Proposal for the Tapestry of Proverbs
Just as the evolution of life leaves behind a summary of the past in the genome, which does not contain precise information but rather instructions for survival, useful at some point in time, in compact toolboxes that have reached the present day, and whose manual is difficult to unravel due to its enormous complexity, oral tradition can be an unexpected resource for tapping into the accumulated wisdom of rural, fishing or indigenous communities, where we can trace evidence of proverbs, idioms, sayings, riddles, couplets, romances, nursery rhymes, songs, recipes, spells… that show greater respect for their natural environment, or greater caution felt by those communities about their future, about new products on sale, about youthful illusions or excessive ambitions.
We imagine that this line of work provides stimulus, every 3rd of November in each Reserve or Network of Reserves, to send messages as a fruitful exchange between the countryside and the city, between grandmothers and grandchildren, between philosophy, anthropology and linguistics… Perhaps it will be possible to transfer the wisdom that time has accumulated with greater serenity, in the face of metropolitan frenzy.
The messages to be issued by the Biosphere Reserves should be selected based on the diagnosis (Pablo Meira, Univ. Veracruzana, 28/05/25) of the cultural, social, psychological, and other reasons that motivate the behaviour of individuals and entities who are irresponsible towards the future of the planet and its many living beings.
This web section has been created for a new stage of the Tapestry, which may reach the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. We ask that you link and develop from Networks of Reserves, Universities, schools, nursing homes, associations, etc.
A story woven between words, knowledge and territories
Since its inception in the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve, the Tapestry of Words initiative has grown into a cultural, ecological and symbolic project that intertwines popular wisdom with respect for nature. Inspired by the 50th anniversary of UNESCO’s MaB Programme, the Tapestry was launched in 2021 as a tribute to local knowledge, expressed in words that reflect how communities relate to their natural environment.
That same year, the Scientific Cabinet of the RB Lanzarote formally approved the Tapestry of Words. In 2022, a pilot test was presented by the Anthropology Department to the Autonomous Organisation of National Parks (OAPN), marking the beginning of its possible expansion.
In 2023, the Management Council of the Spanish Network of Biosphere Reserves established a Specific Working Group (GETzR) to advance the development of the Tapestry of Proverbs, a new initiative focused on popular expressions that encapsulate teachings about the relationship between society and the biosphere.
In 2024, the group formally proposes the creation of a digital repository hosted on the OAPN-MaB website, which is still pending implementation but is key to the conservation and dissemination of this linguistic and ecological heritage.
Finally, in September 2025, the Spanish MaB Committee approved —at the proposal of the Management Council of the Spanish Network of Biosphere Reserves— taking the Tapestry of Proverbs initiative to China as an official representation during the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves (5th WCBR), an international event that will bring together 136 countries, more than 750 reserves and nearly 2,000 participants.
De este modo, el tapiz simbólico —tejido con palabras, refranes y memorias— continúa creciendo con la ambición de convertirse en un banco de sabiduría común entre culturas, territorios y generaciones: un espejo en el que cada Reserva de la Biosfera pueda reconocerse y proyectarse al mundo.
