-pie. For thèse solitary désertdwellers a visit is worth a celebra-tion consisting oftea, camel milkmixed with water and sugar,

roasted goat, typical nomad gamesand more tea. At thé end of théday we visited thé meharists,PNBA wardens who patrol thisprotected space on camels. Natu-rally, we could not leave thé areawithoutgoingonacamelride. Wespent thé night in Nouamghar,thé last village to thé South of théPNBA. Hère there were no sepa-rate rooms. We ate and slept onfour maîtresses in thé same room.

Two important social events tookplace during our visit: thé cel-ebration of a traditional weddingand a dinner in honour of thégénéral of thé French troops inNorth Africa, to which we wereofficially invited. Thé majority ofthé guests were divided betweentwo large khaimas that had beenjoined together, where Maurit-anian musicians - thé griot -enlivened thé atmosphère. Tradi-tional dances, to thé béat oftam-tams, and a guitar connected toan amplifier, accompanied théclapping and singing of thé guests.

Men imitated women in theirdances, shots were fired from avery old gun and a "fan evenrecorded thé music played by thé"griot". This expérience broughtus doser to their culture, to whichfew Western citizens hâve hadaccess.

We were up at seven o'clock in thémorning with thé hope of seeingsomething very unusual - fishingwith dolphins. However, we didnot manage to see this incredibleoccurrence there.

6


Fortunately, however, we wereable to see it in a small village inthé outskirts of thé Park on ourway to Nouakchott, théMauritanian capital. It was anastonishing sight to behold:around twenty inen waded out upto their shoulders carrying nets.Thé fish made frantic efforts to

escape while thé dolphins drovethem towards thé nets. ThéImraguen people help thé dolphinsand thèse in turn help thé hu-mans in a unique team effort.

A visit to "Cap Blanc", a cape thatborders Mauritania and thé Sa-hara, concluded our study of théarea although its importance liesin being thé main habitat of thé'monk seal a species in danger ofextinction in inany of thé placeswhere it once lived.

Thé morphology ofthé sea-cliffs andtheir colours, thébeach and thé fasci-

nating border, re-quire thé use of morethan one set ofslides.

It is relatively easyto observe thé seals,although one easilyloses track of time.Only thé setting sunreminds us that it istime to return.

Nouadibou, thécountry's secondlargest city, is onlya few kilonietres

away. This repre-sents an idéal point

of connection with Europe,throughtheCanaryIslands. Sil-ver and gold artwork, beggars,fîshing conipanies, Saharauis,wandering salesinan, thé oddtourist and thé site of thé PNBA

ail coine together in this corner ofthé planet.

Thé Sabah Hôtel is a meetingpoint for businessinen, diplomats,technicians,... which gives it adistinct air. According to ajour-nalist friend who has a goodknowledge ofthe area, more thanone negotiation was carried outwith thé Polisarios in this hôtel.

Although it is one of thé mostiniportant fishing areas in théworld, it is very difRcult - almostimpossible - to eat fish in any ofits restaurants.

Supplies are also provided fortourist groups who enter thé ParkthroughitsNorthernside. Ifyourun out of money forget aboutcrédit cards - they simply do notexist hère. In our case thé Span-ish Consul very kindly offered usher help.

An encampment

At Ulithi, thé campaign 'I.et's adopt an atoll" has been launched

aunching thé ampaign' .et's Adopt an Atoll" at Ulithi

Duccio Canestrini

ohn B. Rulmal, thé Deacon ofthé island of Falalop and repre-sentative of thé Ulithians did notbelieve his eyes. Last M.ay, hecould finally meet thé European"Long noses" which reached théatoll on a "crossed mosquito (anair-craft belonging to thé air com-pany of thé protestant missionar-ies). After a long journey fromEurope, they reached Ulithi tolisten to his and thé islandersideas about thé sustainable de-

velopment of thé atoll, thé largestof thé Western Carolines depend-ing on Yap, one of thé four smallnations belonging to thé Feder-ated States of Micronesia.

Out of thé 36 small islands encir-

clingthe large lagoon which hostedthé VIIth U.S. Fleet during sec-ond world war, only four are pres-ently inhabited: Passari, Mog-Mog, Abor and Falalop. This lastone is thé large st with a popula-tion ofaround 1000.

On thé island there is a high schoolwhich boards youngsters from ailMicronesian small islands. Hèrethé boys wear thé "thu", a striped,coloured cotton garment fixed atthé ankles. Thé girls, with nakedbreasts, wear thé traditional shortgava-lava skirt while going toschool, with books under theirarms.

Covered with flower necklaces, we,thé "long noses" were brought be-fore thé traditional chiefs calledtogether for our arrivai by JohnRulmal. Thé wishes of ourUlithian friends were madeplainly clear: to develop of course

Duccio Canestrini is reporterfor thé Italian magazine Airone

but not at thé priée ofspoiling théenvironment nor thé friendlyhuman relations. Thé environ-ment is enchanting, thé lagoon,as blue as jade incredibly richwith marine life and fishes. Hu-man relations are marked by soli-darity, thé respect of tradition andthé trust to thé words of elders.Problems abound. Thé localeconomy is practically shaped by

Proposais from Japanese busi-nessmen were put forward insist-ently to buy building areas withhuge touristic projects in mind.Thé answer to such offers is pres-ently "no". Thé Ulithians in factare working on a small scale eco-touristic resort, which would beself-managed, attemptingto avoidany massive "cementification oftheir beaches.

Thé weekly plane from Yap lands at Falalop(Photo: Vittorio Giannella)

thé modest contributions from théYap Government and by self sub-sistence activities. Thé once bestsoil for tara cultivation was cov-

ered by compacted coral in 1944 toallow heavy military engines andaéroplanes to manoeuvre. Thèseareas are practicallybarrennowa-days. Rain water is not abun-dant. Fuel is extremely expen-sive. On thé island, there is pres-ently no déviée enabling refrig-eration and stocking of fishcatches, an activity which couldrepresent a good income for théislanders who could both sell thécatehes outside thé atoll and seri-ously better their diet currentlybased on rice and méat cans im-

ported from abroad.

Whether or not, and for how long,thé islanders will resist thé en-chanting attractions of thé Northdépends also on us. Let s there-fore adopt thé Ulithi atoll. Let'shelp its people to décide their ownfuture.

It is out of thèse considérationsthat thé Ulithians, INSULA andthé Italian monthly magazineAirone agreed to launch thé cam-paign "Let's adopt an atoll". JohnRulmal is happy: we found hismessage in a bottle and we shareit with ail of you wishing to par-ticipate in thé campaign. We hâvemany things to do in this regard,and our next step is to raise fundsfor this meaningful "adoption.

8


Jstica's Natural

Lucio Messina

eserve

stica is an island in thé middleof thé Tyrrhenian Sea and has anarea of eight square kilomètres.It is thirty-sbî miles offthe northcoast of Palermo, with about onethousand inhabitants.

Thé island was formed of lavarocks from an earthquake morethan one million years ago. It hasfertile land and splendid marinecaves with charniing panorainassubmergea in a clear and trans-parent sea abounding with fish,crustaceans, seaweed, coral,sponges. It is a multicoloureddream.

Ustica is also a big attraction forscuba divers who made it their"capital". Once it was thé glory ofunder-water fishing and submer-sion records. TodayUstica's ecol-ogy is thé most important sourceof thé island's économie growth.A successful formula, made up ofthé fusion ofnatural endowments,artistic and scientific achieve-ments andtouristic development,where tourism does not simplymean bathing - as in thé mostfamous Italian beaches - but edu-cating people to respect and lovethé sea and its treasures.

Most importantly, thé mayor andthé inhabitants of Ustica under-stood thé gréât importance of anature oriented development,which is based upon thé respect ofthé environment.

June 19th, 1961 can be consid-ered thé starting date ofthis newera of économie development. Thé"soggiorno obbligato" thé prison-ers' confînenient which had beenthé only possible form ofeconomy

Lucio Messina is thé director ofthé National Marine Réserve ofUstica (Palermo).

for many years, came to an end.Ustica, previously a big prison forpolitical and common convicts,ceased to be an internment camp,thanks to thé strong popular move-ment against intemment whichhad arisen in fhe late 50s. At thésame time tourism was taking

Turismo" - thé Tourist Board ofPalermo - promoted thé interna-tional launch of thé little "deb"island. In August 1959 thé"Rassegna Internazionale déliéAttività Subacquee" (Interna-tional Convention ofUndenvaterActivities) was initiated. This

Map of Ustica

root in thé nearby Lipari islands,a newkind ofindustry that seemedto be economically worthwhile.Ustica a new spot, offering un-touched and charming sea-sidesand particularly rich submarinepanoramas, was introduced tothé international tourist marketin thé late 60s.

