© Daniele Soncin/parcodeltapo.org
Delta Po Biosphere Reserve

The 29th session of the Man and the Biosphere Programme International Co-ordinating Council (MAB-ICC), usually referred to as the MAB Council or ICC, will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, from 12 to 15 June 2017 .

On this occasion, the MAB-ICC will decide upon the inclusion of new biosphere reserves into the World Biosphere Reserve Network and take note of recommendations on periodic review reports of biosphere reserves.

Among other responsibilities, the role of the MAB-ICC is:
- to guide and supervise the MAB Programme; to review the progress made in the implementation of the Programme (cf. Secretariat report and reports of MAB National Committees);
- to recommend research projects to countries and to make proposals on the organization of regional or international cooperation;
- to assess priorities among projects and MAB activities in general.

The Council is composed of 34 UNESCO Member States, elected by UNESCO's General Conference, respecting: equitable geographical distribution; appropriate rotation; the representativeness of these States from the ecological viewpoint on each continent; and of the importance of their scientific contribution to the international MAB programme.

Each Council Member State may send as many experts or advisers as it deems necessary to the Council session, but it only has one vote.

Representatives of the Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO which are not members of the Council may nevertheless attend, as observers, meetings of the Council and its committees. Representatives of the United Nations, UNESCO, the FAO, the WHO and the WMO may take part, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Council, of its committees and working groups. Representatives of the International Council for Science, the International Social Science Council and the World Conservation Union may take part, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Council and of its committees and working groups.