The Garden Route Biosphere Reserve

UNESCO MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE (MAB) PROGRAMME

The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme is an intergovernmental initiative that promotes a balanced relationship between people and nature. Established in 1971, the programme supports science-based approaches to improving the relationship between communities and their environments. It encourages countries to use natural landscapes as learning sites for testing, demonstrating, and scaling up innovative solutions for sustainable development.

At the heart of the MAB Programme is a global network of more than 700 biosphere reserves in over 130 countries. These reserves serve as model regions that show how conservation and sustainable development can work hand in hand.

HOW BIOSPHERE RESERVES SERVE THE MAB PROGRAM

Biosphere reserves bring the MAB Programme to life at a local scale. They:

Conserve biodiversity and protect important ecosystems.
Support sustainable livelihoods, community well-being, and responsible economic initiatives.
Provide platforms for research, monitoring, education, and knowledge exchange.
Test and demonstrate practical solutions to environmental and social challenges.
Build partnerships between government, science, communities, and business.

By integrating people, nature, and knowledge, biosphere reserves act as real-world laboratories for sustainability. They help nations and communities explore how to live more sustainably while maintaining the ecological integrity of their landscapes.

BIOSPHERE RESERVES AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Biosphere Reserves provide practical spaces where the global vision of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be brought to life at a local level. As learning landscapes for sustainability, they demonstrate how people and nature can coexist harmoniously.

Through their three interlinked functions — conservation, sustainable development, and logistic support (research, education, and knowledge sharing) — biosphere reserves help to:

Protect biodiversity and ecosystems (SDGs 13, 14, 15).
Promote sustainable livelihoods and inclusive economic growth (SDGs 1, 2, 8, 9, 12).
Foster partnerships, education, and innovation for sustainability (SDGs 4, 5, 16, 17).
Enhance climate resilience and resource management (SDGs 6, 7, 11, 13).

By connecting people, nature, and knowledge, biosphere reserves act as living laboratories for achieving the SDGs translating global goals into tangible local action and inspiring solutions for a more sustainable future.

THE GARDEN ROUTE BIOSPHERE RESERVE

The Garden Route Biosphere Reserve was recognised by UNESCO as South Africa’s 9th Biosphere Reserve in June 2017.

This GRBR covers an area of approximately 700,000 hectares and extends from the coastline south of the George Airport, north along the eastern boundary of its neighbouring Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve, along the coastline into the Eastern Cape to include Jeffrey’s Bay and St Francis Bay. The Garden Route Biosphere Reserve is located within the Cape Floristic Region along the southern coast of the country, and includes the Tsitsikamma, Goukamma and Robberg Marine Protected Areas, Wilderness Lake RAMSAR site, Garden Route National Park, the Nelson Bay Cave and the Langkloof Valley. The Garden Route National Park, the primary core area of the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve, also forms part of the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site, inscribed by UNESCO in 2004.

The Garden Route Biosphere Reserve is both socially and ecologically rich with over 500,000 inhabitants and a network of active social actors living and working within a biologically diverse natural habitat with great natural beauty that underpins a strong tourism economy in the region.

In this era of the Anthropocene, the region is threatened by climate change, increasing urbanisation and a multitude of land uses including associated waste, the spread of invasive alien species and unsustainable harvesting of natural resources. These threats are coupled with a burgeoning population, high levels of inequality and unemployment, low skills levels and limited social capital. These social and ecological drivers threaten the sustainability of the region and have informed the GRBR key focus areas.

VISION, MISSION & OBJECTIVES

VISION MISSION OBJECTIVES

VISION

“Connected people and environments for enhanced diversity, cohesion and wellbeing.”

MISSION STATEMENT

“Improving collaborations to support integrated environmental management, regenerative systems and equitable development.”

The quest for the Garden Route to become a model of sustainable and regenerative living is increasingly shared by civil society, land owners, the business community and local authorities. To pursue the journey down this road together, stakeholder groups need to work collaboratively toward the greater equitable good of the region. Our aim is for the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve to serve as an enabling platform for mutually beneficial partnerships, co-learning from one other, networking with Biosphere Reserves across the globe, and sharing experiences and best practices with others.

OBJECTIVES

Like all Biosphere Reserves in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, the GRBR aims to be a model site for sustainable relationships between people, and nature and represents an exciting approach to landscape management. The Biosphere Reserve objectives specifically include:

Conservation of genetic resources, species, and ecosystems;
Scientific research and monitoring; and
Promoting sustainable development in communities of the surrounding region.

The primary objective of the GRBR is the promotion, advancement and fulfilment of the three inter-connected functions of a Biosphere Reserve namely:

Conservation: protecting cultural diversity and biodiversity, including genetic variation, species, ecosystems and landscapes and securing services provided by such diversity.

Work with existing local agents and stakeholders in conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation, as well as initiatives to prepare for and mitigate against climate change.
Promote the establishment of ecological corridors to: preserve genetic variation, allow for natural movements of wildlife (terrestrial, aquatic, estuarine and marine) through buffer and transition areas and enhance environmental flows in rivers and estuaries in the region.