Local and foreign operators de-voted their energy and capital indeveloping thé island for touristpurposes, and so hôtels and res-taurants began to open.

Thé "Ente Provinciale per il

Convention is held once a yearand is unique in thé world. It isknown and recognised worldwide.

Its focal point is thé "Golden Tri-dent", thé important prize, inter-nationally known as thé marineOscar. It is conferred to thé mostdistinguished people whose activi-ties are connected with thé ma-rine world in différent fields suchas cinéma (Walt Disney), ecology(Jacques Custeau), archaeology(Honor Frost), sports (EnzoMaiorca) and so . Famous peoplecorne each year to thé little islandto receive thé prize and honorary

su 9

Ustica's Natural Sea Réserve

citizenship of Ustica. This eventwas thé bright idea of thé Mayorwho wanted to establish a linkbetween people of internationalréputé in marine affairs andUstica.

In 1984 many of thé new citizensofUstica introduced thé Interna-tional Academy of UnderwaterScience and Techniques ofUsticawith thé aim of developing andpromoting underwater activitiesthrough scientific research, con-ventions, lectures and publica-tions. Thèse types of activitiesgave birth to thé idea of a naturalréserve, launched during théRassegna in 1981. Thé followingyear, Ustica was included in thélist of 20 natural réserves areasincluded in law number 979,known as "Sea Defence Law ap-proved by thé Italian Parliament.In 1986, through thé Ministry ofthé Navy as well as thé MinistryofEnvironment, thé Natural Ma-rine Réserve ofUstica were insti-tuted.

Thé Réserve covers 6,500 hectaresof sea - thé area from thé coast tothree miles away. It's divided into3 différent zones: "A" of total pro-tection, "B" and "G" with différentlevels of restrictions.

"A" is thé totally protected zone:sailing, fishing, taking anythingfrom thé sea is strictly forbidden.Swimming is allowed in two con-

Thé Harbour ofUstica (Photo: L. Messina)

trolledbeaches, or duringthe spe-cial visits organised by réserveguides to thé marvellous under-water spots which are rich infriendly fish.

Zone "D" is thé Général Réserve:

fishing and taking anything fromthé sea are generally forbiddenbutphotographyisallowed. Fish-ing is allowed for thé local fisher-men and for professionals withfishing-licences, provided by théRéserve office.

Zone "G" is thé Partial Réserve:underwater fishing is allowedhère.

In 1987 thé Ustica Town Counciltook aver thé Réserve manage-ment in its hand. In 1990, thé

Thé underwater Réserve at Ustica (Photo: L. Messina)

Régulations book was publishedand it was thé beginning of théRéserve activities. New projectswere built and structures and of-fiées were restored. Thé officiaiseat of thé Réserve is thé

Spalmatore Tower, one of thé twowhich were built in 1700 as a fortfor thé little island to prevent pi-rate robberies. Thé old tower has

been partially restored, and workis still in progress.

In thé Spalmatore tower one canfind - even though thé restorationwork is unfinished -thé Reserve'smain office, thé library, furnishedwith plenty of books and litera-ture dealing with marine affaire,thé scientific laboratory ofPalermo University, thé lattertemporarily housed in thé tower,till thé officiai seat of Punta

Gavazzi lighthouse will be ready.

Thé Spalmatore Tower is also aseat of thé International Acad-emy of Underwater Science ofUstica. In thé same surround-ings, on thé seashore, another res-toration job has been accom-plished. This was an old stateproperty which has been unusedfor years and thé "Réserve" ad-ministration has turned it into anew Aquarium. This Aquariumhas thirteen basins and is a per-fect copy of thé underwater Re-serve's environment. Each basin

10 s


shows plants and animais thatlive at différent depths. It con-tains a large variety of fishes,shrimps, lobsters, seaweeds,sponges, corals and so on. Thèsewere brought up by thé youngguides of thé Réserve, from théclear water in front of Aquariumcalled thé Caletta beach.

Thé Aquarium is thé first sectionofthe Natural IVtuseum, a projectthat will be completed in a fewinonths time.

Near Ustica Harbour, from whereanybody coming to thé little is-land has to cross, there is théRéception and Information Cen-tre. This hosts an interesting pho-tographic exhibition that includesbeautiful pictures of Mediterra-nean seaweeds and fishes and alsosome dolphins andwhale catches inUstica. This exhibi-tion can be consideredas thé second sectionof thé Natural M.VL-seum, thanks to théscientific value ofeachphoto and to thé de-tailed explanation ac-companying each oneof them.

Ustica is and has beenfrom thé late 50s, thé"divers' paradise" butas a result of théAquarium, even non-divers cannow enjoy thé beauties of thé un-derwater world, through thé es-tablishment of thé Aquarium.

One can visit photographie exhi-bitions and also a live show withthé spécial transparent boat. This20 ton boat called Acquario be-longs to thé Ministry of thé Navyand can carry twenty peuple forthé ninety minute tour of thé is-land coasts.

For divers, exploring Ustica s un-derwater panoramic views is inuchmore interesting, and this can bedone with thé help of thé Réserve

guides who are always ready tosuggest new itineraries for un-derwater diving.

Young eco-guides know perfectlywellallthedensand thé différentfishes living in thé Spalmatorearea. Feeding thé fîshes is al-lowed even for scuba-tourists, un-der thé guides' supervision.

Amongst thé big possibilities forentertainment on thé island, thémost original one is thé Archaeo-logical itinerary which is a collec-tion of testimonies of shipwrecksleft by scholars in thé same placeoftheir discovery. From a depthof 8 to 18 métrés, plastic panelsexplain step by step thé neverending story involving man andthé sea.

Thé tower (Photo: L. Messina)

In summer 1993, another exhibi-tion of photos of tropical fishes ina long tube going from 5 to 15métrés deep was put up near théarcheological underwater park.This exhibition consisted of2 pho-tos per naetre on 12 mètre panelsand was organised by thé SwissJean Claude Uldry. It is a photo-graphie coinparison of thé tropi-cal world with thé Mediterraneanaround Ustica.

Scientific research is an impor-tant aim of thé Réserve. New

projects are in progress, thé lastof which is being carried out to-gether with Palermo University,

Geneva University and ICRAM(Central Institute for IVtarine Re-search). Scientific work is devel-

oped through différent researchprogrammes approved by thé Re-serve Scientific Committee andfinanced by thé Réserve funds.Current programmes deal withbiology, geology and chemistry.Thé outcome of thé scientific workcarried out thèse last years in-éludes publications, vidéos, plas-tic scientific files etc.

Thé "Réserve" is now able ta com-

pare thé results ofits experimentswith siinilar ones by thé MedasRéserve of Costa Brava,Catalogua, which is one of théoldest, famous and most visitedréserve in thé Mediterranean ba-sm.

Thé Réserve also gen-erates employment.Seven young peoplefrom Ustica are em-ployed full time by théRéserve, five ofwhomhâve part-time con-tracts. Seasonal con-tracts hâve been madefor thé four young peo-pie working on théAquario boat.Through thé coopera-tive societies otheryoung people fromUstica are working forthé Réserve in clean-

ing thé beaches and thé marinesurface around thé island.

Last but not least, thé Réserve isa real magnet for tourists. Thélittleisland canofFerawiderangeoffacilities such as hôtels, roomsand houses for rent. There is alittle village full of bungalows,chalets, résidences, restaurants,pizzerias, discos, and boutiques.There is also a travel agency andvarious scuba diving clubs andschools, bottle charge centresequipped with boats for rent and amodem Hyperbaric MultiplianceRoom.

s . 11

t t as

ntroduction:

iosphere tteserves, slands,Archipelagoes and Coastal Areas

he biosphère réserve conceptoriginated underUNESCO's Manand thé Biosphère (MAB) Pro-gramme in thé early 1970s as ameans to try to reconcile natureprotection and rural development.Hence, from thé beginning, théfocus has been on thé human di-mension of conservation, under-pinned by scientific research aim-ing at learning how to rationallyuse natural resources. Basicallytherefore, thé biosphère réserveconcept has three main fonctions(a) thé conservation ofrepresenta-tive examples of thé world s eco-Systems, (b) seeking ways tosustainably manage natural re-sources for thé benefit of thé localcommunities and (e) providinginternational facilities for re-search and monitoring in an in-ternationally coordinated pro-gramme. A zonation System, witha central protected core area, asurroundingbuffer zone and widertransition area, serves to meetthèse multiple functions.

