Sustainable development and nature protection side by side

Biosphere reserves aim to manage their resources by taking nature conservation into consideration in human activities.

The reserve is divided into three areas:

• Core areas are protected sites for conserving nature.
• Buffer zones surround the core areas and can be used only for conservation and restricted sustainable activities such as environmental education, ecotourism and recreation.
• Transition zones are used for sustainable agriculture, business and tourism. They may contain towns, farms and fisheries as it is here where the majority of the inhabitants of the biosphere reserve live.