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

Dr. Thomas Schaaf Chief, Ecological Sciences and Biodiversity Section UNESCO, Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme

Owing to global change, including climate change, many of the world's mountain ecosystems are undergoing drastic transformations which may affect the ability of mountain regions to provide critical goods and services to both mountain inhabitants and lowland communities. As mountains are vulnerable ecosystems, signals of global environmental change have been detected, that affect inter alia the water balance (snow and glacial melt) in the cryosphere and at lower altitudes; and biodiversity (floral and faunal composition) and the occurrence of rare and endangered species in the alpine and forest zones of mountains. Moreover, the livelihoods of mountain communities are jeopardized due to changing environmental and economic conditions affecting land use, income opportunities and human well-being. From 2003 to 2005, UNESCOs MAB Programme and twelve other research institutions and universities jointly implemented the project Global Change in Mountain Regions (GLOCHAMORE) which was funded under the 5th Framework Programme of the European Commission as well as by UNESCO-MAB. Its aims were to set up a world-wide network of mountain biosphere reserves (including Sierra Nevada Biosphere Reserve, Spain) to study global and climate change impacts on mountains, and to bring together global change researchers and biosphere reserve managers to develop a research strategy for mountains. Throughout the project, biosphere reserves in mountains were considered as ideal study and monitoring sites because of their zonation pattern with core, buffer and transition zones reflecting different land-uses: biosphere reserves include protected areas (with natural or near-natural environments), and they also include areas inhabited by human beings which are used for economic activities. Moreover, biosphere reserves dispose of a good research infrastructure (e.g. with long-term climatic data sets, species lists, researchers etc.). Out of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (today: 580 sites in 114 countries), several mountain biosphere reserves had been selected for the GLOCHAMORE Project which represented the major mountain ranges in all world regions. A large-scale science conference and a series of five international workshops (of which one had been held in Granada) have been organized to better understand the causes and impacts of global change in mountains both affecting the biophysical environment and the livelihoods of mountain people. As a result, the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy (available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001471/147170E.pdf ) had been developed as a blue print for conducting research and environmental monitoring covering the following themes: Climate Land use change Cryosphere Water systems Ecosystem function & services Biodiversity Hazards

Human and animal health Mountain economies Society and global change.

While all above-mentioned themes are pertinent for assessing and monitoring the impacts of global and climate change on mountains, it was decided at an international workshop in Kathmandu (Nepal, November 2008), that a more restricted list of topics should be analyzed and studied in detail in mountain biosphere reserves, since some biosphere reserves in developing countries may not have the necessary financial means to address all topics at the same time. These topics are: Climate Biodiversity (in particular: key fauna and flora) Water systems (in particular: water balance and water quantity) Land use change (quantifying and monitoring land use) Mountain economies (employment and income) In 2008, the UNESCO-MAB Secretariat created a follow-up project to the GLOCHAMORE Project, which is now called Global and Climate Change in Mountain Sites - Coping Strategies for Mountain Biosphere Reserves (GLOCHAMOST). The purpose of GLOCHAMOST is to implement the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy in selected mountain biosphere reserves along the lines of the five topics mentioned above. Participating biosphere reserves are the following: Canada: Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve China: Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve Germany: Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Reserve India: Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve Peru: Huascaran Biosphere Reserve Russian Federation: Katunskiy Biosphere Reserve Russian Federation: Teberdinskiy Biosphere Reserve Spain: Sierra Nevada Biosphere Reserve Switzerland: Reservat da Biosfera Val Mustair-Parc Naziunal While some differences exist, there are many similarities regarding the impact of global and climate change affecting mountain biosphere reserves as can be seen from the reports submitted to UNESCOMAB in late 2011 (available on the UNESCO-MAB website at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/naturalsciences/environment/ecological-sciences/specific-ecosystems/mountains/glochamost/ . What we need to today are long-term observatories which can help to formulate and implement adaptation strategies to cope with global and climate change. Ideally, these observatories should: 1. 2. 3. 4. Establish a baseline of biophysical and socio-economic factors and parameters: Monitor trends evoked by global and climate change; Define adaptive management measures; Implement adaption schemes, in consultation with local and national authorities and local people; 5. Share information among similar observatories world-wide The Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory is certainly a most welcome initiative in this direction. If it is so desired, the UNESCO-MAB Secretariat will certainly assist with the sharing and diffusion of information from the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory to other mountain biosphere reserves

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