2014-54 -VLRP Transmittal - Laserfiche WebLink

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INTERNATIONAL BIOSPHERE RESERVE UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) designates International Biosphere Reserves as potential models of sustainable economic development which protect biologically significant landscapes. There are 47 Biosphere Reserves in the United States and only one in Hawaii, called the Hawaiian Islands Biosphere Reserve, which includes both Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala National Parks. Biosphere Reserves usually consist of a sizeable pristine core area where natural resources and ecosystems are protected from exploitation and serve to demonstrate a living environment that is not affected by human activity. All the undeveloped parts of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are in this category. Biosphere Reserves additionally contain areas where the human imprint is substantial, or even dominant. Such areas are designated as "Buffer Zones" and "Transition Areas". The Buffer Zone and Transition Area serve to provide a gradual shift in the landscape from wilderness to urban, commercial, or industrial. The VLRP proposes designation by County Ordinance of a Special Overlay District. It adapts the UNESCO model for a Biosphere Reserve Transition Area (BRTA). This would be a place where people live and work, and where the human presence may be dominant but not destructive. A BRTA in the Volcano area would consist of all the land area between the National Park and Natural Area Reserves (NAR) and the Ola'a Forest Reserve, where the imprint of humans is minimal. This would contrast with the suburban and industrial areas beyond Volcano, such as Kea'au, Kurtistown, or Hilo. The intent of a Transition Area is to ensure that the landscape changes gradually as one passes from the Park or NAR to the more intensely used lands further away. The "Buffer Zone" in the National Park is comprised of service areas and the roadways around Kilauea Caldera up to the boundary with the lands of Volcano Village. The settled and otherwise occupied area of Volcano would be the Transition Area between the Park and suburban areas beyond, northeast toward Hilo, and on the western park boundary south toward the rural communities of Pahala, Na'alehu, and east toward Kailua-Kona. A "Transition Area", in a formal International Biosphere Reserve designation, recognizes the substantial imprint of human activity in an environment that retains significant components of natural resources. The Volcano situation is a classic example of this, where the canopy of the native 'ohi'a forest is extant in many areas, and where the people living here mostly favor retention of native forest, while at the same time living in it and using its resources. This is opposed to a community of residents who would clear away all vegetation to provide space for dwellings or businesses, and who would plant non-native ornamental species for landscaping. Residents who live in a Transition Area would: 12