UNESCO MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE PROGRAM (MAB) TURNS 50

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At the end of 2021, the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB), which played a major role in popularizing the concept of sustainable development, including the creation of optimal relations between society and nature, which is largely facilitated by the international network of biosphere reserves - areas representing important ecosystems of the planet, celebrates its half-century anniversary.

To date, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves includes 727 protected areas (including 22 transboundary ones) in 131 countries. The network of biosphere reserves of Russia is represented by 48 protected areas of various levels, illustrated information about which is contained in a special issue of the Bulletin of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO (ComUNESCO), prepared in Russian and English with the support of PJSC "Phosagro" and published in December 2021 by Oleg Pakhmutov Publishing House for distribution in 193 UNESCO Member States and posted here.

The 50th anniversary of the MAB Program and the development of the network of biosphere reserves were also discussed on December 17 of 2021, - on the final day of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference "Reserve Science", organized on the initiative of the Roszapovedtsentr (Росзаповедцентр) of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and the Russian Academy of Sciences (A.N. Severtsov IEE RAS) in an online format, in which more than 300 people took part - employees in protected areas, research institutes and universities, as well as a number of industrial and public organizations. Chairman of the Russian MAB Committee (RK MAB) Academician Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze in his report titled “50 years of the MAB Program and protected science in biosphere reserves of Russia” spoke in detail about the formation and development of both the MAB Program itself and the long-term activities of the MAB RK, as well as the role played by the results of scientific research obtained in the territory biosphere reserves, to preserve biodiversity and ensure the harmony of man and nature. The full version of the report and other materials of the Conference can be found on the website of Roszapovedtsentr.

December 22 of 2021 at the GlavUpDK Cultural Center under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia under the chairmanship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S.V. Lavrov hosted the General Meeting of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the entry into force of the UNESCO Charter. In his report, S.V. Lavrov, addressing those present, also noted the importance of implementing one of the oldest UNESCO programs - "Man and the Biosphere", emphasizing the role that Russia plays in the formation and development of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. During the anniversary celebrations, the Executive Secretary of the ComUNESCO G.E. V.M. Ordzhonikidze passed a letter to Neronov, in which was noted the great merit of the members and leadership of the Russian MAB Committee, which, from the first days of its creation in 1976, has been working on the basis of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in defending the interests of our country at the UNESCO site, high professionalism in the development of a network of biosphere reserves, and the achievement of sustainable development goals formulated by the MAB Program.