Development: fostering economic and human development that is environmentally and socially sustainable and culturally appropriate.

Work with existing local agents and stakeholders in conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation, as well as initiatives to prepare for and mitigate against climate change.
Promote the establishment of ecological corridors to: preserve genetic variation, allow for natural movements of wildlife (terrestrial, aquatic, estuarine and marine) through buffer and transition areas and enhance environmental flows in rivers and estuaries in the region.
Co-ordinate and partner with existing stakeholders to encourage land use planning capacity development and landscape management co-ordination primarily focused on fire regimes, environmental flows and alien invasive species management.
Encourage government and private sector to engage by providing a platform for dialogue on the sustainable growth of the area.
Co-ordinate and partner with existing stakeholders to encourage and facilitate green enterprise mentorship and skills development.
Co-ordinate and partner with existing stakeholders to encourage land use planning capacity development and landscape management co-ordination.

Logistic support: facilitating demonstration projects, environmental education and sustainable development education and training, research and monitoring. While education, research, monitoring and capacity enhancement are seen as components of the logistic or knowledge-generation function of biosphere reserves, they are also integral to the conservation and development functions.

Co-ordinate and support existing local actors in the landscape in conservation and sustainable development projects
Engage with established research and training facilities, as well as forums with key stakeholders.

OUR BOARD AND SUPPORTING TEAM

BOARD OF DIRECTORS SUPPORTING STAFF

Prof. Robert Fincham

Board Member

Emeritus Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Research Associate, Nelson Mandela University
Chair, UNESCO
Research interests in identity, sense of place, and sustainable development, with a focus on poverty alleviation

Mr. Japie Buckle

Voting Director

Restoration Ecologist and Managing Director, Hive Ecosystems

Mr. Hennie Swanevelder

Voting Director

Retired; formerly with the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT); currently Chair of the Kabeljous Reserve Action Group (KRAG)

Mr. Michael Klaver

Youth Director

MSc student with the Sustainability Research Unit (SRU) at Nelson Mandela University, George Campus

Dr Tatenda Mapeto

Board Member

Forest Management Teaching and Research, Department of Forestry, Cluster of Natural Resource Science & Management, Nelson Mandela University

Dr Rachael Chasakara

Voting Director

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nelson Mandela University

Dr Bianca Currie

Chief Executive and Non-Voting Director

Research Associate, Sustainability Research Unit, Nelson Mandela University (George Campus)

Sarah Erasmus

Administrator

Administrative and coordination support; communications management; background in cognitive semiotics and psychology

Diane Erasmus

Project Manager

Environmental Practitioner

WHAT REGIONS ARE INCLUDED IN THE BIOSPHERE?

The Garden Route Biosphere Reserve encompasses the following areas:

GEORGE

JEFFREY'S BAY

KNYSNA

NATURE'S VALLEY

PLETTENBERG BAY

SEDGEFIELD

ST. FRANCIS BAY

TSITSIKAMMA

MUNICIPALITIES INVOLVED WITH THE GRBR

Local Municipalities are vital stakeholders of any Biosphere Reserve. The following municipalities are found within the borders of the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve:

ZONES OF THE BIOSPHERE RESERVE

All biosphere reserve consists of three zones, where the different zones work together to balance conservation and sustainable development.

The core zone covers 31% of the GRBR, with 26% being terrestrial and 5% marine. The core zone consists of areas strictly protected for conserving biodiversity, landscapes, and ecosystems. In the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve, these areas consist of the Garden Route National Park managed by SANParks and the Nature Reserves managed by CapeNature.

Surrounding this is the buffer zone which accounts for 41% of the reserve where activities compatible with conservation objectives such as environmental education, research, and eco-friendly tourism are encouraged.

Encircling both the core and buffer zone is the transition zone making up 28% of the biosphere reserve. The transition zone is the outermost layer, where communities live and work. Here, the focus is on promoting sustainable livelihoods, innovation, and collaboration between people and nature.

Together, these three zones form an integrated system that supports both the protection of natural heritage and the well-being of local communities, the essence of a biosphere reserve.

BECOME INVOLVED

We are building a multi-disciplinary team of qualified professionals and committed volunteers to ensure that our regional efforts are collaborative and effective.

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The Garden Route Biosphere Reserve

UNESCO MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE (MAB) PROGRAMME

THE GARDEN ROUTE BIOSPHERE RESERVE

VISION, MISSION & OBJECTIVES

VISION

MISSION STATEMENT

OBJECTIVES

OUR BOARD AND SUPPORTING TEAM

Prof. Robert Fincham

Mr. Japie Buckle

Mr. Hennie Swanevelder

Mr. Michael Klaver

Dr Tatenda Mapeto

Dr Rachael Chasakara

Dr Bianca Currie

Sarah Erasmus

Diane Erasmus

WHAT REGIONS ARE INCLUDED IN THE BIOSPHERE?

MUNICIPALITIES INVOLVED WITH THE GRBR

BECOME INVOLVED

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