Scores of people are expected to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oregon’s only UNESCO biosphere this weekend near Lincoln City.
In 1976, during the early days of the environmental movement, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designated 9,000 acres on the Oregon Coast, at the estuary of the Salmon River, as one of its biosphere regions.
This weekend, scores of people are expected to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oregon’s only UNESCO biosphere region.
Although it was designated decades ago, few Oregonians know much about the Cascade Head Biosphere.
“The whole idea behind it is an experiment of a different way for humans to interrelate with sensitive biological areas and some of the most beautiful places in the world,” said site co-director Duncan Berry.
UNESCO biosphere regions are internationally recognized areas where communities and ecosystems work to thrive together. The sites act as living laboratories, testing and demonstrating ideas to balance the relationship between people and nature.
At the Cascade Head site, the community has been reversing historical agricultural practices along the Salmon River by removing dikes and tide gates. They want to restore the estuary to its condition before large-scale human intervention.
UNESCO formally evaluates progress at its biosphere reserves every 10 years. Biospheres are not to be confused with biodomes, which insulate an area inside some kind of structure.
Biosphere regions don’t aim to block human activity.
Instead, they’re separated into three main zones: a core area that’s strictly protected; a buffer zone that encourages things like eco-tourism and education, but with minimal impact; and a transition area where local people try to practice sustainable lifestyles.
But it’s all voluntary. The United Nations doesn’t have any legal jurisdiction or regulatory power over biospheres. The organization remains firmly under sovereign, state and local jurisdiction.
For the first 43 years, not much changed at the Cascade Head Biosphere. But in 2017, its borders were expanded tenfold to include most of Lincoln City, the entire Salmon River watershed and a large marine reserve.
“We have a very unique land-sea connection,” said Berry. “There’s nothing like it on the West Coast. It allows us to do a lot of things that are more holistic than just land-based or just sea-based.”
He said scientists, artists, tribal members, residents and business owners are all searching for a better way to live, work and play — for all species.
“We get thousands of kids outside into the estuary. And we have built a 3-mile-long trail that is a watershed trail,” Berry said. “We are studying the thermal impacts of climate on the ocean, the near shore, the estuary river, and uplands. And we have quite a cadre of both world-class scientists and artists.”
Forest ecologist Jerry Franklin is the keynote speaker at the anniversary celebration this weekend.
“Challenges in the 21st century make collaboration between humans and nature imperative,” he said in a statement.
The celebration starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, at Knight Park, just north of Lincoln City. It will include live music, boat tours, birding excursions, hikes and educational lectures.
“We invite our community and visitors alike to join us in celebrating this remarkable milestone and looking ahead to the next 50 years of stewardship,” said Berry.
More than 780 UNESCO biosphere regions currently exist across 140 countries.
While the Cascade Head UNESCO site in Oregon is a special area of the world, it is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The nearest World Heritage site to Oregon is Olympic National Park in Washington.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
