WORK to slot Bloody Ridge into the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status list is currently underway.
The Solomon Scouts and Coastwatcher’s Trust Board member Dr Martin Hadlow said they are collaborating with the Chairman of the Solomon Islands National Commission for UNESCO Dr Franco Rodie.
“We hope to work with him to help move this forward in the months ahead,” Mr Hadlow stated in an email sent to this paper on Sunday.
According to UNESCO, biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems.
Each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.
Biosphere reserves are ‘Science for Sustainability support sites’ – special places for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity.
Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Their status is internationally recognized.
Today, there are 669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries throughout the world.
In the Pacific, there are currently three Biosphere Reserves, Utwe and And Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia and Ngaremeduu in Palau.
Pacific Island countries can benefit from the technical support and linkages that a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation can provide.
The Bloody Ridge was declared a National Park in August during the 75th anniversary of the Guadalcanal campaign.
US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Catherine Ebert-Gray, also announced during the anniversary that Bloody Ridge will to be elevated to the American Battlefield Monuments Commission.
By TEDDY KAFO