At that time, such a concept wasinnovative and very difficult toapply in practice, since environ-mental questions were consideredvery much apart from develop-

Jane Robertson is ProgranuneSpecialiat, Division of EcologicalSciences, UNESCO, Paris.

Jane Robertson

mental ones. Today, some twentyyears later, and in thé wake ofUNCED, there has been a conver-gent évolution of ideas such thatthé principles of biosphère re-serves are even more relevant

than they were before. Whereasthé early biosphère réserves weremainly national parks to whichthé désignation was given with-out much change in thé way théarea was managed, thé biosphèreréserves established in thé 1990sare often complex land areas in-volving a multitude of différentadministrative bodies, local NGOsand private enterprises who hâvefound thé concept as a usefulframework or 'umbrella' underwhich to work in coopération to-wards thé idéal of sustainabledevelopment and enhancement ofcultural identity.

In other words, biosphère réserveshâve evolved into places wheredifférent and sometimes conflict-ing interest groups can learn tolive in harmony, taking lessonsfrom expérience from other sitesin thé international network.

Originally, thé biosphère réserveconcept was developed by terres-trial ecologists and very few bio-sphère réserves were establishedcovering thé land-sea interface.However, since thé mid 1980s,thé biosphère réserve concept has

been receiving more and more in-terest from scientists and resource

managers working in thé coastalarea and on small islands andarchipelagoes. Indeed, as isstressed by INSULA, it is thèseareas where perhaps there arethé most acute conflicts in inter-

est of using resources.

Thé conservation of coastal landareas, especially in countries withdense human populations andlong historiés, is compounded bythé high économie value of realestate along thé coast for urbanexpansion, industry, energy, tour-ism and associated road, rail andair transport facilities. Thé sea-ward side of thé coastal interfaceis also coveted for fisheries, navi-

gation, marine parks and tour-ism. Thé légal tenure and admin-istrative authorities responsiblefor both sides of thé land-sea in-terface are very différent and nu-mérous, often with overlapping orinconsistent mandates, or elsedépendent on unwritten culturaltraditions. Islands and archipela-goes combine thèse difficultieswith a shortage of land area andhence a physical limitation of re-sources such that thé termsustainability really does hâvemeaning for thé people who livethere.

Thé value of thé coastal biosphère

12


Thé "Palmeral" (palm-tree field) ofHana is thé most important wooded spot ofLanzarote.A few centuries ago, thé number ofpalm trees exceeded 10,000 (Photo: G. Orlando).

réserve, encompassing both landand sea parts and their interface,lies in thé possibility of integrat-ing thèse conservation, develop-ment and research goals in a sin-gle, publicly-supported manage-ment scheme. A first attempt toexplore thé application of thé prin-ciples of thé concept was made in1989 in San Francisco (USA) at a

workshop bring together special-ists from thé marine and thé ter-

restrial realms, specialists in tra-ditional land and sea use, andcoastal nature conservation. Thisworkshop was a joint venture ofthree UNESCO programmes - théCoastal Marine Programme(COMAR), thé Intergovernmen-tal Océanographie Commissionand thé MAB Programme, to-gether with thé Marine Pro-gramme of IUCN*. It would ap-pear that this meeting served as acatalyst for many countries as an

increasing number of thé new bio-sphère réserve proposais concernislands and archipelagoes, some-times protecting areas which hith-erto hâve not been safeguarded,often with innovative coopérativemanagement mechanisms. Ex-amples include thé Sian KaanBiosphère Réserve (Mexico), théIroise Biosphère Réserve (France)thé Central California CoastalBiosphère Réserve (USA). Pro-posed biosphère réserves and sitesalready trying out thé biosphèreréserve principles include thé is-lands and Minorca and Lanzarote

in Spain, thé South-WestArhcipelago of Finland, and théBijagos Archipelago in GuineaBissau. Thanks to thé INSULAconférence "Islands 2000" held inSicily on May 1992, teams work-ing in many of thèse sites are nowworking on a joint project to ex-change expérience and ideas, un-

der thé name "Archipel". Thé bio-sphère réserve concept has alsobeen taken up by thé South Pa-cific Régional Environmental Pro-gramme (SPREP) at thé forth-coming meeting in Tonga.

In conclusion, it would seem thatthere is a gréât deal of potentialahead of thé biosphère réserveconcept in coastal areas in spite ofthé huge challenge ofreconcilingconservation in development inthé most populated parts of thébiosphère.

* See Priée A. and Humphrey S. L. (Eds),(1993) Application of thé Biosphère Re-serve Concept to Coastal Marine Areas,Papers presented at thé UNESCO/IUCNSan Francisco Workshop of 14-20 August1989. A Marine Conservation and Devel-opment Report. IUCN, Gland.

:.. s 13


he World ;: eritage onvention:rotecting thé utstanding ultural and

. eritage of slandsBernd von Droste and Mechtild Rôssler

atural

Thé World HéritageConvention

Thé Convention conceming théProtection of thé World Culturaland Natural Héritage (1972) es-tablished an international Systemof collective protection for culturaland natural héritage ofoutstand-ing universal value. Thé WorldHéritage Convention was innova-tive at thé time as it is outlined inthé first paragraphs: "thatthé cultural and thé natu-rai héritage are increas-ingly threatened with de-struction not only by thétraditional causes of de-cay, but also by changingsocial and économie condi-tiens which aggravate thésituation with even moreformidable phenomena ofdamage or destruction .This is especially true forthé fragile world ofislandecosystems, which arethreatened by natural phe-nomena such as thégreenhouse-effect and glo-bal warming causing pos-sible sea-level rise on théone hand, and socio- eco-nomic problems caused bytheir isolation, mass tour-ism or other internai orexternal factors, on théother hand.

héritage. Today aver 130 StateParties hâve joined thé Conven-tion and more than 400 sites areincluded on thé World HéritageList. Over thé years thé WorldHéritage Committee can daimsuccess in several interventionsto reduce threats to World Herit-âge sites. Among thèse successstories are, for example, thé re-duction of tourism impact at théGalapagos islands. Thé Conven-

Héritage system, in particular, théWorld Héritage Fund for thé safe-guarding of thé World Héritagesites.

Thirdly, thé State Parties to théConvention commit themselves to

ensuring thé identification, pro-tection, conservation, presenta-tion and transmission of WorldHéritage properties to future gen-erations.

Mont St. Michel a World Héritage site. (Photo: UNESCO/L. Salov)

In 1975 thé World Héritage Con-vention came into force with thératification of 20 States Partiesand a step by step a System hasdeveloped to protect thé world'sinost universal and inost unique

Bemd von Droste is director, and

Mechtild Rossler is expert associât®

at thé Worid Héritage Centre, UNESCO

tion is thé most effective world-wide instrument in thé field ofhéritage conservation. Thé suc-cess is based, first of ail, on théintellectual, scientific and practi-cal coopération among nations toprotect worldwide héritage whichis of such universal value that itsconservation is a concern of ailpeople. Secondly, it is based onthé operative use of thé Worid

New Developments

Thé new developments in thé im-plementation of thé World Herit-âge Convention related to thé pro-tection of outstanding culturallandscapes of universal value.

Thé World Héritage Conventionhas entered a new décade. Théproperties on thé list are more

14


than ever threatened by se-vere impacts of worldwide en-vironmental dégradation, pol-lution, mass tourism and con-séquences of war. Thé futurework has therefore to concen-trate on new questions likemonitoring and managementof thé properties inscribed onthé list as well on strengthen-ing thé links with other Con-ventions, such as Thé HagueConvention, CITES, Ramsar orthé new Biodiversity Conven-tion. New methods and intel-lectual and scientific ap-proaches hâve to be developedto safeguard thé most precioushéritage of humankind.

Moreover, thé links betweennature and culture, in thé origi-nal spirit of thé text of théConvention, hâve to be devel-oped further. This means tak-ing into account not only théenvironment of cultural prop-erties, but also thé cultural val-ues and meanings of naturalsites.

