Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 310:"After Clause 60, insert the following new clause—" ““PART 5A BIOSPHERES RESERVES BIOSPHERES RESERVES    Biospheres reserves, as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, may, subject to the affirmation of the local authorities therein, be given by the Secretary of State a pilot status as regards the interpretation of planning and other ministerial guidance.”” The noble Baroness said: During the passage of this Bill we have talked about national parks, AONBs and SSSIs. My amendment seeks to introduce biosphere reserves into the debate. I should declare an interest: I live in the Braunton Burrows biosphere reserve. As the amendment states, these reserves are nominated by the national government and then designated by UNESCO. We could do more with designated reserves than we have to date. In the UK we have eight reserves. Internationally, there are 440 biosphere reserves in 97 countries. Biospheres are very special landscapes or are of particular interest environmentally, but they also work very hard to balance that with the communities who live in them. In one way, they represent a particularly interesting approach to sustainable development. Because of their international nature, there is a lot of learning that can go on between them. Because it is late, I do not want to talk too much about exactly what is involved in a biosphere. However, we could make much more use of those that we have to progress some interesting ideas. I am aware that before 2007, Defra will undertake a review of the suitability and effectiveness of our biospheres. While that review is being undertaken, we should be aware that we have not perhaps made the best use of what could be a very exciting test-bed for sustainable development. In the past we have talked about national parks as a test-bed for sustainable development, but they truly cannot be because they do not contain very much industry, larger settlements and so on. Very often, biospheres have to contend with all the normal things of life, besides having SSSIs, special landscapes within them and very often large coastal and maritime areas. My amendment seeks to suggest that we could make better use of biospheres. The Government could choose to use them as pilot areas for looking at new ways of involving the community in planning and involving people in the environment and governance. They could also use them for some of the things that we often talk about in this House in airy-fairy terms, but do not have anywhere on the ground to develop them. Biospheres offer an exciting opportunity nationally, but perhaps their most exciting possibility is internationally at a time when we are trying to address climate change, biodiversity and co-operation between countries. I hope that in raising this issue, I may at least succeed in raising the profile and awareness of what biosphere reserves are about and that we may have an opportunity to debate them at greater length. I beg to move.