The Eleventh International Meeting of the East Atlantic Biosphere Reserve Network (REDBIOS) took place at the Biosphere Reserve of the Island of Príncipe, Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, from 3 to 9 May 2013.

The biosphere reserves of the REDBIOS Network agreed to reinforce their commitment to the development of the MAB programme by creating a collaborative platform that promotes and supports interaction both among the biosphere reserves, and between the reserves, the UNESCO MAB national committees, public and governmental entities, and other geographical and thematic networks within the MAB programme.

The REDBIOS Network established different priority work areas: natural resource management, education and knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, enhancement and integrated management of the landscape, and management of quality economic processes.These areas will be supported by biosphere reserve brands and certification systems, the promotion of responsible tourism, and the use of information and communication technologies as management tools.

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• Principe Declaration (in Portuguese / Spanish)

A scholarship towards the costs of participating in the part-time online MSc Sustainable Mountain Development offered by the University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, is available for one student starting in September 2013. The course is an activity of the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development.
 
The scholarship will pay all fees for a student to complete the MSc. It is available to candidates who have been resident for at least three years in any European country (EU/EEA). The successful candidate will be responsible for paying all other costs (books, travel to induction and field course if attended, etc.). The scholarship has been made possible by the generosity of Lt. Col. John Moncrieff, a keen mountaineer who passed away recently.
 
The deadline for applications for the scholarship is 27 May 2013.  Short-listed applicants will be interviewed by phone in early June 2013.
 
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The new 2012-2013 map of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves shows the worldwide distribution of the 610 biosphere reserves located in 117 countries, including 12 transboundary/transcontinental sites. The map is available in English, French and Spanish, and also includes an overview of the objectives, tasks and structures of these areas.

The world map was prepared by the UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme with the generous support of the Spanish Government.

• Download the map (pdf format)

Countries attending the Inter-Ministerial and Experts Conference on Biosphere Reserves in the Caribbean Sub-Region held in St. Kitts from 26 to 27 March 2013 have committed to establish a biosphere reserve in their respective countries.

During the conference, organized by the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis and the MAB Programme, an action plan for the next three years was established with the aim to create a network of biosphere reserves in the Caribbean Small Islands States and to promote biosphere reserves as tools for innovative projects bringing added value to the local socio-economical activities.

At a press conference after the meeting, the Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis and St. Maarten and government representatives of Curaçao, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines announced their commitment to work together in the establishment of biosphere reserves in their countries.

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Organized by the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis and the MAB Programme, the Inter-Ministerial and Experts Conference on Biosphere Reserves in the Caribbean Sub-Region: Tools for Sustainable Development and Growth will take place in St. Kitts & Nevis from 26 to 27 March 2013. The objective of this event is to facilitate discussions on the identification of appropriate locations for new biosphere reserves as well as their integration with the local/national sustainable development and adaptation to climate change plans. The Conference aims also to encourage participants in discuss the creation of an expert network for designations of new biosphere reserves in the English-speaking Caribbean and to identify specific initiatives, which can be developed in the already existing biosphere reserve leading to the development and promotion of new products, services and employment.

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On 22 February 2013, Aya Biosphere Reserve was officially inaugurated at a national symposium in Tokyo (Japan) on the theme of UNESCO’s MAB Programme and the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. At this occasion, Mr Maeda, mayor of Aya Town, received the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve certificate from Mr T. Schaaf, Secretary of the MAB Programme.

Aya Biosphere Reserve (or 'eco-park', as it is called in Japan) was designated in July 2012 as the country’s fifth biosphere reserve. Located on the southern island of Kyushu, Aya is noted for pioneering a strict waste recycling policy which was subsequently also adopted in other communities of Japan. Over 60% of all farmers in Aya BR practise organic farming which are marketed successfully well beyond the borders of the community. Artistic handicraft products are produced based on local natural resources. The core area of the Aya Biosphere Reserve consists of a well preserved lucidophyllous forest with laurel and beech trees. An educational forest culture centre informs visitors on the forest ecosystem with its plant and animal species and traditional agricultural and forestry practises of the area.

During a ceremony that took place in Port au Prince on 20 February 2013, and was honoured by the presence of the Minister of Environment, Mr. Jean Francois Thomas, and the Minister of Education, Mr. Vanneur Pierre, La Selle was officially declared Haiti’s first biosphere reserve.