Site(States Party)

Sélection of World Héritage Sites

Criteria

l II III IV V VI

ïn 1992, thé World HéritageCentre together with thé com-petence of expert groups devel-oped thé relationship betweennature and culture further, inparticular, with thé efforts to rec-ognize "cultural landscapes" forthé World Héritage List. In De-cember 1992 thé World HéritageCommittee decided to include out-standing cultural landscapes ofuniversal value in thé World Her-itage list. This is of spécial impor-tanee for a number ofinsular land-scapes of thé World, such as théPacifie islands. Their richness ofsignificant cultural éléments in asetting of landscapes of spécialbeauty makes a nomination un-der thé new cultural criteria pos-sible.

Thé impacts of thé inclusion ofcultural landscapes on thé WorldHéritage List are far-reaching: thélandscape concept could signify anew approach ofintegrated devel-

World Héritage CulturalSites: IslandsAnthony Island (Canada)Cultural and historié ensembleof thé Solovetsky Islands(Russian Fédération)M:ont St. Michel and its Bay(France)Island of Mozambique(Mozambique)Island of Garée (Sénégal)

World Héritage CultursdSites On Islands

Paphos (Cyprus)Old Havana and itsFortifications (Cuba)Trinidad and thé Valleyde los Ingenios (Cuba)National History Park -Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers(Haiti)Haï Saflieni Hypogeum (Malta)City ofValetta (Malta)]V[egalithic Temples (Malta)Pythagoreion and Heraion, Samos

opment, a much needed conceptfor protection, including aspectsof ecological sound tourism.

Three catégories were defined inthé revised cultural criteria of thé

Operational Guidelines of thé Con-vention, namely "clearly definedlandscapes, designed and createdintentionally by man", "organi-cally evolved landscapes", (withthé two sub-categories fossil land-scapes andcontinuinglandscapes)and "associative cultural land-

scapes" (see World Héritage News-letter, No. l, p. 15) related to pow-erful religious, artistic or culturalassociations of thé natural ele-ment.

Thé new broadened approach willcertainly be of interest to islandsocieties around thé world. ThéWorld Héritage Centre appeals

x

x

x

x

therefore, to thé Island Statesaround thé World tojoin thé WorldHéritage Convention, iftheyhavenot ratified this légal instrumentso far.

Probleins of Island WorldHéritage Sites

Both cultural and natural sitesare threatened by serious envi-ronmental problems: thé famoustemples and sites of thé Mediter-ranean culture on thé islands ofSamos (Pythagoreion and Heraionof Samos), Malta (Haï SaflieniHypogeum, City of Valletta andthé Megalithic Temples) or Cy-prus (Paphos on Cyprus) are en-dangered by pollution, possiblesea-level rise or other phenom-ena. Both thé natural and cul-tural sites are threatened by hu-man impacts, in particular tour

15

Thé World Héritage Convention

ism for thé natural (such as théGalapagos Islands or thé Sey-chelles) and cultural sites (for ex-ample thé Mont St. Michel and itsBay, thé Island of Mozambique orthé Island ofGorée). A few figureswould illustrate thé excessive vis-its to thé sites: thé Gréât BarrierReef had about2,574,000 visitors in1989/90, thé HawaiiVolcanoes about1, 200, 000, Scandolaabout 200, 000 andGarajonay 225,000in 1992 (See vonDroste et al, 1992).Other occurrencesare connected withmass tourism suchas thé planning ofan airport and high-ways on thé CanaryIsland of Gomera,which would hâveendangered théWorld Héritage siteGarajonay. Thé con-struction of a damconnecting thé Mt.St. Michel with thémain land had criti-cal impacts on théwater flow of théBay. Plans are in hand for build-ing a bridge and to reduce théeffects of year-round mass tour-ism to thé site.

One of thé main human impactson islands is thé introduction ofnew species by man, which en-dangers or render extinct endémiespecies characteristic for most is-lands. Thé introduction of manhas often been (and still is)a"ca-tastrophe" (Oison, 1992) in par-ticular in thé Pacifie Islands,where most of thé native birdsbecame extinct following thé Eu-ropean exploration and introduc-tion of new species (rats, rabbits,pigs. goats etc. ). Thé endémieplants and animais on islands areespecially threatened by humanactivity and alien species arespread by world wide trade, ex-change and travel. They reduce at

thé same time thé variety of spe-cies and therefore threatenbiodiversity. This is shown, forexample, in a historical study onthé introduction of thé little redfire ant at Galapagos islands thiscentury: only a few other ant spe-cies could coexist with thé little

slave compound in thé strugglebetween thé différent powers ofEurope and thé New World. It isnow on thé World Héritage list forhumanistic considérations and toremind future générations ofthispart of thé World's cultural his-tory.

Corée Island in Sénégal - a World Héritage site (Photo UNESCO/Ezio Fazzino)

red fire ant and other insects wereeffected too. On thé Lord Howe

Island group, included in théWorld Héritage List under natu-rai criteria (iïi) and (iv) in Decem-ber 1982, more than 15% of ailplants species are endangered byextinction (Seagar, 1993). Thésame is thé case for thé Galapagosislands, thé Seychelles, and théCanary islands.

Thé isolation of islands has animpact on society and culture ingénéral. In some cases it lead to aspécial use of thé island, which istrue for thé example of thé Islandof Gorée in Sénégal which wasinscribed on thé World HéritageList in 1978. Thé history of Coréeis closely connected with théslave-trade. Until 1815, when thétrade was abolished in thé Frenchcolonies, thé island was a huge

Monitoring:a Future Challenge

With thé world wide problems inpreserving thé most outstandingsites of humankind, thé need forcontinuous monitoring of thé sitesevolved. This requires a globalapproach (global monitoring sys-tem) as well as thé development ofa site-specific monitoring processto implement a functioning moni-toring system.

State of conservation reports areregularly given by thé advisorybodies of thé Convention, théWorld Conservation Union(IUCN) and thé InternationalCouncil for Monuments and Sites(ICOMOS), and thé World Herit-âge Centre to thé World Héritage

Continued on page 48 ̂ »

16


Which slands erit World eritage Status?Jim Thorsell

slands hâve been neglected byconservationists, especially thèseworking at international levels.This is unfortunate because is-lands, especially tropical and sub-tropical ones, hâve very rich en-demie floras and faunas. Theyalso tend to be under threat, be-cause ofa combination of thé smallnatural ranges of their species,thé gréât pressures on land fordevelopment and tourism, and thédéprédations of invasive plantsand animais.

As a result, islands contain highnumbers ofthreatened species; infact one in three of ail knownthreatened plants occur on is-lands. Thé World Héritage Con-vention can play a vital rôle inreducing thé threat to thèse spe-des through ensuring key areaswhere they still survive are pro-tected.

So far, thé World Héritage Con-vention has not been much ap-plied to thé challenges of islandconservation and only fourteenislands hâve been inscribed onthé list. Moreover, apart fromAustralia and New Zealand, théConvention has not yet foundbroad acceptance by thé small is-land nations of thé Pacifie or théCaribbean.

Thé low profile ofWorld Héritagein island conservation should beredressed as thé Convention hasa very spécial rôle to play. Inmany ways it could be a validsuccessor to thé Islands for Sci-ence Programme of IBP in thé1960s. In fact, thé Convention isparticularly appropriate for pro-tecting small islands with uniquenatural history.

Jim Thorsell is senior advisor, Natu-

rai Héritage, mCN (thé Worid Conser-vation Union), Switzeriand

Fraser Island National Park Australia (Photo: Jim Thorsell / IUCN)

Thé Convention, of course, is notdesigned to apply to ail small is-lands but only those that are thémost "universally outstanding .However, almost every small is-land is unique in some way. Itmay contain endémie species orbe scenically attractive and it willlikely be of some importance toboth science and conservation.

In an effort to provide a basis forevaluating World Héritage nomi-nations ofislands, ÏUCNhas sup-ported thé préparation of severaldiscussion papers on thé topic (seefor example Synge 1991, Dingwall,1992). Theremainderofthisarti-clé draws on thèse two sources inattempting to establish some base-Unes from which thé relative mer-its of différent islands can be as-sessed.

