Background

• © UNESCO/P. Chiang-Joo

MAB was launched in 1970 and initiated work in 14 Project areas covering different ecosystem types from mountains to the sea, from rural to urban systems, as well more social aspects such as environmental perception. The MAB governing body, the International Co-ordinating Council (ICC) of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, usually referred to as the MAB Council or ICC, consists of 34 Member States elected by UNESCO's biennial General Conference. In between meetings, the authority of the ICC is delegated to its Bureau, whose members are nominated from each of UNESCO's geopolitical regions.

MAB's work over the years has concentrated on the development of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).

The biosphere reserve concept was developed initially in 1974 and was substantially revised in 1995 with the adoption by the UNESCO General Conference of the Seville Strategy and the Statutory Framework of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR ). Today, with 564 sites in over 109 countries, the WNBR provides context-specific opportunities to combine scientific knowledge and governance modalities to:

• Reduce biodiversity loss;
• Improve livelihoods;
• Enhance social, economic and cultural conditions for environmental sustainability;

Thus contributing to the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular MDG 7 on environmental sustainability.

Biosphere reserves can also serve as learning and demonstration sites in the framework of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD).