UNESCO Director-General Announces 18 new UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, In Light of 'Pressing Need to Take Action' highlighted by the IPBES Global Assessment

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay announced the addition of 18 new UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, in response to the 'pressing need to take action' as' highlighted by the IPBES Global Assessment. As Azoulay said, "After diagnosing the issue at stake, highlighted by the recent report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the vitality of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves gives us cause for hope. Each UNESCO biosphere reserve is an open sky laboratory for sustainable development, for concrete and lasting solutions, for innovation and good practices. They seal a new alliance between the world of science and youth, between humans and the environment.”

UNESCO Biosphere reserves seek to reconcile human activity with the conservation of biodiversity through the sustainable use of natural resources.