Eco-social peace and multispecies justice in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves: a convivial and decolonial post-growth conservation approach

Abstract

Multiple contemporary socio-ecological crises demand urgent rethinking of regimes governing nature–culture relations. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), now in its fiftiethyear, was established to apply sustainability principles worldwide. At the occurrence of the Fifth UNESCO World Congress on Biosphere Reserves in Hangzhou in September 2025, it is timely to revisit the conceptual foundations of the WNBR and their practical application. By cross-referencing UNESCO principles with emerging decolonial, convivial, and post-growth conservation approaches — including the philosophies of Buen Vivir and Buen Convivir — Biosphere Reserves can be reimagined as critical sites for cultivating balanced nature–culture relationships grounded in eco-social peace and multispecies justice. This commentary draws on Latin American experiences to highlight both the contradictions of extractivist development and the potential for reconstructing communal life through education, interculturality, and multispecies coexistence.