A total of 11 new reserves have been added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, boosting global efforts in biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and cutting-edge scientific research. Monaco was among 72 countries to make it happen.
The International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (CIC-MAB), held in Agadir, Morocco from 1st to 5th July, was filled with an air of confidence in action plans for the future and well-deserved pats on the back for the successes currently being achieved.
The session was opened by Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, who spoke to the 270 representatives from 72 nations in attendance, which included a delegation from Monaco.
The programme, which has been in existence since 1971, is an intergovernmental science-based affair designed to “improve the relationship between people and their environment” by combining natural and social sciences. The goal is to protect people’s livelihoods while raising awareness of the need to protect natural and managed ecosystems.
This has been done by creating a web of World Network of Biosphere Reserves – the biggest and oldest nature reserve collection under the UNESCO umbrella.
This year’s meeting saw 11 new reserves added to the mix in as many countries, including two trans-border sites. It brings the total protected zones to an area reaching 37,400km2 – a space roughly the size of The Netherlands – in 759 locations in 136 regions. The biosphere reserves now represent 5% of the Earth’s surface, an impressive figure.
MONACO’S INVOLVEMENT
Monaco was represented at the event by Agatha Korczak, First Secretary to the Permanent Delegation of the Principality to UNESCO.
Since 2022, the Principality has been a major supporter of a Man and the Biosphere (MAB) scholarship for young researchers. Seven of the 15 participating students have been beneficiaries of Monegasque aid, giving rise to the Council’s approval of naming the scholarship the Prince Albert I of Monaco Prize for MAB Youth in honour of the Sovereign’s legacy as an ardent patron of oceanography and science.
The funds are intended for the specific scientific study of marine, coastal and island areas, and are in line with Monaco’s commitment to the Ocean Decade, the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development.
The next CIC-MAB meeting is scheduled for September 2025 during the 5th World Biosphere Reserves Congress, which will be held in Hangzhou, China.
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Photo credit: ANDZOA