From 3 to 7 July, the German Commission for UNESCO, in cooperation with the German Committee of Biosphere Reserves, hosted EuroMAB 2024. 250 participants from the 41 European and North American countries that are members of EuroMAB, the largest regional network of UNESCO biosphere reserves, met in Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, in the heart of the Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve.
© Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission e.V./Stefanie Wetzel
Focusing on the challenges of climate change
This year’s biennial congress focused on the role of UNESCO biosphere reserves in the face of the challenges of climate change. Also on the Congress agenda was the development of a list of ideas and demands to be included in the new 10-year strategy for the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. This new strategy will be adopted at the World Congress in Zhangzhou at the end of September 2025 and will replace the Lima Strategy for the Development of Biosphere Reserves from 2016.
Following the arrival of all participants on Monday, EuroMAB 2024 began on Tuesday morning with the General Assembly in the Stadthalle of Wittenberg. After welcoming speeches by representatives of the City of Wittenberg, the German MAB Committee, the Secretary of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme and the Director of the Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve, the programme began with a presentation by Professor Josef Settele from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Studies. In his presentation, Settele highlighted the already visible effects of climate change and discussed the importance of local projects to adapt to climate change and protect biodiversity.
Panel discussions and presentations of various projects from individual biosphere reserves that actively contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change and climate change in general followed until the early evening.
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© Minett UNESCO Biosphere
German Environment Minister emphasises the role of biosphere reserves
The day ended with an official reception in the presence of the President of the German Commission for UNESCO, the Deputy Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt and the German Minister for the Environment, Steffi Lemke. Ms Lemke emphasised the need for sustainable management, the role of biosphere reserves in mitigating the climate crisis and the importance of collaborations such as the EuroMAB network, which can play a pioneering role in implementing innovative environmental ideas.
On Wednesday, the 250 congress participants were given an insight into concrete environmental protection measures in the Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve, visited UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the biosphere reserve and tasted local, sustainably produced food from the region.
On Thursday, more than 20 different workshops were on the agenda, working on the EuroMAB network’s catalogue of demands for the World Congress 2025. Environmental education, intergenerational cooperation, nature-based solutions, ecotourism and better digital networking of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves were just some of the topics covered in these workshops.
The Message of the EuroMAB 2024
At the end of EuroMAB 2024 on Friday, the work on the regional network declaration for the development of the Zhangzhou Strategy was completed and adopted. Before the participants travelled home, the venue for the next EuroMAB Congress was announced. In 2026, representatives of the current 309 biospheres from 41 countries will meet in Canada’s Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region on Vancouver Island to further intensify their joint transnational projects.
Read the message of the EuroMAB 2024 here.
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