In our 17 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves here in Germany, we are changing the world with innovative ideas to enable a sustainable and climate-friendly coexistence of people and nature for you and all of us.
We are testing the life of tomorrow so that we can have a shared future on our planet.
MAB
In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a growing awareness worldwide that humans and the biosphere are inextricably linked on a global level - and that this also entails a responsibility for nature beyond the local level. This increased global understanding ultimately led to the founding of the UNESCO program “Man and the Biosphere”. Today, the global network consists of 748 UNESCO biosphere reserves in 134 countries worldwide.
Germany has been a driver of the MAB program from the very beginning. In 1979, the first biosphere reserve in Germany was recognized by UNESCO.
In Germany 17 biosphere reserves are designated both according to the law of the respective federal state and by UNESCO. The biosphere reserves comprise about 3 percent of the total area of Germany (without sea areas).
The 17 areas represent important German landscape types and are characteristic of the diversity of habitats, fauna and flora in this country. Biosphere reserves are rarely “original” biotopes - much more often they are cultural landscapes of particular importance for the preservation of biodiversity: their particular ecological wealth has been created through economic exploitation, for example grazing or vine growing - and can only be obtained through economic exploitation.
Almost all German biosphere reserves are located in rural areas and are therefore above all a future-oriented concept for these spaces. Because of their low environmental impact and attractive landscape, they are also popular holiday destinations and recreational areas. This means that the people in these regions are in the center of attention - together with them sustainable economic forms can be developed.
The high quality of the work of the German biosphere reserves is regularly proven by awards, for example as “Germany’s most sustainable tourism region”. Scientific research has shown that German biosphere reserves generate more than 220 million euros through tourism alone. Among other things, German biosphere reserves have the highest shares of organic farming in Germany and the highest degree of economic integration between local businesses.
MAB National Committee
In Germany, the Federal Environment Minister appoints the National Committee for the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme. It is made up of 20 experts from the fields of science and practice who have relevant experience in the various thematic areas of the MAB programme.
The committee is chaired by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and managed by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN).
