UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are designated areas in geographical regions of global socio-ecological significance. This definitive book shows their global relevance and contribution to environmental protection, biocultural diversity and education. Initiated in the 1970s as part of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme, BRs share a set of common objectives, to support and demonstrate a balance between biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and research. The world’s 701 BRs form an international, intergovernmental network to support the aims of sustainability science, but this purpose has not always been widely understood. In three distinct sections, the book starts by outlining the origins of BRs and the MAB Programme, showing how they contribute to advancing sustainable development. The second section documents the evolution of BRs around the world, including case studies from each of the five UNESCO world regions. Each case study demonstrates how conservation, sustainable development and the role of scientific research have been interpreted locally. The book concludes by discussing thematic lessons to help understand the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainability science, providing a unique platform from which lessons can be learned. This includes how concepts become actions on the ground and how ideas can be taken up across sites at differing scales. This book will be of great interest to professionals engaged in conservation and sustainable development, NGOs, policy-makers and advanced students in environmental management, ecology, sustainability science, environmental anthropology and geography.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are designated areas in geographical regions of global socio-ecological significance. This definitive book shows their global relevance and contribution to environmental protection, biocultural diversity and education. Initiated in the 1970s as part of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme, BRs share a set of common objectives, to support and demonstrate a balance between biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and research. The world’s 701 BRs form an international, intergovernmental network to support the aims of sustainability science, but this purpose has not always been widely understood. In three distinct sections, the book starts by outlining the origins of BRs and the MAB Programme, showing how they contribute to advancing sustainable development. The second section documents the evolution of BRs around the world, including case studies from each of the five UNESCO world regions. Each case study demonstrates how conservation, sustainable development and the role of scientific research have been interpreted locally. The book concludes by discussing thematic lessons to help understand the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainability science, providing a unique platform from which lessons can be learned. This includes how concepts become actions on the ground and how ideas can be taken up across sites at differing scales. This book will be of great interest to professionals engaged in conservation and sustainable development, NGOs, policy-makers and advanced students in environmental management, ecology, sustainability science, environmental anthropology and geography.

The Seville Strategy spurred a signifi cant paradigm shift in UNESCO's MAB Programme, re-conceptualising the research programme as a modern tool for the dual mandate of nature conservation and sustainable development. However, many biosphere reserves failed to comply with the new regulations and in 2013 the 'Exit Strategy' was announced to improve the quality of the global network. This study presents a global assessment of the implementation of the quality enhancement strategies, highlighting signifi cant differences worldwide through 20 country-specifi c case studies. It concludes that the strategies have been fundamental in improving the credibility and coherence of the MAB Programme. Challenges in the implementation were not unique to individual countries but were common to all Member States with pre-Seville sites, and in many states the process has led to a rejuvenation of national biosphere reserve networks.

This publication is directed to the analysis of the selection, management, and utilization of Biosphere Reserves as viewed by scientists from the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Soviet papers focus on types of research and monitoring programs that should be developed on Biosphere Reserves, with emphasis on their use in pollutant monitoring. The nature of the U.S. Biosphere Reserves and their current and potential value for research, education,and biological preservation is considered in the U.S. papers. An additional paper provides an international perspective on U.S. and Soviet collaboration in the field of Biosphere Reserves. Characteristics of Soviet Biosphere Reserves are described in an appendix.

Since 1971, UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme has embraced a number of principles that link the political, scientific and academic spheres. Biosphere Reserves and Sustainable Development Goals 2 is a reminder of the fundamental issues involved in governance. The diversity and multiplicity of stakeholders, and the complexity of the interplay between them, as well as their organization, are decisive factors in the proper management of resources and territories. The book also presents a number of case studies demonstrating that, between the strong development aspirations of their populations, the impact of human activities and the need to conserve their biological heritage, the biosphere reserves of the southern Mediterranean are facing major issues: agricultural pollution, forest fires, water use in a context of climate change, etc.

Yhteenveto. - Sammanfattning. - Kokkuvõte. - Rezûme.