Putting the Biosphere Reserve Concept into Practice: Some Evidence of Impacts in Rural Communities in the United States

This paper examines some of the impacts of Biosphere Reserve planning on the socio-economic conditions of rural communities in the United States. Through a review of the literature, it is argued that three broad types of problems can develop when Biosphere Reserve plans are put into effect. These include unexpected development shifts, shifts in the distribution of benefits and costs of economic development, and a loss of local governments' ability to provide public services. Though Biosphere Reserve planning has been cast as a strategy for experimentation in community and ecological sustainability, the planning and management process itself causes paradoxical local impacts.