It was simply amazing to meet up people from around the world, youth from around the world. From 18th to 25th September, a lot of young souls and brains were in Venice (Italy) in order to find out strategies to the best management of the Biosphere Reserves (BRs) in the planet.

The UNESCO`s Man and Biosphere Programme created offered a new opportunity the youth. The idea was to listen and respect the youth voice in a meeting - The 2017 MAB Youth Forum - committed to sustainable development

I was one of the lucky guys who was selected and fully funded by the UNESCO Programme to join the forum. I was representing the "Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve". My biosphere is considered the biggest one in the world, with a lot of animals and plants. It is a "hotspot", in other words, a biome with strong pressure by human activities and, therefore, in danger of being totally explored and causing harm for the local fauna and flora.

During the meeting, in Venice, we had several group discussion through the SWOT analysis under some key issues. For instance, how can youth cooperate with the BR's conservation in a local, regional and international level? Which sort of partnerships can be set?

In the end, after all the group discussions and decisions, we established a Declaration Statement in which shall be shared and used in the local BRs as well as in the Man and Biosphere Programme.

Find out more at:

https://www.myforum2017.com/
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/man-and-biosphere-programme/

Photo Credits:

Teimuraz Popiasshvili
Kana Kondo