Alternative income opportunities are now explored in the reserve, such as from eco-tourism. Mr Demaure also stressed the need for assessing the pressures on the urban environment and the effectiveness of various tools for managing these pressures and the urban ecosystem in general. Based on this information, Mr Demaure recommended the preparation of guidelines and best practises concerning urban ecosystem management. Mr Mbengue described the importance of the scattered remaining green city space in Dakar, in particular the humid wetlands with their rich vegetation and wildlife, such as the Niayes in Pikine. Mr Mbengue outlined the need for a programme for the safeguard of these spaces, which would draw inspiration from the Seville Strategy and the biosphere reserve concept and which would fully involve the local city population, as well as decision and policy makers.
Urbanization is clearly a key feature of the country.
According to Ayyad, the application of the biosphere reserve concept in relation to urban areas in Egypt would likely be most relevant in connection to the new cities established in the deserts where people live more closely with nature and the natural surroundings are largely unspoiled. The project has helped examine the Cerrado Biosphere Reserve as a biodiversity hot spot of Brazil and the dynamics between urban growth, landscape changes and biosphere reserve planning and management. The interesting and high-level discussion that followed illustrated the urgency in many parts of the world of better reconciling urban development and management with the urban ecosystems and the surrounding landscapes. Clearly, the biosphere reserve concept was an important tool here. Unfortunately, as time for discussion was limited, the meeting participants could not but start to address some of the key issues raised in the presentations, resulting in calls for opportunities to continue the discussion, including using electronic means.