Natural Criteria

Thé criteria for which natural sitesare evaluated for thé list hâvebeen set by thé World HéritageCommittee. Thèse hâve recentlybeen revised as follows and a sitemust meet at least one of four:

(i) beoutstandingexamplesrep-resenting major stages ofearth's history, including thérecord of life, significanton-going geological processesin thé development oflandform, or significantgeomorphic or physiographicfeatures; or

(iï) beoutstandingexamplesrep-resenting significant on-goingecological andbiological proc-esses in thé évolution and de-velopmentofterrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine eco-Systems and communities ofplants and animais; or

(iii) contain superlative naturalphenomena or areas ofexcep-tional natural beauty and aes-thetic importance; or

(iv) contain thé most importantand significant natural habi-tats for in-situ conservationof biological diversity, includ-ing those containing threat-ened species of outstandinguniversal value from thé pointofview of science or conserva-tion.

Each of thèse criterion, in turn,

17

Which Islands Merit World Héritage Status?

hâve certain conditions of integ-rity to be met (eg. adéquate size,boundaries, and légal protection).

Existing Features ofWorld Héritage Islands

Against thèse criteria it is inter-esting to review how thé existing14 island sites measure up. Inbrief:

Aldabra (Seychelles)With its numerous seabird colo-nies, some endémie birds and itsmarine turtle beaches, Aldabrascores highly on any measure ofbiological diversity. Perhapsmostsignificant are its massive popu-lation of giant tortoise and théfact that it is one of thé very fewintact atolls in thé world. Thé 43endémie plants provide support-ing rationale. Altogether, thèsearguments make Aldabra clearlyworthy ofWorld Héritage Status.

Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)Thèse famous islands were ac-

cepted partly because oftheir 229endémie plants and their five en-demie birds. Thé Galapagos isalso one of thé best laboratories ofévolution demonstrating remark-able co-evolution between plantsand animais. Other features in-élude thé marine mammals in itswaters, thé breeding grounds forone marine turtle and thé island sscenery and geological features.

Lord Howe Island (Australia)Again its 74 endémie plants pro-vide a major justification. Butjust as important, Lord Howe isone of thé very few oceanic islandsin thé world with a forest vegeta-tion of endémie species still largelyintact. It is a very spécial exam-pie of how many other islandswould hâve been before man de-stroyed their végétation. Thé is-land group is also scenically spec-tacular and geologically impor-tant.

Henderson Island (U.K.)With ten endémie plants and four

endémie landbirds, Hendersonclearly met criteria (iv). Just asimportant is thé fact thatHenderson is thé best remainingintact raised coral atoll in théworld. Itis, infact, theepitomeofthé kind of small uninhabited is-land that merits World Héritagestatus.

Gréât BarrierReef (Australia)Thé worid's longest stretch ofcoralreef, with aver 1500 species offish, 400 species of coral, 4000species ofmollusc, 242 species ofbirds, and many threatened ma-rine mammals. Thé Gréât Bar-rier Reef is not only thé world'smost extensive coral reef (2,900individual reefs) but it also con-tains 300 cays and 250 continen-tal islands. In terms ofits varietyof marine attractions and size, itis in a league ofits own.

St. KUda (U.K.)With 25% of thé world populationof gannets, thé largest Britishcolony of fulmar and about halfBritain's population ofpuffin, St.Rilda scores highly in any rank-ing ofislands as seabird colonies.Its cultural héritage is also sig-nificant. Described by JulianHuxley as "thé most majestic sea

rock in existence" (Stac Lee), its

landscape and beauty also werefactors that supported its inscrip-tion on thé list.

Garajonay (Spain)Its main feature is that it is thélast and best intact laurel forestin thé Mediterranean/Atlantic re-

gion. Laurel forests are a veryremarkable type of moist forestand contain thé highest propor-tion of endémie species ofanyveg-etation type in thé Canaries. (34are endémie to Gomera and 8 tothé Park itself). Thé Park alsohas two endémie birds.

Hawaii Volcanoes (U.S.A.)Part of thé main island of Hawaii,this national park is thé scène ofthé world's most active volcanicactivity. Thé park has aver 100endémie plants and ten endémiebirds and thus contains an espe-cially valuable combination ofwildlife and geological features.

Vallée de Mai (Seychelles)This small (18 ha) site on PraslinIsland is thé site of thé extraordi-narypalm, thecocodemer. Italsohas thé endémie black parrot. Thésize of thé site, however, is insuf-

Table lCriteria For World Héritage Listing

Island (i)

AldabraGalapagosLord Howe +

HendersonGréât Barrier Reef +St. KildaGarajonayHawaii VolcanoesVallée de Mai +KrakatauKomodoTasmanian Wildemess +Fraser IslandScandola

Total

(ii)

+

+

+

+

+

+

(iii)

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

14

(iv)

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

11

18


ficient and its expansion is beingconsidered.

Krakatau (Indonesia)Well known, due to its éruption in1883, this island is one compo-nent of thé larger Ujung KulonNational Park. It is of gréât sci-entific interest because it providesone of thé world's best examplesof récent volcanic activity andtropical végétation succession.

Koinodo (Indonesia)Thé four islands in this group arebest known as thé main habitatfor thé Komodo dragon, thé world'slargest living lizard. Thé site hasother natural values including arich reef ecosystem and a relictflora containing several endémieones.

Tasmanian Wildemess(Australia)Comprising 20% of thé island ofTasmania, this site has a superbblend of ancien! forest, wild riv-ers and coastline, glacial lakes,karst features and an especiallygood représentation of unusualand endémie fauna.

Fraser Island (Australia)This island is thé largest sandisland in thé world and displays

Table 2Index ofislands in declining order ofthreatened island endémie birds

Hawaiïan Is.Solomon Is.Mauritius

Sao Tom* & PrincipeSeychellesMarquesas Is.Chatham Is.Revillagigedos Is.Cookls.Dominican RepublicGalapagos Is.New CaledoniaSociety Is.Sri LankaTristan da CunhaTuamotu Arch.Canary Is.GuamHaitiPuerto RicoSt. LuciaAndaman Is.Auckland Is.Christmas Is.Comoros

2614

9

8

8

7

6

6

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

3

3

FijiJuan Femandez Is.MadeiraMicronesiaNicobar Is.Northem MarianasTaiwanAntipodes Is.Campbell Is.Cape Verde Is.Cayman Is.Dominica

Henderson Is.JamaicaMartiniqueOkinawaPalauRéunionSt. VincentTubuai Is.VanuatuAmsterdam Is.Ascension Is.BahamasBenauda

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

l

l

l

l

BiokoBonin Is.Cocos Is.Crozet Is.Desventurados Is.GrenadaGuadalupe Is.Kerguelen Is.KiribatiLeeward Is.Lord Howe Is.MayotteMonserratNaumNorfolk Is.Prince Edward Is.St. HelenaSnares Is.SocotraSwan Is.TongaTorishima

Virgin Is.Western Samoa

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

Source: Appendo l, List ofthreatened and extmct island endémie birds, m Johnson, T. H. andStattersfield, A.J., "A Global Review of Island Endémie Birds," Ibis 132- pp. 167-180, 1990.

superlative examples of coastalsand déposition processes. Italsohas a unique rainforest growing

on sand and supports a rich coastaland marine life.

Scandola (France)This park, which forms a smallpart of thé island of Corsica, hasa very rugged and scenic coast-Une. Its maquis végétation is typi-cal of thé JVtediterranean régionand its listing in 1983 is consid-ered today to hâve been question-able.

Komodo National Park Indonesia (P/ioto; Jim Thorsell / IUCN)

Criteria for Listing

When looking at thé criteria onwhich islands sites were inscribed(Table l) some interesting pat-terns émerge. Firstly, ail islandswere deemed to meet criterion(iiï) for their superlative naturalfeatures and scenic beauty.Eleven of thé fourteen others metcriterion (iv) for threatened spe

19

Which Islands Merit World Héritage Status?

des and nine met criterion (ii) fortheir importance in biological evo-lution. Only four were inscribedon thé basis of their geology orlandforms. It should be noted,however, that thé use of criteriain thé early years of thé Conven-tion was not always clear or re-corded or examined in détail. Onlylimited références can thus bedrawn from this table. Neverthe-less, it is apparent that thé threecriteria most applicable to WorldHéritage islands deal with theirbiological values, threatened spe-des and scenic features.

AssessingNominations

With ail islands unique in someaspects, almost ail of them (as-suming they hâve a protectivemechanism in place) would meetone of thé four World Héritagenatural criteria. What would beuseful, therefore, is a global data-base which would allow a com-

parative assessment to help de-termine thé relative conservation

iinportance of individual islandsor island groups.

