Barcelona, 21 October 2015
Castellet Castle, headquarters of the Abertis Foundation and the UNESCO International Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves, is hosting the XVI Meeting of the MAB Committees Network and Biosphere Reserves of Latin America and the Caribbean, which runs from today until Friday 23 October 2015. The event will be attended by representatives of 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. The agenda includes sessions on 21, 22 and 23 October and there will be a visit to the Terres de l’Ebre Biosphere Reserve on 23 October.
The event was presided over by Josep Maria Coronas, Secretary General of Abertis; Montserrat Fernández, deputy director of the Autonomous Authority for National Parks, a body that reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment; Chief of the MAB Research and Policy Section at UNESCO; Dr. Sergio Guevara, President of the National MAB Committee of the Ecology Department; and Sergi Loughney, Director of the Abertis Foundation and of the UNESCO International Centre. The IberoMaB Network (MAB Committees Network and Biosphere Reserves of Latin America and the Caribbean), which was proposed in 1990 and formally constituted in 1997, was created in response to the desire of representatives of Latin American countries to forge links and demarcate
joint spheres of cooperation, as well as to promote the concept of the Biosphere Reserve. Its primary objective is to strengthen cooperation between MAB National Committees and Focal Points in order to effectively manage the MAB Programme in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The Network’s first meeting, called by the National MAB Committees of Argentina, Brazil and Spain, took place in Caracas in 1992. Since then there have been several meetings, with the most recent taking place in Tumbes, Peru in 2011. Four years later, thanks to the organisational efforts of the Abertis Foundation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and the UNESCO Secretariat, and the call by the President of the International Coordinating Council, the Network’s activities are resuming at this XVI edition.
Since its creation, the Network has carried out joint activities that have enabled the National Committees to promote the creation of new Biosphere Reserves and to identify current and future threats to the conservation of diversity and sustainable development. The IberoMab Network is currently comprised of 24 countries and 177 Biosphere Reserves.
The MAB (Man and Biosphere) programme is a scientific, interdisciplinary and intergovernmental initiative aimed at establishing scientific foundations for improving long-term human-environment relations. It uses its Network of Biosphere Reserves as vehicles for knowledge sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making.
UNESCO International Centre
Castellet Castle was declared a UNESCO Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves on 14 November 2013 at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris and inaugurated on 5 April 2014. It is the first public-private initiative of its kind in this sphere.
The Centre is based on a protocol signed by the Autonomous Authority for National Parks (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment) and the Abertis Foundation, and enjoys the academic support of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB).
The World Network of Biosphere Reserves, coordinated by UNESCO’s MaB (Man and Biosphere) programme, are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems. Each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.
Castellet Castle, a UNESCO Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves and also headquarters of the Abertis Foundation, is in a prime location at the heart of the Foix nature reserve in the Alt Penedès (Barcelona). It currently serves as a centre for the promotion of culture and environmental awareness and is a standard bearer for the sustainable management of cultural heritage.
Refurbished by Abertis in 2001 in accordance with sustainable construction criteria, the castle was originally built in the IV century BC. Castellet Castle has become an ideal place to appreciate the
rich variety of flora and fauna in the park and the International UNESCO Centreoffers the public guided tours every second weekend of the month from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Abertis Foundation and the Environment
The Abertis Foundation is active in three key spheres (social, cultural and environmental), and works to mitigate the impact of the Abertis Group’s activity in the countries in which it operates. Its commitment to society is highlighted by an extensive road safety programme primarily targeting the most vulnerable drivers and pedestrians: school children, young people who lack driving experience and older drivers. The Abertis Foundation’s activities in the area of culture involve partnerships with leading cultural institutions around the world. Regarding environmental protection, its Castellet Castle headquarters are a UNESCO World Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves.
The Foundation also channels some of Abertis’ sponsorships and plays a coordinating role with regard to the corporate social responsibility activities of the group’s businesses. Abertis’ environmental policies are centred on the progressive establishment of a system of environmental management in the group’s areas of activity, in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001, with the objective of minimising the environmental impact of the group’s operations.
Abertis is thus working to reduce the carbon footprint of its economic activity (Carbon Disclosure Project), optimise its waste management and conserve the biodiversity of the natural environments where infrastructure managed by the group is located. Abertis is also carrying out environmental awareness-raising campaigns to include its partners, customers and suppliers in its commitment to the environment.
Photo caption: Sergi Loughney, Director of the Abertis Foundation and of the UNESCO International Centre; Josep Maria Coronas, Secretary General of Abertis; Montserrat Fernández, deputy director of the Autonomous Authority for National Parks, a body that reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment; Miquel Clüsener-Godt, Chief of Section of UNESCO’s MAB Programme; Dr. Sergio Guevara, President of the National MAB Committee of the Ecology Department.
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