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 1 presents these areas as privileged spaces for experimenting with operating methods specific to cross-cutting objectives and issues. These areas encourage the development of interdisciplinary research, supported by a worldwide network to disseminate experience, approaches and knowhow. The various global and local political scales are linked here, with different consequences for the reconfiguration of local political arenas, for specific modes of development linked to a renewed relationship with knowledge, powers and institutions, and for renewed relationships between the worlds of science, education and territorial governance.

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.

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.

Biosphere reserves serve in some ways as "living laboratories" for testing and demonstrating integrated management of land, water and biodiversity. With this publication the national MAB-committee of Germany gives a detailed presentation and description of the Biosphere Reserves of Germany.

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.

As the 21st century approaches, the need to put principles of sustainable living and ecosystem management into practice has never been so urgent. Ecosystem Management for Sustainability recognizes this need and shares the experiences of the editor and 54 contributing authors, each leaders in the advancement of ecosystem management and champions of the natural environment. The book uses the Man And Biosphere program as a case example of a wide variety of resource management activities at work. Through the multi-authored contributions to this book, documentation of a comprehensive spectrum of ecosystem management and sustainable development principles is achieved. Ecosystem Management for Sustainability provides a link between theory and practice of these two philosophies.