Fortunately, island databases ex-ist in various forins at thé WorldConservation Monitoring Centre(WCMC) in Cambridge. Summa-ries of thèse data holdings hâve

been published bylUCNandWCMCandinclude régional direc-tories on protected ar-eas, coral reefs andcentres of plant diver-sity. One régional as-sessment of thé con-servation importanceof thé islands of théPacifie has also been

published (Dahl,1986). Thé Interna-tional Council for BirdPréservation (ICBP),also in Cambridge, hasa related global data-base on birds.

From thèse data

sources it is now pos-sible to provide rea-sonable answers tosuch questions as:. which islands are

most important asnatural laboratoriesfor scientific re-search?

. which islands hâve exception-ally unique geological and sce-nie features?

. which islands are thé most im-

portant as habitats for wildlife(sea birds, marine mammals,turtles, endémie plants etc. )?

. which islands are of spécial im-portance in demonstrating bio-

Soay Island in thé St. Kilda World Héritage Site U.K. (Photo: Jim Thorsell l IUCN)

Steam coast - Hawaii (Photo: Jim Thorsell l IUCN)

logical évolution and thé earth sevolutionary history?

Ail of thèse are questions thatdirectly relate to thé four WorldHéritage criteria and thé data pro-vide thé means on which to makecomparisons. An example fromthé database using thé indicés ofendémie island birds is given inTable 2. Other measures of bio-logical diversity (eg. endémieplants, land-snails and reptiles)can also be "called-up" which canthen assist in a comparative rank-ingofislands.

Such empirical measures providesome quantitative guidelines butthere are a number of more sub-jective questions that also need tobe asked:. how "natural" is thé island and

how has it been affected by man?. does thé island (or thé portion of

thé island nominated) hâve ad-

equate légal protection?. if maritime wildlife is a princi-

pal natural value, what provi-sions are made for protecting

20 s

thé marine environment?. what are thé management is-

sues being faced and what re-sources are available to addressthem?


Prospective WorldHéritage Islands

As thé above questions infer, théévaluation ofany island for WorldHéritage status is a comprehen-siveandrigorousprocess. Itisthepolicy of IUCN not to prejudge anomination before a governmentformally submits it in order toretain our impartiality. Havingsaid this, there hâve been anumber of suggestions made onwhich islands might be consid-ered for possible World Héritage

Lord Howe Island Australia (Photo: Jim Thorsell /IUCN)

nominations and thèse are listedin Table 3.

Table 3Potential Natural World Héritage Islands

Island

South MoresbyRound

Easter

SpitsbergenHalongEllesmere

BeringiaSkaftafell70 IslandsRennellJuan Fernandez

South GeorgiaBarrier Reef

Chagos ArehipelagoMaldives

Ha'apai GroupBokaak

RapuTaveuniFernande de Noronha

Emperor sea mountTrois PitonsKermadecYakushimaBazaruto

Country

CanadaMauritius

ChileNorwayViet Nam

CanadaU.S.A./ Russia

IcelandPalauSolomon Island

ChileUnited KingdomBelize

United KingdomMaldives

TongoMarshall Island

French PolynesiaFijiBrazil

Hawaii

Dominica

New Zealand

JapanMozambique

Natural Values

Végétation, wildlife, scenerySeabirds, endémie plants, reptilesScenery and culturalMarine life, geologySpeetacular sceneryGeological features, wildlifeWildlife, evolutionary historyGeologyMarine life, sceneryVégétation, landfonns, birdsEndémie plantsMarine life, birdsCoral reefs, marine lifeCoral reefs, birdsCoral reef

Tiirtles, reefs, culturalCoral atoll, seabirdsFlora, seabirds

Biodiversity, reefsMarine mammals

Seabirds, marine mammalsVolcanic, endémie birds, végétationEndemism, species, volcanic featuresVégétation, scenic valuesTurtles, coral reefs, marine mammels

Notes: In some cases only portions ofislands apply. This list is suggestive only and is not an exclusive, one.

In conclusion, islands are spécialplaces and they deserve spécial

attention. TheWorldHer-itage Convention, by con-ferring prestigious inter-national status on thé mostoutstanding ones, can pro-videthis. Expérience withthé first fourteen islandsinscribed on thé list hasbeen positive but there isample scope for extendingthis number to more com-pletely reflect and protectthé world's island héritage.

Références

Dahl, A., Reuieif o f thé Pro-tected Area System inOceania. IUCN/UNEP,1986.

Dingwall, P., Report o f théWorking Group on Ap-plication of thé WorldHéritage Convention toIslands of thé SouthernOcéan. Internai reportto IUCN, 1992.

Synge, H. "Which IslandeMerit World HéritageStatus?," in Critical Is-sues for Protected Areas.18th IUCN Général As-sembly Proceedings.1990.

21


inorca iosphere eserve:-owards a odel of Conservation and evelopment

Joan Rita, Cipriano Marin, Miquel Vidai, Antonio Rodriguez-Perea Onofre Rullân

n 1989 thé Institut IVtenorquid'Estudis (IME) and thé SpanishMAB Committee organized aworkshop in Minorca entitled"Conservation and Developmentof Minorca". Some scientists andexperts discussed thé problemsand solutions of thé environment,landscapes, economy andsociology of thé island.

A proposai ofthis meetingwas to request fromUNESCO thé déclarationthat Minorca is a biosphèreréserve. It was considered

a way to protect thé is-land's outstanding natu-rai and historical héritagewithout paralysing its cur-rent économie growth.

Thé objective ofthe projectof thé biosphère réserveshould be attractive andainbitious enough for thélocal population, thé localand autonomous adminis-trations, and even for pri-vate industry, especiallythé tourist industry, towork together to achievethé same goals.

between parallels 40° 5'17" N and39° 47' 55" N, and between merid-ians 3° 52' 00" E and 4° 24' 00" E.It is at thé northeast of thé Bal-earicArchipelago, 130 miles fromBarcelona, 218 miles from Mar-seille and 236 miles from Cagliari.Thé surface area of thé island is

rainfall is about 20-25 %.

Thé wind is a very important cli-matic factor. Every year there areabout 30 days with north wind of10 m/s or more. This wind is dryand cold, and it cames a lot ofseasait spray, which leads to serious

MediterraneanSea

Location map ofMinorca in thé Western Mediterranean Basin

Situation andCliinate

Minorca is in thé centre of théWestern Mediterranean Basin,

Joan Rita

Dep. de Biologia AmbientalUniversitat de les Illes BalearsCipriano MarinINSULAMiquel VidaiInstitut Menorqui d'EstudisAntonio Rodrfguez-PereaOnofi-e RullànDep. de Ciències de la TerraUniversitat de les Illes Balears

702 km2 (similar to Madeira orLanzarote). It is 48 km long and22 km wide. Thé coast stretehesfor 216 km. Thé highest point is358m.

Thé climate is typically Mediter-ranean, with a hot and dry sum-mer and a temperate and rainywinter. Thé annual températureaverage is 16. 5°C. In July andAugust thé température averageis 24°C and in January and Feb-ruary it is 11°C. Thé annual rain-fall average ranges from 450 to650 mm, but most of thé precipi-tation takes place from October toApril. Thé annual variability of

damage of thé végétation, even 15kna inland.

Population andSocio-economic Features

Thé population of]V[inorcais about62,000 inhabitants; thé maximumnumber oftourists reaches about80,000 (1. 3 tourist/inhabit.approx.). There are eight munici-palities, but two ofthem (Maô andCiutadella) attract 80 % of thépopulation.

Thé économie structure of Mi-norca has undergone a marked

22


change aver thé lastfifteen years; from be-ing a relatively wellbalanced economy inthé sèventies, it hasnow become a touristdominated one. How-ever, a highly signifi-cant level ofactivity isstill maintained inboth thé industrialsector (footwear and

custom-jewellery) andthé agricultural sector(with 12,000 dairycat-tle producing 48, 600Tm ofmilk a year, 95%of which is used incheese production).

Geology

Thé island is dividedin two parts of differ-ent géologie constitution. Thénorthern (named Tramuntana) isvery heterogeneous, withPaleozoic (Devonian and Carbon-iferous) and Mesozoic (Triassicand Jurassic) sub-stratums, noncarbonated soils are very cominon.Thé landscape is hilly. Thé south-

Distribution ofnatural areas protected by régional law

ern part is a flat Tertiary (Miocène)limestone platform (named"migjorn"); long and deep rivervalleys ("barrancs") eut thé plat-form from thé middle part of théisland to thé sea. Thèse "barrancs"break up thé environmental ho-mogeneity of this région.

