Title: Editorial It is about life: 50 years of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme

Authors: Miguel Clüsener-Godt; Günter Köck; Lutz Möller

Addresses: Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, UNESCO, Paris, France ' Austrian MAB National Committee, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria ' German Commission for UNESCO, Bonn, Germany

Abstract: The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme celebrates its 50th anniversary. MAB is an intergovernmental scientific programme that continues to be one of the most important UN endeavours, which combines nature preservation and sustainable development, with strong impact across the globe. The MAB Programme has been instrumental in developing the basis within the natural and social sciences for the rational and sustainable use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere. Over five decades, the MAB Programme and its World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) have repeatedly adapted and modernised, both in terms of content and in terms of governance and structures.

Keywords: biosphere reserves; MAB programme; integrated nature conservation; sustainable development; UNESCO; SDGs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2022.126116

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2022 Vol.21 No.4, pp.377 - 387

Received: 25 Jun 2021
Accepted: 07 Oct 2021
Published online: 11 Oct 2022 *

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