The area includes a large number of different ecosystems and protected areas such as La Visite, one of the country's most important biodiversity sites; and the forest reserve Forêt-des-pins, Haiti’s biggest pine reserve, which is dominated by the endemic pine specie Pinus occidentalis.  Important cultural and architectural traditions are preserved in the historic city of Jacmel, which is partially included in the biosphere reserve.

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UNESCO/MAB, as an institutional partner of the award, is very pleased to announce the opening of the call for nomination of the Elinor Ostrom Award for Collective Governance of the Commons.

Created to honour and develop the legacy of Elinor Ostrom, the Award aims to acknowledge and promote the work of practitioners, young and senior scholars involved in the field of the commons. According with Elinor Ostrom’s large legacy the Award will go to academic and applied works on traditional, local, interlinked and global commons, knowledge, as well as cultural and virtual commons.

• Information and details of the application and of the award 
• International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) web page

The purpose of this new Chair is to contribute to the welfare of populations living in cities and in rural environments, providing them with appropriate surroundings, in recognition of the fact that collective effort in planning the use of natural and cultural capital is the best way to achieve sustainable development based on diversity.

The Chair proposed the Biosphere Reserve model as a tool to plan the physical and biological environment of the city and its environment with the participation of public citizens. This challenge is vital for Latin America, where much of the biological and cultural diversity is threatened by massive urban growth and unregulated use of the soil.

This Chair promotes development through the joint effort of the natural and social sciences to address one of the biggest challenges of our civilization - the integration of biodiversity into everyday life as a basis for fair and sustainable social, economic and environmental models of development.

• Spanish version

The United States Department of State initiated a Women in Science Hall of Fame in 2010 to honour outstanding female scientists throughout the Middle East and North Africa. New hall of fame members are selected annually for their accomplishments, and with the hope to develop a strong network of professional women scientists across the region.  These role models also inspire girls to study science and pursue scientific careers.

Dr. Boshra Salem, president of the MAB International Coordinating Council and Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences of the Alexandria University (Egypt), was selected as a member of the Women in Science Hall of Fame – 2013.

• More information
• Women in Science Hall of Fame

The Jabal Moussa biosphere reserve is located in the Keserwan-Jbeil area, 50 Km from Beirut, Lebanon. The biosphere reserve, which contains more than 720 plant species, is a true mosaic of ecological systems broadly representing the ‘evergreen sclerophyllous shrubland and forests’ biogeographic region within the Mediterranean biome.

The Flowers Guide of the Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve (Guide des belles fleurs de la réserve de biosphère de Jabal Moussa) written by Georges and Henriette Tohmé, is an excellent guide that will help visitors to identify all endemic plants of the reserve, as well as the more common and rare species, and those that are specific to the eastern Mediterranean region.

• For more information, please contact the Association for the Protection of Jabal Moussa (APJM): info(at)jabalmoussa.org

With a view to fostering better understanding of mountain ecosystems, the Teaching Resource Kit for Mountain Countries offers a creative approach to environmental education and is designed to arouse pupils' curiosity, to appeal to their artistic sensibilities, and to serve as a tool for more effective transmission of scientific information and environmental knowledge.

The publication was launched in English and French in 2011 thanks to the generous financial contribution of the Flemish Government of Belgium, and is now available in Spanish under the title ‘Material educativo para los países situados en zonas montañosas’.

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• Full publication

Mr Pedro Araya Rosas, who held the position of National Focal Point in Chile for the  Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme as Head of the Department of Zoning and Planning in the Management of Protected Areas Corporation (CONAF), passed away on Thursday, 15 November at 9.30 p.m. in Davila Clinic in Santiago, Chile.

Since his designation as focal point for the MAB Programme, Pedro Araya Rosas, inspired with motivation and dedication, promoted the work of CONAF and all stakeholders who actively participated in the MAB Programme at the national and international level. Mr Araya did not despair and continued with his duties despite the diagnosis of his disease that would eventually take his life. Since 2004, Pedro Araya Rosas continuously promoted the MAB Programme in his role as focal point. Among his achievements were the nominations of the Biosphere Reserves Cabo de Hornos,  Bosques Templados Australes and Bosques Corredor Biológico Nevados de Chillan-Laguna del Laja and improvements made to existing  biosphere reserves. He actively participated in regional cooperation programmes such as the ASPACO Project (Asian-Pacific Cooperation for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Natural Resources in Biosphere Reserves and Similar Managed Areas) and contributed to the editing of numerous UNESCO publications such as “Biosphere Reserve: a space for integration of conservation and development” ; “Biosphere Reserves: their contribution to providing ecosystem services” and “The Biosphere Reserve Model and Instruments for Its Sustainable Use: the Case of Chile”.

