World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves

Welcome to the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves' website. This Network was launched in 2009 by UNESCO MAB Programme to foster sustainable development in islands and coastal areas and to promote adaptation and mitigation strategies on climate change.

Islands and coastal areas, while representing a wide range of contexts, have shared characteristics and face common challenges. They are sensitive sites due to their high level of biodiversity and the great amount of endemism and fragile and rare ecosystems that they shelter. They are are particularly vulnerable to processes of global change such as climate change, and in turn have great potential in the study of these changes and in the implementation and testing of sustainable development policies.

To make the most of this potential, the Network emerges as a forum for cooperation and knowledge transfer between distant territories facing common challenges. In this context, networking is a great opportunity for our biosphere reserves to be enriched and to advance in the challenge of bringing the concept of sustainable development to the local level.

At the I Congress of the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves, held on the island of Menorca in February 2012, the basis for the operation of the Network was established, with two technical secretariats working together: Island of Jeju (Republic of Korea), which focuses on climate change issues; and Menorca (Spain), dedicated to sustainable development.