Unfulfilled promise: the case of the Mornington Peninsula and Westernport Biosphere Reserve, Australia

UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) was established in 1968. Since then, its flagship project has been the designation a worldwide network of multi-functional biosphere reserves (BRs). Australia has 15, and one of the more recent is the Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere Reserve (MPWPBR, 2002), located in the peri-urban region to the south of metropolitan Melbourne. It is subject to a range of pressures. The paper examines these and explores the lost opportunities represented by the limited stature of BR status in Victoria. A particular focus is the current State government's pro-growth policy which involves relaxing controls on outer suburban residential expansion and the encouragement of freeway construction. These have major implications for the MPWPBR.