UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB)
UNESCO established the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) in 1970. This is an intergovernmental and interdisciplinary science programme in which more than 110 states now take part. The MAB Programme explores the linkages between humankind and the biosphere, whereby the biosphere is understood to comprise all the realms of the Earth home to living organisms - i.e. the atmosphere, hydrosphere and pedosphere.
In practical terms, the MAB Programme gives its member states the opportunity to engage in sustainable development at a regional level but within a global context, as called for by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, and thus to contribute to biodiversity conservation.
The MAB Programme has developed the unique instrument of Biosphere Reserves. The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve label is granted to interested regions which meet certain, internationally defined criteria. Such reserves are sections of representative landscapes in which all components of sustainable development - ecological, economic and socio-cultural - are monitored, researched and lived.
Worldwide, there are currently (June 2010)) 
564 recognized UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in 109 states. They form the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).
In 1995, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the 
Seville Strategy and Statutory Framework for the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. This gave the network a new institutional and substantive framework. The Statutory Framework prescribes minimum criteria and conditions for recognition or participation in the World Network. Each biosphere reserve should perform three complementary functions: conservation, development, logistic support. On the foundation of the passed Madrid Action Plan from February 2008 the guidelines are supposed to be set forward in the years to come.