At the level of IberoMAB, Mr Araya’s work has been prominent since he organized the XI Meeting of IberoMAB in Chile and he produced the basic document for the medium term evaluation to create an Action Plan for IberoMAB 2010-2020. Lastly, Mr Araya was nominated President of the IberoMAB Network for the period 2011-2014. All these activities demonstrate his unending commitment and dedication. His passing away is a great loss for the MAB Programme and the IberoMAB Network.   

Deadline for submission: 31 January 2013

The Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management is awarded every two years in memory of Dr Michel Batisse for excellence in the management of the biosphere reserves in line with the recommendations of the Seville Strategy.

Case studies must be submitted through, and have the endorsement of, the respective MAB National Committees, and/or the UNESCO National Commissions of the country concerned. Applications for the 2013 Awards should reach the MAB Secretariat in Paris no later than 31 January 2013.

The winner is awarded with a prize of US$ 6,000 plus international travel and allowances in Paris, France, to present the award winning case study to the MAB-ICC session.

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The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) was established in 2002 to lift the threat of imminent extinction faced by gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans across their ranges in equatorial Africa and south-east Asia.

The GRASP Council—coordinated by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and UNESCO—will hold its second meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 6 to 8 November to define a new strategy to protect these endangered primates, whose numbers have continued to decline.

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Paris, 11 July - The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), meeting in Paris from 9 to 13 July, has added 20 new sites, including two transboundary, to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). As recommended by the Bureau of the International Coordinating Council at its 24th session, the total number of sites participating in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) will now be recorded on the basis of the number of biosphere reserves in each country. This number will include sites that are part of transboundary biosphere reserves, which will also be listed separately. The network now includes 610 reserves in 117 countries, including 12 transboundary sites.

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Prof. Boshra B. Salem from Egypt was unanimously elected Chair of the International Coordinating Council (MAB-ICC) on 9 July 2012.

Prof. Salem, an expert on sustainable development in dryland ecosystems, is the first woman to hold this position.

The MAB-ICC is meeting in UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 9-13 July 2012.

• About MAB-ICC
• 24th session of MAB-ICC: documents
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Kafa is the birthplace of wild Coffea Arabica, which first grew 1,000 years ago in the forest undergrowth. There are now close to 5,000 wild varieties of coffee in this biodiversity hotspot. A unique coffee culture is deeply engrained in the Ethiopian economy and history. This culture is a key element of the participatory forest management scheme created in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve to avoid deforestation and boost economic development.

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Islands, and island biosphere reserves in particular, have traditionally been seen as privileged places where to test actual sustainable development models. Many projects and initiatives carried out in the Canary biosphere reserves during the last years answer some of the new challenges discussed at Rio+20. Each island offers a mosaic of innovative solutions with promising replication capacity.

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Biosphere Reserves in Spain

Biosphere reserves are like system models: their management are based on the principle “System thinking, Landscape planning, Inter-sector coordination and Quality economy” (SLIQ). A new approach being implemented in some biosphere reserves in Vietnam.

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Biosphere Reserves in Vietnam

International experts are meeting during the eighteenth meeting of the International Advisory Committee to review submissions for new biosphere reserves, and extensions to existing ones.

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Representatives from Island biosphere reserves met in February 2012 in Menorca (Spain) where was decided the creation of a newly World Network of Island Biosphere Reserves.

• Summary of the Meeting
• Conclusions
• Island and Coastal Area Network
• MaB Networks

Representatives from Island biosphere reserves to discuss and agree on the creation of a newly World Network of Island Biosphere Reserves.

• Full text
• Provisional Conference Programme

• Minorca Island
• Jeju Island

On the occasion of its 40th birthday, the Man and Biosphere programme (MAB) and the World Network of Biosphere Reserves are happy to celebrate 3 November 2011 as the International Day for Biosphere Reserves!

Many events are planned all over the world, including an art exhibition, a film projection and a special session on “Messages for the sustainable futures” in UNESCO.

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The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is the largest network of protected areas in the world, with a surface area of over five million square kilometres, approximately the equivalent of half Europe.

A compendium of information sheets on the 563 biosphere reserves in 110 countries (up to 2010) has been published thanks to the Spanish "Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino" contribution.