Most of thé sea shore is rocky, butbeaches are quite fréquent, andthere are also some dune Systemsassociated with wetlands.

A remarkable geological hetero-geneity has given rise to muchvariety in thé environment and

landscape. Apart frommountain zones, mostMediterranean ecosys-teins are well repre-sented onMinorca. Theyare generally well pre-served, including théinfra-littoral zones.

Wind carries salty sea spray several kilomètres inlanddamaging severely thé exposed végétation.

Flora andVégétation

Thé total number ofvas-cular plant species isnear 1000 (6-7 % of en-demie species). Thereare sixty three endémietaxa, eighteen of whichare endémie of MinorcaFour ofthem are consid-ered endangered speciesby Spanish law

Thé végétation is typi

23

Minorca Biosphère Réserve

cally Mediterranean.Sclerophyllous forests ofQuercus ilex or Oleaeuropaea hâve been con-sidered as two différentclimax of thé island, nev-ertheless Pinus hal-

epensis woods are quitecommon.

Thé Olea europaea com-munity is one of thé moststriking characteristic ofthé island végétation.Minorca is one of théwestern Mediterraneanterritories in which Oleawoods are best repre-sented. This thermo-Mediterranean type ofecosystem can be consid-ered as représentative ofour biogeographical re-gion. Thé forests ormaquis of Olea hâve avery high species richness. Somethermophylous species are quitecommon, including Ephedrafragilis, Euphorbia dendroides,Asparagus albus and Asparagushorridus. Nevertheless, sclero-phyllous shrubs are thé dominant

Beaches, dune Systems and saltmarshes are wellpreserved around thé coast of IVIinorea

species, including Pistacialentiscus, Phillyrea latifolia,Rhamnus alaternus. This commu-

nity may be found around thé is-land, but it is most common in thésouth of thé island and near thécoast.

Also deserving particular men-tion is thé xeroacanthic vegeta-tion on thé rocky coasts where anabundance of endémie floraadapted to thé hostile conditionsof thèse habitats is to be found.Six species in différent families

hâve a spiny andpulvininate structure.Ail ofthem are endémieof Minorca or thé Bal-earic Islands (include

Astragalus balearicus,Launaea cervicornis,Anthyllis hystrix).

Thé végétation of thé cal-careous rock fissures isalso rather rich in en-demie species, such asHippocrepis balearicaand Helichysum am-biguum.

There are some interest-ing examples ofcommu-nities of sait marshes,wetlands and dune sys-tems.

Rural architecture has a strong personality - it is necessary todesign programmes for thé préservation of this héritage

Thé chief crop of thé is-land is forage for cattle.

24


Fauna

Ail of thé ancient manimal faunabecame extinct when man arrived

thé island. Ail thé présent daymammalian, reptilian and am-phibian fauna was introduced byman, although it was a long timeago and thèse species are com-pletely integrated in today's eco-Systems. Nevertheless there is anendémie lizard (Podarcis lilfordiï),which still lives on thé islets but isextinct on thé main island.

There are about 25 coinmon spe-cies ofbirds ofprey, eight ofthemnesting on thé island; in total thereare about 700 couples (close to lcouple/km2). This is a very highdensity for thé Mediterranean eco-Systems, and it is a good indicatorof a well preserved habitat.

Sea birds are also important.There are about 10, 000 couples ofCalonectris diomedea (15 % of théMediterranean population); otherspecies such as Phalacrocoraxaristotelis also hâve importantcolonies, Larus audouinii (a gullendémie of thé Mediterranean sea)has a small population.

Thé invertebrate fauna is ratherinteresting. We know about 1,000species ofColeoptera, with 30 en-demie species. Other groups, suchas Aracnida or Gasteropoda, hâvea similar level of endemism.

Agricultural Landscape

One of thé most outstanding fea-tures of Minorca is its agricul-tural landscape, where pastureson thé ground and in thé valleysbetween thé natural végétation ischaracteristic. This landscapestructure means that a close eco-logical inter-relationship existsbetween both Systems. In order topréserve thé natural héritage ofthé island, especially thé land-scape, it is necessary to retain thécurrent System of cattle-raising.Thé rural architecture is spectacu-

lar. Ail thé island is covered by anetwork of stone walls; there aresome thousand plots each with itsown name. This structure of théfields is very important for tradi-tional cattle management. Thérural buildings both for peopleand for animais, built in a tradi-tional style, are a very importantpart of thé landscape.

Historical Héritage

To this day about 1, 100 archaeo-logical sites, with a density ofap-proximately 1.5 sites per squarekilomètre, hâve been discovered.Most of them belong to civiliza-tions that colonized thé islandfrom thé Bronze Age to théPaleochristian Era. Thé archaeo-

logical remains are so abundantthat they form a général part ofthé Minorca landscape. Présentlégislation supports this archaeo-logical wealth.

Conservation Aspects

Since thé beginning of 1991, ap-proximately 40% of thé island'ssurface has been protected by théAutonomous Govemment, andthedrawing up of thé plans for nego-tiation and management of thèseterritories will be completedshortly (BilVl/1991, January 30th," Llei d'Espais Naturals i de RégimUrbanistic de les Arees d'EspecialProtecciô de les Illes Balears,BOCAIB N. 31, 9/3/1991"). Prob-ably during this or next year aNatural Park will be declared bythé Autonomous Government.

Nevertheless, thé environment ofthé islands has suffered a quiteimportant damage because of thééconomie growth of thé 80s. Thétourist resorts along thé seashorewere thé main problem, and itcould still be a problem in théfuture. Some important ecosys-tems, such as some dune Systemsand saltmarches, hâve been de-stroyed for this reason.

With thé présent économie crisis,other problems hâve been added.One of them is thé public works,which are done without analysisof thé environmental conse-quences. Too often engineers for-get that they are on a small islandand not on thé continent. On théother hand, changes in thé rurallandscape could be dramatic inthé future because thé rural popu-lation has become old and cattleraising is in a crisis too. Farmshâve been abandoned. Nowadaysa very important réduction ofsomebird populations, such as somespecies ofraptors and ducks, hasbeen detected. Thèse are indica-tors ofsome problems of thé gen-eral functioning of thé island eco-Systems.

Thé island is in a critical stage.Now is thé moment to change thétendencies. Thé déclaration of abiosphère réserve could be veryuseful for this purpose.

Structure of thé Réserve

Thé core of thé future BiosphèreRéserve of IVtinorca will be thésame territory which will be de-clared Natural Park by thé Re-gional Government. It is in thénortheast of thé island. It is awetland and saltmarshes zone,named S'Albufera des Grau, whichhas a lagoon with a surface of 70ha. In this area more than ninethousand ducks of différent spe-des hâve been counted in optimalconditions. Thé shoreline close tothé Albufera will belong to théPark and to thé core of thé Re-serve too. This zone, approx. 10km long, has a very high densityof endémie plants, some of themconsidered in danger of extinc-tion.

Two other areas hâve been pro-posed as core zones for a secondstage. One of them, named LaVall, is thé most uninhabited ter-ritory of Minorca. It is in thénorthwest of thé island. Quercus

SIL 25

Minorca Biosphère Réserve

ilex and Pinus halepensis woodsand maquis of Erica arborea andErica scoparia are thé main veg-etation. Cliffs of one hundredmeters are found along thé coast,and one of thé best dune Systemsof thé island is in a little bay closeby. Birds of prey such as Falcoperegrinus, Neophron per-nocterus, Pandion haliaetus,Hieratus pennatus are easily ob-served.

Thé sea in front ofLa Vall

up to thé liinit of thé plat-form, has thé best pre-served naarine ecosys-tems around Minorca.This zone could be incor-porated to thé core of théréserve.

Thé third area which willconstitute thé reserve'score is in thé south of théisland. Three canyons("barrancs") namedAlgendar, Trebalugerand Son Fideu, and thécoast close to them willbelong to this area. Thé"barrancs" are six orseven km. deep and fiftyto one hundred meterswide. They originate inthé niiddle of thé islandand run to thé sea andonto a beach. Thé rockywalls are twenty to fiftymeters tall. This habitatis quite différent from thécalcareous platform onthé sides.

in three zones will include thébest représentative examples ofail ecosystems ofMinorca.

Thé forest and farm land betweenthèse three zones will be thé bufferarea. Thé main interest of thiszone is thé agricultural landscapeand thé strong relationship be-tween anthropic and natural eco-Systems. At présent thé characterof Minorca's landscape, even thé

ecosystem functioning of thé is-land, dépend thé traditional useof thé land.

