Beijing and Hangzhou, China | 15–27 September 2025 Applications are now open for the Training Programme on Sustainable Development of World Mountain Biosphere Reserves, organized by UNESCO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This training aims to strengthen the capacities of researchers, managers, and officials engaged in the management and governance of mountain biosphere reserves. […]

Mountains feature some of the clearest indications of climate change, disrupting water flows and affecting ecosystems, creating and worsening natural hazards and threatening livelihoods and communities both within the mountains and downstream. Identifying and sharing best practice solutions (defined as technologies, approaches, and/or processes to reduce expected losses or harness benefits) are vital in accelerating […]

In 2014, the Mountain Research Initiative Elevation-Dependent Climate Change Working Group held a workshop to consider the evidence for accelerated climate warming at high elevations. This resulted in a publication in Nature Climate Change which brought the issue to the attention of the worldwide community. In 2022, a second workshop focused on elevational gradients of […]

The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, established in 1971, promotes the sustainable management of biodiversity and human-nature interactions. The programme operates through the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which currently includes 759 biosphere reserves across 136 countries, covering approximately 5% of the Earth’s land surface. Every ten years, UNESCO convenes the World […]