Biosphärengebiet Schwäbische Alb (UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Swabian Alb)

By project Down to Earth

Published on 02 July 2024

Germany

Tübingen

About this good practice

The Swabian Alb and its foothills are a unique landscape facing many challenges. The rural villages on the Swabian Alb plateau in particular are facing the challenges of demographic change, climate change, the abandonment of agricultural businesses, uncertain farm succession, the disappearance of local amenities and a poor public transport infrastructure, among others.
In 2008, a Biosphere Reserve was established due to the abandonment of the military training area "Gutsbezirk Münsingen" and its conversion in 2005. It is a jointly financed project of the Ministry of Rural Areas and Consumer Protection, the districts of Esslingen, Reutlingen and Alb-Donau, and the towns and municipalities of the Biosphere area. In 2009, it was recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The Biosphere Reserve serves as a model region for nature conservation and sustainable development. It is a tool for improving the territory through an integrated approach. The aim is to show how economic activities, residential needs and tourism activities can be realized while serving the interests of nature and the environment at the same time. This is implemented in the area by promoting sustainability projects, training and environmental education (e.g. education projects for children on biodiversity, resilience to climate change and sustainable use of resources) in close cooperation with local partners.
The Biosphere Reserve currently covers an area of 85,270 ha and is divided into 3 protection zones.

Resources needed

The costs of managing the biosphere area amount to 730,000 Euro per year. The local authorities are contributing one third of the funding from 2011. The state will cover the remaining 70 %.
The human resources that are required to set up and run the initiative include staff and rangers.

Evidence of success

The Biosphere Reserve Swabian Alb has been a very successful initiative since its inception. This success is reflected in the more than 300 projects that have been implemented in the area since 2008, in areas such as nature conservation, regional development, education and sustainable tourism, among others. In the last 5 years, the Biosphere Reserve has received several awards. These include an award for the valorisation of climate and nature conservation measures in national natural landscapes.

Potential for learning or transfer

The Biosphere Reserve is a category of protected areas under the German Federal Nature Conservation Act. It is organised by the State of Baden-Württemberg, represented by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Energy Sector, and is supported by numerous public and private institutions. In the case of the the Biosphere Reserve Swabian Alb, the coordination, application, organisation and implementation must be seen as a large-scale project that has taken many years to complete. The extent to which the overall concept, or parts of the concept, are transferable to other sites will depend on national and regional legislation, political priorities, institutional and financial resources, regional circumstances, available stakeholders and public acceptance. However, the large number of individual projects that originated from the approach offer a wide range of starting points for developing and implementing new project ideas in other regions.