What's Left? Canadian Biosphere Reserves as Sustainability-in-Practice

In this essay, the authors consider whether sustainability-in-practice might be one way to replace the culture of nature in the common terrain of interdisciplinary Canadian and environmental studies. The authors first describe debates focussed on wilderness preservation, drawing attention to key conceptual, practical, and ethical challenges that preservation rhetoric can pose. In particular, wilderness preservation campaigns lack consideration of social and economic dimensions now deemed critical to long-term sustainability. The authors consider whether sustainability as practised by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) biosphere reserves in Canada might offer a means to address those challenges. Using evidence from UNESCO documents, interviews with Canadian biosphere reserve founders, and a survey of present-day practitioners, the authors provide a short history of biosphere reserves, drawing attention to changes over time in their concept, practices, and ethics. The authors then discuss the priorities and effectiveness of present biosphere reserve managers and consider how they match up with the three imperatives of sustainability (economic, environmental, social). Their findings suggest that biosphere reserves face challenges similar to those of nature protection movements, particularly over the social dimension of sustainability. The authors conclude that there is much to be learned: studying sustainability-in-practice offers fertile ground for environmental and Canadian studies scholars to meet beyond the culture of nature. Copyright (C) Journal of Canadian Studies. All rights reserved.