The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world including the Biosphere Reserves. It took the lives of millions of people and led to unemployment and loss of livelihoods for a large part of the world population. The impacts include a dramatic decrease in the number of visitors to the Biosphere Reserves due to closing the state borders and other national lock-down measurements, which resulted in a huge cut in the income of local businesses. Hence, the local economies have been struggling since the beginning of the crisis in 2020. The notion about the link between the destruction of habitats, biodiversity loss and the risk of transmission of infectious diseases warns us about the potential dangers of being rough to nature and reminds us the importance of sustainable use of the natural resources and the need for keeping balances between human and nature.
In order to face the challenges of the pandemic, we need to pay more attention to activities that will address the effects of the pandemic as well as the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. There is a strong need to seek creative approaches to deal with the challenges, to exchange the ideas on the possible solutions for recovery processes to rapidly adapt to the new situation.
The vision of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme is "a world where people are conscious of their common future and interaction with our planet, and act collectively and responsibly to build thriving societies in harmony with the biosphere". The current MAB Strategy 2015-2025 includes, as the first strategic action area, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves consisting of effectively functioning models for sustainable development and defines the Biosphere Reserves as models to explore, establish and demonstrate innovative approaches that foster the resilience of communities and opportunities for youth, through livelihood diversification, green businesses, and social enterprise, including responsible tourism. The Lima Action Plan gives strong emphasis on thriving societies living in harmony with the biosphere in order to achieve the SDGs and the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development within biosphere reserves and beyond. Therefore, the Biosphere Reserves need to take actions supporting sustainable tourism activities, while respecting local conditions and communities and mitigating possible negative impacts.
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