The region

De Wijers candidate UNESCO Man and the Biosphere

UNESCO Man and the Biosphere: Living in Balance

A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is a region where the relationship between people and nature takes centre stage. It is neither a traditional nature reserve nor an additional layer of protection applied to the entire area. Instead, it is an internationally recognised framework that brings together nature conservation, sustainable development, research, education and collaboration.

Today, there are more than 700 Biosphere Reserves worldwide, including the Camargue (France), Maasheggen (the Netherlands) and Gran Canaria (Spain).

Within a Biosphere Reserve, efforts focus on finding ways to protect valuable natural and cultural landscapes while allowing space for people to live, work, farm, do business, enjoy recreation, preserve heritage and develop sustainable tourism. The emphasis is on balance: how can people thrive today and tomorrow while ensuring that the landscape remains ecologically resilient?

UNESCO recognises regions that demonstrate how sustainable development can be put into practice.

Three core functions lie at the heart of every Biosphere Reserve:

• protecting and enhancing landscapes, ecosystems, species and biodiversity;
• supporting socially, economically and culturally sustainable development that is environmentally responsible;
• promoting research, education, monitoring, knowledge sharing and cooperation.

Above all, a Biosphere Reserve is a living landscape: a place where residents, partners, entrepreneurs, researchers and visitors learn, collaborate and work together to build a future in which people and nature strengthen one another.

Why De Wijers?

In De Wijers, people and nature have coexisted for centuries. Its landscape of ponds, stream valleys, heathlands and forests is not only a valuable natural area but also a place where people live, work, do business and relax.

Through our candidacy as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, we want to demonstrate that nature and human activity can reinforce one another.

Our nomination offers an opportunity to continue building a sustainable future together: a future in which biodiversity, heritage, recreation, agriculture, entrepreneurship and quality of life go hand in hand. In this way, De Wijers can become an inspiring example of how people and nature can live in balance, both today and for generations to come.

Discover more about UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

Zones within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

To fulfil the three objectives of a Biosphere Reserve, UNESCO requires De Wijers to be divided into three types of zones: core zones, buffer zones and transition zones. Each of these zones can occur in several locations throughout the region.

1. Core Zone

The core zone contributes to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species, genetic diversity and the ecosystem services they provide. In the country where it is located, this zone must be legally protected, for example as a nature reserve.

2. Buffer Zone

The buffer zone surrounds or adjoins the core zone. Activities are permitted here as long as they are compatible with the values and conservation objectives of the core zone. Such activities may also contribute to research, monitoring, training and education.

In addition to their buffering role, buffer zones may have their own intrinsic functions for conserving biological, cultural and human-influenced diversity. They can also serve as important ecological and social connections within the wider landscape, linking core areas for people, plants and wildlife with the transition zone(s).

3. Transition Zone

The transition zone is where communities carry out socio-cultural, economic and other sustainable human activities. This is where the people of De Wijers live, work, travel and spend their leisure time.

Important to know

A possible designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve would not result in additional protection measures being imposed on the entire area.

Any restrictions that may apply already stem from existing Flemish legislation and are entirely unrelated to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation. For example, the recognition would not alter citizens' property rights in any way.

Within the proposed core and buffer zones, only publicly owned land (managed by government agencies or nature conservation organisations) is currently included. Privately owned land is included only within the transition zone, unless the landowner explicitly wishes otherwise.

Why does De Wijers want to be a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere area?