Biosphère Réserve Goals

UNESCO has already declared asbiosphère réserves soine islandsor parts ofislands. It is thé case ofthé Aleutians Islands and thé Vir-gin Islande in thé USA, thé Chan-

Thé microclimate is morehumid and colder. Someendémie plants such usLinaria fragilis, Mentharodriguezii and Violaodorata live exclusivelyin this ecosystem. Vari-ous species ofbirds ofpreynest on thé rocky walls.Thèse include Falcoperegrinus, Neophronpernocterus, Tyto alba,and so on. Thé core of thébiosphère réserve divided

Talayotic culture started in 1400 B. C. and ended in théfirst centuries after Christ. Its nearest parallels can be

found in Corsica and Sardinia. (Photo C. Maûn)

26


nel Islands thé Juan FernândezIslands in Chile, thé GalapagosIslands in Ecuador, théYakushima Islands in Japan,Rhum and St. Kilda Islands in thé

UK, thé Molene Archipelago inFrance, Hiïuma Island in Esto-nia, Zembra and Zembretta Is-lands in Tunisia and so on.

Nevertheless Minorca will be aunique biosphère réserve, becauseit will cover an entire island whichhas a well developed economy.

It will also be interesting, for itinight becoine a model territory inwhich thé protection of nature andintense économie activity are com-patible. This is really one of thémost important original goals ofbiosphère réserves. It is possibleto define some more concrète ob-jectives:l. To préserve thé natural and

historical héritage, and to re-cover thé environmental qual-ity where it has been lost;

2. Tomanagethenaturalandhis-torical héritage for a correctuse by thé people without riskof dégradation;

3. To manage thé natural re-sources, especially fresh water,which do not last indefinitely;

4. To carry out a developmentalpolicy which does not damagethé environment;

5. To instil rational social habitsin order to préserve thé naturalresources;

6. To encourage ail thé différentadministrative bodies (local, re-gional and state) to carry outpolicies in accordance with théphilosophy of sustainable de-velopment.

Thé action plan of thé biosphèreréserve is close to becoming a stra-tegic plan of development. Thémain proposai of this documentare summarized below.

It is necessary to create a network

of Natural Parks in order to pre-serve thé main ecosystems of théislands. At thé same time it isnecessary to create a managementstaff both for thé natural pro-tected zones and for archaeologi-cal héritage.

For thé island's économie devel-

opment it will be useful to useboth natural and historical herit-

âge. Minorca could become a dif-ferentiated touristic destination.Nevertheless, it is only possible ifa very rigorous control guaran-tees thé conservation ofthis herit-

âge.

Thé rural economy has to be sup-ported. A correct management ofEC funds could help towards thésurvival ofthis sector. It is neces-sary to interconnect thé econo-mies of thé tourism and agricul-ture.

Thé entire population ofMinorcahas to participate in thé biosphèreréserve management. Some pro-grams, such us residue recyclingand energy saving, could be use-fui in this sensé. Non-governmen-tal organizations should hâve anactive participation in thé Bio-sphère Réserve Bureau.

Public works must hâve a veryrigorous environmental evalua-tion and alternative analyses. Aninsular scale has to be introducedin thé design of thèse projects.

It is necessary to create a coordi-nating bureau among thé admin-istrative bodies where interna-tional organizations, such as ECand MAB, will hâve representa-tives, as well as thé local NGOs(ecologist, touristic organizations,and so on).

Finally, it is very important tohâve a territorial planning instru-ment with a global point ofview ofthé island.

This type of planning has to be théguarantee of thé future as op-posed to uncontrolled touristicgrowth.

Références

Certes, G., "L'Ocupaciô urban-istica de la costa de Menorca,"in Desenvolupament i Con-servaciô de la Natura aMenorca. Ed. MAB & IME.Ciutadella, 1992.

Dub6n, M. L. and Vidai, T., Lapoblaciô de Menorca: présent ifutur, " in Desenuolupament iConservaciô de la Natura aMenorca. Ed. MAB & IME.Ciutadella, 1992.

Florit, S., Pons P. and Mari, S.,Estudi marc pel desen-volupament agrari de l'illa deMenorca. Ed. Fundaciô Caixade Pensions & Conseil Insularde Menorca. Barcelona, 1990.

UNESCO (Ed. ) // Seminariinternacional sobre Réserves dela Biosfera mediterrànies,Diputaciô de Barcelona &Comité espanol del MAB. Bar-celona, 1990.

Lôpez, G., "L'Estructura del'econômica de Menorca, " inEnciclopèdia de Menorca, vol.XXII. Ed. Obra Cultural Balearde Menorca. Ciutadella, 1991.

Rita, M.C., "Problemàtica actualde la conservaciô delsjacimentsarqueolôgics a Menorca," inDesenvolupament i Conser-uaciô de la Natura a Menorca.Ed. MAB & IME. Ciutadella,1992.

Serra, T., "El Turisme aMenorca, " in Enciclopèdia deMenorca, vol. XXII. Ed. ObraCultural Balear de Menorca.Ciutadella, 1991.

Vidai, J.M. and Rita, J. Eds.,Desenvolupament i Conser-vaciô de la Natura a Menorca.Ed. MAB & IME. Ciutadella,1992.

s 27


anzarote:

sland of VolcanoesCipriano Marin

. he geology is thé main pro-tagonist of thé most eastern is-land of thé Canarian archipelago,situated just off thé coast of Af-rica. In developmental termsLanzarote is a world in formation,a place where volcanic activity isstill moulding thé final form of théisland. Thé hundreds of existingvolcanoes are évidence ofthis anda large part of thé surface of théisland is covered with volcanicmaterial from thé historié erup-tions of thé end of thé 18th andbeginning of thé 19th centuries.

However, in spite of its dry cli-mate and bare landscape, thé is-land has an incredible diversity ofenvironments. Thé uniqueness ofthèse surroundings has been théreason why both thé Spanish andthé Canarian Government hâvecreated an extensive network ofconservation areas with varyingdegrees of protection within thisrégion. Among thèse, TimanfayaNational Park, ajewel among thévolcanic parks of thé world, shouldbe highlighted along with LosIslotes and Riscos de Famarawhich take in part of thé northernarea and a group ofsmall islands;this has thé spécial feature ofbe-ing thé first land-sea park inSpain.

Such suggestive nature gives théimpression that thé island wantedto compete with thé original formsof thé volcano. Because, above ail,Lanzarote représente thé triuinphof thé iinagination and of thé sen-sitivity expressed in a spectacu-lar simbiosis of man with thé en-vironment, an unrestrained im-agination which has its maximumexpression in thé form in whichthé land has been used and mod-elled to survive in treinendouslyadverse environmental condi-

tions. This developed a créativeforce produced by scarcity and in-sularity, which has resulted inthé designing of a model of agri-culture without water. Thé famous"enarenados", surfaces artificiallycovered by a layer of volcanicgravel to retain thé scarce envi-ronmental humidity, or thé culti-vation on Aeolian sands, are twoexamples of this magnificent en-gineering of survival which onlyan island could conceive.

But thé most surprising élémentof this culture is thé sensitivitywith which man-made construc-tion has been incorporated intothé environment, creating one ofthé most unique and beautiful col-lections oflandscapes to be foundin thé extensive island cultures ofthé planet. You only hâve to lookat thé cultivation on volcanicgravel at La Geria, thé fields ofcactus for thé production ofcochi-neal in Mala and Guatiza or thédélicate landscapeof thé sait flats ofJanubio, authenticgarden of sait ontheedgeoftheAt-lantic. Itisstrangeto note that on a

dry island of littlemore than 800 km2there is such a va-

riety of solutionswhich take advan-

tage of thé limitedresources, andwhich blend intothé environmentso well. . »,

Ail this magnifi-cent héritage hasbeen brought to-gether in an inno-vative way in théwork of thé re-

cently deceased César Manrique,a persan who had thé idea ofcon-sidering nature and thé uniquelandscape of thé island as a deli-cate canvas on which man couldharmoniously develop his crea-tivity. From thé beginning of thésixties to 1992, César conceivedmore than twenty projects whichconstitute one of thé best exam-

pies of equilibrium between con-structed works and thé environ-

ment, a unique contribution

î/ ^ï ï a ^Ç&^ - island vulnerability · ustica's natural sea réserve lucio messina dossier:...

Documents