What does Biosphere mean? It’s a term that can provoke confusion or an assumption that it’s only relevant to people who enjoy hugging trees in their spare time (guilty as charged). But you’d be wrong. We are all Biosphere. And yes, that does include YOU.

‘The Biosphere is everything,’ Jacqui Keenan tells me enthusiastically. She’s co-ordinator of Biosphere Isle of Man and an all-round lovely person. ‘It's the environment and everything in it.’

Sustainability lies at the heart of much of UNESCO Biosphere’s work: in nature, in community, in Manx culture and heritage, and making the economy as sustainable and diverse as possible.

‘So, it's about environment, but it's also about our culture and heritage.’ Jacqui says. ‘That's a big part of why we were designated as a Biosphere Reserve in 2016, because we've got this really unique history, culture, language, music and dance that comes from the Isle of Man.’

‘It's also about our economy,’ she continues. ‘Ensuring it develops in a way that's sustainable, and works not just for people, but for the rest of nature as well. And that the economy works for business development as much as it works for human and community development.’

Everything we do adds to the creation of the Isle of Man Biosphere. There’s power in the choices we make – how we shop, eat, travel, get rid of waste, hang out with people, ‘be Manx’ – they all have an impact on our Biosphere, aka the place we call home. In the words of Jacqui, ‘it’s all connected.’

‘Whether you feel like Biosphere is for you or not, ultimately, you are in it. You are it; I’m it, we together as a collective, as a community, as a population, are part of the Biosphere. What we do, how we act, the things we say, all of it influences how the future of the Biosphere - the island that we live in - will be.’ Jacqui says.

The Biosphere relies on the positive things being done by locals across the board. So, islanders have obviously been doing something beneficial – be that consciously or unconsciously – otherwise we wouldn’t have been named the world’s first entire nation to become a UNESCO Biosphere region back in 2016. Yes, it is a big deal. Yes, other countries are jealous. So, give yourself a pat on the back, you green-fingered so and so.

I asked Jacqui if there were any myths about UNESCO Biosphere she wished she could dispel. With the internet being rife with misinformation, you’d be forgiven for feeling unsure about what’s true and what’s not. But hopefully Jacqui can offer some reassurance.

‘I think there’s the age-old belief that having a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status restricts us from doing certain things on the island. For example, planning and development,’ Jacqui tells me.

‘It’s not about stopping those things. The status is there to guide us to do things in the most considered and sustainable way, that allows us as a community to live with the rest of nature in the best possible way, for the benefit of everybody and everything.’

We are Biosphere. Biosphere is the place we call home and all things that make the Isle of Man what it is. How we choose to live impacts it. So, you, my friend, are an integral part of our island Biosphere.

If that’s not enough to inspire you and your day-to-day choices (e.g. should I drive 3 minutes down the road to get a sweet treat or walk instead) I’d like to leave you with a quote from an astronaut (no, not Katy Perry). Ron Garan spent 178 days in space and had a ‘lightbulb moment’ looking down on Earth from the spaceship. He realised how interconnected and interdependent we all are, and that our planet and all life on it is being kept alive by a ‘paper thin layer’ of atmosphere.

‘I saw an iridescent biosphere teeming with life. I didn’t see an economy, but since our human-made systems treat everything including the very life-support systems of our planet as the...subsidiary of the global economy, it's obvious from the vanish point of space that we're living a lie,’ he said.

Since returning from his mission, Garan ‘continues to work towards a cleaner, safer, and more peaceful planet.’ He urges to people that ‘we need to move from thinking, economy, society, planet, to planet, society, economy. That's when we’re going to continue our evolutionary process. We're not going to have peace on Earth until we recognize the basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.’ That's a fancy way of saying all our choices impact others the world over. So, make good choices.

If you would like to find out more about UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man, head on over to their Facebook page or you can email [email protected].