Twenty-two new sites in 17 countries, as well as one transboundary site shared by Senegal and Mauritania, have been added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, bringing the network to 482 sites in 102 countries.
The Bialowieza Biosphere Reserve in Poland has also been extended.

The additions and changes to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves were approved by the Bureau of MAB's International Co-ordinating Council between 27 and 29 June at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. In addition, the MAB Bureau discussed a change in zonation of the Dunaisky Biosphere Reserve (Ukraine). The Bureau has requested more information from the Ukrainian authorities on the controversial project to construct a navigation canal across the Danube Delta, designated as a Transboundary Biosphere Reserve with Romania.

For details: www.unesco.org/mab; mab@unesco.org