  Citation: Mammadova, A.; Redkin, A.; Beketova, T.; Smith, C.D. Community Engagement in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks: Case Studies from Mount Hakusan in Japan and Altai in Russia. Land 2022, 11, 227. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/land11020227 Academic Editors: Margaret Brocx and Vic Semeniuk Received: 7 January 2022 Accepted: 28 January 2022 Published: 3 February 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). land Article Community Engagement in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks: Case Studies from Mount Hakusan in Japan and Altai in Russia Aida Mammadova 1, * , Aleksandr Redkin 2 , Tatiana Beketova 3 and Christopher D. Smith 4 1 Organization of Global Affairs, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 921-1192, Japan 2 Department of Recreational Geography, Tourism and Regional Marketing, Altay State University, Barnaul 656049, Russia; redkin.ag@yandex.ru 3 Territory Development and Educational Tourism, Altaisky Biosphere Reserve, Gorno-Altaysk 649000, Russia; vdovina-ta@mail.ru 4 Smith Custom Editing, Kanazawa 920-1156, Japan; chris@smithenglish.jp * Correspondence: mammadova@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp Abstract: UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) are two themes in UNESCO’s Natural Science Sector. Biosphere Reserves of the MAB Programme are more focused on building international, regional, sub-regional, and ecosystem-specific cooperation as “learning places” for sustainable development with a focus on biodiversity. The IGGP supports research and capacity development in Earth Sciences and comprises two sub-programmes: the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) and the UNESCO Global Geoparks Programme (UGGP). UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) use a bottom-up approach to engage local communities in capacity building, via tourism development, with the common goal of promoting and protecting the area’s geological and cultural heritage. Here, we present the results of comparing local involvement from two case studies from Japan, the Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve and the National Mount Hakusan Tedori-river Geopark, along with two case studies from Russia, the Altaisky Biosphere Reserve and the regional Geopark Altai. In this study, we found more involvement by local community members in the Geopark than in the Biosphere Reserve in Japan. The Russian case studies show a complete opposite result with more involvement of local communities in the BRs, and less participation in Geopark management. The purpose of this project was to provide information to improve local involvement in both Japanese and Russian Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks through changes in education and management styles. Keywords: geoparks; biosphere reserves; local communities; management; regional sustainable development 1. Introduction UNESCO’s Natural Science Sector has Secretariats for two Programmes that deal with designations of sites with significant international values. These two Programs are: Interna- tional Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) [1] and the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme [2]. These two programmes provide designations internationally, such as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (BR) and Global Geopark (UGGp). Both designations are also complementary to other designations by UNESCO, such as World Heritage Sites. BRs and UGGps are natural sites recognized by UNESCO to conserve the world’s biological, geological, and cultural diversity, and to promote sustainable economic development for present and future generations. In the case of UGGP, the main focus is on sustainable use and conservation of geological heritage, and in terms of BR, biodiversity is the main focus. The concept of BRs was created in 1976 by the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, as sites where human–nature interactions are tested, refined, and demonstrated, and where the objectives of the MAB program are implemented. BRs are like Land 2022, 11, 227. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020227 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land