A Biosphere Reserve is an international concept and designation for a protected area that aims to balance the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use by local communities. It is not a national act or judgment, but a designation under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. The concept originated at UNESCO's Biosphere Conference in 1968 and was formally developed as a designation in 1974. The problem it sought to solve was the conflict between conservation and development, by creating "learning places for sustainable development" that integrate human activity with ecological protection.
The mechanism of a Biosphere Reserve is based on a three-zone structure to fulfill its three main functions: conservation, development, and logistic support (research, education, and monitoring). The Core Area is the most strictly protected zone, dedicated to conservation and non-destructive research, with human activity often prohibited. Surrounding this is the Buffer Zone, where limited human activity, such as ecotourism and environmental education, is permitted, provided it is ecologically sound. The outermost area is the Transition Area (or 'area of cooperation'), where human settlements and sustainable resource use, including agriculture and forestry, are actively encouraged.
The Biosphere Reserve concept connects directly to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which was launched in 1976 and includes 797 sites across 145 countries as of June 2026. The program was significantly revised in 1995 with the adoption of the Seville Strategy and the Statutory Framework for the WNBR, which established the modern criteria and procedures for designation. More recently, the program has seen a major expansion, with UNESCO designating 26 new reserves in 2025 and 14 new reserves in 2026, underscoring its role in achieving global targets like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. While the core three-zone structure has remained, the emphasis has shifted to making all reserves "learning places for sustainable development" as outlined in the Madrid Action Plan of 2008.