30 June 2011: The International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added 18 new sites to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), bringing the total number of sites to 580. The new sites are located in Canada, Chile, China, Ghana, Jordan, Lithuania, Maldives, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sweden, Togo, Ukraine, Yemen, Israel, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Viet Nam.

The decisions were taken at the Council meeting held in Dresden, Germany, from 28 June-1 July 2011. Biosphere Reserves were inscribed in Lithuania, Maldives, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Togo for the first time. In addition, Australia decided to withdraw Macquarie Island from the World Network of Biosphere Reserves because the site is uninhabited by humans, and human presence has been a criterion for inclusion in the Network since 1995.

UNESCO has provided a description of all 18 sites, which include: a salt-water estuary watershed “inland sea;” mountain landscapes; biological corridors; coastal zones; lakes; wetlands; an atoll; two archipelagos; a floodplain; forests; and a river landscape. Fishing, agriculture and tourism are some of the activities carried out on the sites. [UNESCO Press Release]