Link to the Publication (English / French / Spanish)

Biosphere Reserves

The deadline for submission of new biosphere reserve nominations and periodic reviews is 30 September 2011. The MAB National Committees are invited to submit biosphere reserve nominations (and/or extensions to existing biosphere reserves) in hard copy with the original signatures of endorsement and original maps, and also in electronic form as well as periodic review reports. Countries wishing advice may contact the MAB Secretariat or the Field Offices.

- More information    
- UNESCO biosphere reserves and World Heritage sites: spot the difference 
- 18 new biosphere reserves in 2011  
- The Dresden Declaration, an outcome of the conference "For life, for the Future: biosphere reserves and climate change" (.pdf)

The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s MAB programme has added 18 new sites to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), during its meeting in Dresden, Germany, on the occasion of MAB's 40th anniversary. The Network now numbers 580 sites in 114 countries. Biosphere Reserves were inscribed in Lithuania, Maldives, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Togo for the first time this year. The Council also announced the laureates of the 2011 Young Scientists Awards and of the Michel Batisse Award.

- More information    
- 2011 Young Scientists Awards  
- UNESCO biosphere reserves and World Heritage sites: spot the difference  
- 23rd session of the International Coordinating Council (MAB-ICC)
- The Dresden Declaration, an outcome of the conference "For life, for the Future: biosphere reserves and climate change" (.pdf)

High points of the year include the international conference “For life, for the future: biosphere reserves and climate change”, organized in Dresden in June 2011, where decision makers, managers, experts and other stakeholders will discuss the future of the MAB programme in times of climate change. Subsequent to the conference, the 23rd MAB International Coordinating Council (ICC) will convene in Dresden.

A formal event to mark the anniversary will take place during the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference this November in Paris.

• The Dresden Declaration, an outcome of the conference "For life, for the Future: biosphere reserves and climate change" (.pdf)

The MAB Programme is honored to welcome Professor Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, for her analysis of economic governance and, in particular, common goods. Professor Ostrom will give a lecture at UNESCO Headquarters on Wednesday, 22 June on Sustainable Social-Ecological Systems.  Photo Gallery

Other high points of the year include the international conference “For life, for the future: biosphere reserves and climate change”, organized in Dresden in June 2011, where decision makers, managers, experts and other stakeholders will discuss the future of the MAB programme in times of climate change. Subsequent to the conference, the 23rd MAB International Coordinating Council (ICC) will convene in Dresden.

A formal event to mark the anniversary will take place during the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference this November in Paris.

While Member States and key partners are planning local and national celebrations throughout the world, the MAB Secretariat launched a website dedicated to its 40th anniversary to present key milestones in the programme’s history, success stories, and current projects through a series of interviews and articles.

Other high points of the year include the international conference “For life, for the future: biosphere reserves and climate change”, organized in Dresden in June 2011, where decision makers, managers, experts and other stakeholders will discuss the future of the MAB programme in times of climate change. Subsequent to the conference, the 23rd MAB International Coordinating Council (ICC) will convene in Dresden.

A formal event to mark the anniversary will take place during the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference this November in Paris.

The role of biosphere reserves as experimental areas for testing investment approaches for food security to be discussed as from 24 March 2011.

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Already 40 years of research, experience and practice! As MAB turns 40 this year, the Secretariat is inviting partners and Member states to participate in the celebration in the best possible way, by showcasing accomplishments, looking to the future and proposing new initiatives, and disseminating findings and best practices.

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Organized under the title “Biosphere Reserves: All Hands, All Voices”, this first congress produced a Déclaration that was delivered to the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP16) stressing the importance of Biosphere Reserves as laboratories for climate change monitoring and adaptation.

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• Puerto Morelos Declaration

The International Symposium on Urban Futures and Human and Ecosystem Wellbeing was held in Shanghai (China) on 26-30 October 2010, which was an apt celebration of the Shanghai World Expo’s theme: “Better Cities, Better Life”. The symposium was jointly sponsored by the UNESCO-MAB Programme, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE).

Shanghai Declaration

Urban Systems

Integrated Urban Water Management

The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) agreed on a number of measures that will ensure that the ecosystems of the planet will continue to sustain human well-being into the future.

Joint Programme UNESCO and SCBD

2010 Declaration

Nagoya Outcomes

COP 10 Decisions

IYB and UNESCO

The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme has added 13 new sites and seven extensions in 15 different countries to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which now has 564 sites in 109 countries.

• Photo Gallery
• What is "Man and Biosphere Programme"
• What are "Biosphere Reserves"