Background
Over 480 sites worldwide are biosphere reserves, i.e. sites of excellence recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme. They act as laboratories testing and demonstrating approaches to conservation and sustainable development. Main lines of action on these sites also include research, monitoring, as well as networking and sharing of information, ideas on and solutions to sustainable development.

BRIM was launched in 1991 with objectives which have gradually grown to include:

• standardizing biological inventory measures for management and decision-making purposes
• integrating multiple databases related to monitoring
• improving communication between biosphere reserves
• promoting systematic exchange of scientific information
• facilitating access to information on biosphere reserves
• surveying the research and monitoring potential of biosphere reserves
• supporting interdisciplinary monitoring of biosphere reserves

BRIM has also notably used the results emerging from research and monitoring in biosphere reserves for education and awareness purposes - thus addressing one of the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Products generated by BRIM

• Access: a directory of biosphere reserves, with characteristics, contacts, and inventory, monitoring, and research data sets (developed in 1993 by US-MAB and later completed at the level of the MAB Programme as a whole)
• Access 96: a detailed directory on permanent plots and monitoring (essentially complied by Germany-MAB)
• MABFlora and MABFauna: microcomputer applications to create standardized databases of species occurrence information, derived originally from EuroMAB Biosphere Reserves (developed by the University of California at Davis)
• BioMon, the Biodiversity Monitoring Database: a microcomputer application recording monitoring data from permanent forest plots
• Currently, BRIM data continuously enriches the set of databases of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves
• BRIM is a partner of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Monitoring Sites endeavour, an activity implemented under the Global Terrestrial Observing System.

Events during the past few years

• Production of the BRIM guide for abiotic monitoring in biosphere reserves
• Publication of the BRIM guide on concepts and methods for social monitoring
• Workshop on Social Monitoring for BRIM (Rhön Biosphere Reserve, Germany, December 2002)
• Regional BRIM meeting for Europe and North America (in the context of the EuroMAB 2002 Meeting, Rome, Italy, October 2002), to identify BRIM priorities for Europe
• The International Coordinating Council (ICC) adopts the new BRIM working philosophy and workplan for 2002-2003 (Paris, March 2002).
• 1st regional BRIM meeting for Western Africa (Yaoundé, Cameroon, November 2001)
• Special Meeting on BRIM (FAO, Rome, Italy, September 2001), targeting BRIM's expansion towards incorporating social and economic indicators, and coordination with other monitoring initiatives.
• International Workshop on Social Monitoring (FAO, Rome, Italy, September 2001)

Read more key events in the history of BRIM

Collaborating with key international partners BRIM tries to build on existing initiatives without "reinventing the wheel." Therefore it has collaborative links with a number of institutions and programmes and intends to develop partnerships with other relevant monitoring initiatives on a continuous basis:

• CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network)
• ECN (Environmental Change Network)
• EMAN (Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network)
• GTOS (Global Terrestrial Observing System)
• ICE (the Information Center for the Environment)
• ILTER (International Long-Term Ecological Research Network)
• IAI (Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research)
• MA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)
• SOMNET (GCTE Soil Organic Matter Network)
• SI (the Smithsonian Institution)
• UNEP-WCMC (United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre)

The FAO Local Climate Estimator a recent development from GTOS LocClim provides climate estimates at locations for which no observations are available

Read more on the FAO web site.