UNESCO Designates 11 New Biosphere Reserves

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UNESCO has designated 11 new Biosphere Reserves (BR) in 11 countries, which includes 2 transboundary biosphere reserves.

An Overview of the News

• Belgium and Gambia have, for the first time, had their biosphere reserves included in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

• The World Network of Biosphere Reserves now includes 759 sites across 136 countries, with 24 of these being transboundary sites.

Approval and Meeting Details

• The 11 new BRs were approved during the36th session of the International Coordinating Council (ICC) of UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme, which took place in Agadir, Morocco, from 2nd to 5th July, 2024.

Newly Approved Biosphere Reserves

• The newly approved biosphere reserves cover a combined area of 37,400 square kilometers, approximately the size of the Netherlands.

• The Kempen-Broek transboundary BR (shared by Belgium and the Kingdom of the Netherlands) and the Julian Alps transboundary BR (shared by Italy and Slovenia) are the two transboundary BRs among the 11 new designations.

• In addition to Belgiumand Gambia, the other new biosphere reserves are located in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Italy, Mongolia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, and Spain.

• Note: 12 biosphere reserves from India have been internationally recognized under the MAB Programme.