Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh is craving to achieve new heights in the field of Biosphere Reserve. It has forwarded a proposal to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to get Biosphere Reserve (BR) status for three more sites. There are three places which are having the BR status.
If three more places get designated as Biosphere Reserves then it will be the first state to have maximum Biosphere Reserves in the country. Sources in Environment Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO) said that the final project report was prepared to get Biosphere Reserve status for identified areas of Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench.
It was in the month of March, April and June that the proposal to get BR status to all three places was forwarded to MoEFCC. Currently, Achanakmar (Amarkantak), Pachmarhi and Panna are having designation of Biosphere Reserve.
WHAT IS A BIOSPHERE
Biosphere Reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal, marine ecosystem which are internationally recognised within the framework of UNESCO’s flagship programme on Man and Biosphere (MAB) and are recognised in accordance with the statutory framework formulated MAB programme of UNESCO.
The idea of Biosphere Reserves was initiated by UNESCO in 1973-74 under its Man and Biosphere programme. The Biosphere Reserves thus are meant to represent characteristic ecosystems in different bio-geographic regions and consider human communities as their integral component. The Biosphere Reserves are all about sustainable development. By December 2023, the country is having 18 Biosphere Reserves.