UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme is a global scientific initiative that focuses on improving the relationship between people and the environment. It brings together both natural and social sciences to find ways to improve people's lives while protecting both natural and managed ecosystems. The goal is to encourage economic development that is good for people, respects local cultures, and is environmentally sustainable.
The MAB programme is carried out through the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. This network includes 759 special places across 136 countries, each with its own unique nature, local cultures, and economies. Biosphere Reserves work together through regional and themed groups, such as EuroMAB (for Europe), the World Network of Island and Coast Biosphere Reserves and the World Network of Mountain Biosphere Reserves.
In the UK, Biosphere Reserves are known as UNESCO Biospheres.
The UK MAB National Committee (UK MAB) manages the MAB Programme in the UK, its Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. The committee includes a range of groups interested in biospheres, such as representatives from UK Biospheres, government agencies, and independent experts.
The UK MAB Committee is independent from, but works closely with, the UK National Commission for UNESCO.
The UK MAB National Committee’s tasks include:
- Serving as the main UK contact for the UNESCO MAB program, coordinating with the UK National Commission for UNESCO, the MAB Secretariat in Paris, and international networks.
- Promoting UK Biospheres and building connections with UK organizations focused on sustainable development, nature protection and restoration, and capacity building.
- Supporting UK Biospheres, promoting research reviewing nominations, and developing collaborative activities aligned with UNESCO and MAB strategies.
Current sustainability challenges require unprecedented collaboration across scales, geographies, cultures and knowledges. Biospheres offer established learning spaces for understanding socio-ecological impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises, and for developing and testing solutions to reduce and cope with inevitable change. UK MAB collaborates with Eberswalde Biosphere Research Institute to promote education, research and training.
UK Biospheres are uniquely positioned as landscape-scale living laboratories for co-produced, issue-driven and applied sustainability research. Their established international networks and collaborations with local stakeholders and communities, and the explicit commitment to support research can save researchers time and help achieve and evidence research impact.
Contact UK UNESCO Biospheres or the UK MAB committee to explore research opportunities with, for, and in, UK Biospheres.
