UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme: Conserving India’s Biodiversity

India is home to some of the world’s most ecologically diverse landscapes – from high-altitude cold deserts to tropical mangrove forests. Protecting this biodiversity while ensuring local communities can still thrive is not a simple task. That is precisely the challenge that UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme was designed to address. Launched in 1971, the MAB Programme provides a global framework for conserving biodiversity through science, community involvement, and sustainable development – and India has been one of its most active participants.

What is the Man and the Biosphere Programme? 🔗

UNESCO’s MAB Programme is an intergovernmental scientific initiative that aims to build a scientific foundation for improving how people relate to and interact with their natural environments. Rather than treating conservation and human development as opposing forces, MAB brings together natural sciences, social sciences, economics, and education to find solutions that work for both nature and people. Its central tool for achieving this is the Biosphere Reserve – a specially designated area where ecological protection, scientific research, and sustainable livelihoods coexist within the same landscape.

The concept of a Biosphere Reserve emerged in the late 1960s, first introduced at the UNESCO General Conference in 1968. By 1977, UNESCO had established the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which today includes 785 sites across the globe. Each site in this network is described as a “learning place for sustainable development” – a place where interdisciplinary approaches to managing human-ecological interactions are tested and refined.

The three-zone structure 🔗

Every biosphere reserve is organised into three interconnected zones, each serving a specific purpose. The Core Zone is the innermost area, strictly protected and kept free from human interference. It conserves critical habitats, endangered species, and genetic diversity. Surrounding it is the Buffer Zone, where limited and regulated activities such as research, education, and controlled tourism are permitted. The outermost area is the Transition Zone – also called the cooperation zone – where human settlements, agriculture, forestry, and other sustainable economic activities are actively encouraged. This layered design is what allows biosphere reserves to balance strict conservation with community needs.

Biosphere reserves in India 🔗

India launched its National Biosphere Reserve Programme in 1986, broadly following UNESCO’s MAB guidelines. The Government of India has since designated 18 biosphere reserves spread across diverse terrain – mountains, forests, wetlands, coasts, and islands – covering approximately 91,425 sq. km in total. Of these, 13 are now recognized under the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves, following the inclusion of the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve in Himachal Pradesh in September 2025.

The programme is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change through a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystems), which provides financial assistance to state governments – at a 60:40 Centre-to-State ratio, and 90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan states.

Key biosphere reserves and their ecological significance 🔗

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, established in 1986, was India’s first and remains one of its most ecologically significant. Spanning Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, it forms part of the Western Ghats – a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot. It shelters the endangered Nilgiri Tahr, the Lion-tailed Macaque, and the Malabar Giant Squirrel across landscapes that range from tropical evergreen forests to montane grasslands.

The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve in West Bengal protects one of the world’s largest mangrove ecosystems, shared with Bangladesh. It is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, Irrawaddy dolphins, and Olive Ridley turtles. The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, covers a chain of islands and marine ecosystems including coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves, and shelters species like the Dugong and Olive Ridley turtles.

In the north, the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand encompasses the Valley of Flowers National Park and protects high-altitude species like the Snow Leopard and Musk Deer. The most recent addition, the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, spans 7,770 sq. km at altitudes between 3,300 and 6,600 metres, covering glacial valleys, alpine lakes, and windswept plateaus – making it one of the coldest and driest ecosystems in the entire World Network.

Benefits for local communities 🔗

A key distinction of the MAB Programme – and what sets biosphere reserves apart from conventional protected areas like national parks – is the deliberate inclusion of local communities as active partners in conservation. Biosphere reserves do not simply exclude people; they integrate their knowledge, livelihoods, and cultural practices into long-term management strategies.

Under India’s biosphere reserve scheme, financial support is directed specifically toward communities living in buffer and transition zones. The focus is on providing supplementary and alternate livelihoods to reduce dependence on the core biodiversity zone. This includes promoting eco-tourism, organic farming, agroforestry, and traditional handicrafts – income sources that generate economic value without depleting natural resources.

Community-led conservation in action 🔗

The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve offers a compelling example of what community-led conservation can look like in practice. According to UNESCO, local women have formed self-help groups contributing to conservation efforts, while youth from the area are being engaged in eco-tourism activities. The reserve has also pioneered the idea of “plastic check posts,” where community members screen vehicles and tourists for plastic waste, which is then collected, recycled, and used in road construction. This initiative earned the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust the UNESCO Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management 2023.

In the Sundarbans, local communities are actively involved in managing mangrove forests, recognising that healthy mangroves protect their own homes and fisheries from storm surges and coastal erosion. The MAB framework essentially treats traditional ecological knowledge as an asset, incorporating it into scientific management plans rather than replacing it.

India’s biosphere reserve scheme also complements broader national programmes like Project Tiger, Project Elephant, the Green India Mission, and the National Biodiversity Action Plan – creating an integrated framework where conservation and community welfare reinforce each other. The government’s commitment is reflected in the budget allocation for biodiversity conservation under the CNRE scheme, which doubled from ₹5 crore in 2024-25 to ₹10 crore in 2025-26.

Challenges and the road ahead 🔗

Despite significant progress, managing biosphere reserves in India comes with persistent and complex challenges. These obstacles span ecological, social, financial, and climatic dimensions – and addressing them is critical for the long-term success of the MAB Programme in the country.

Human pressure and livelihood conflicts 🔗

Heavy reliance on forests for fuel, fodder, and grazing remains a major stressor on core biodiversity zones. When conservation rules restrict access to resources that communities have depended on for generations, it can generate resistance and conflict. Livelihood needs and conservation objectives often pull in opposite directions, and resolving these tensions requires careful, inclusive negotiation rather than top-down enforcement.

Boundary management and governance gaps 🔗

Poor demarcation of core, buffer, and transition zones weakens enforcement across several reserves. In the Gulf of Mannar, for example, multiple overlapping fishing and industrial activities complicate effective zoning. Without clear, digitally mapped boundaries and adequate patrolling infrastructure, the three-zone model cannot function as intended.

Tourism pressure and climate change 🔗

Unregulated tourism is an emerging threat. High tourist footfall in reserves like Nanda Devi has led to waste accumulation and trail erosion. Simultaneously, climate change is reshaping ecosystems in ways that management plans have not always accounted for. The Sundarbans is already experiencing coastal erosion, rising salinity, and mangrove loss due to sea-level rise – threatening both biodiversity and the fishing communities that depend on it.

Weak research integration 🔗

Biosphere reserves are meant to function as living laboratories, yet scientific monitoring in many of India’s reserves remains limited. Baseline ecological data is often incomplete, which undermines evidence-based management planning. Stronger partnerships with institutions like the Zoological Survey of India and expanded use of remote sensing and GIS technologies are needed to close these gaps.

Expanding and strengthening the network 🔗

India still has five biosphere reserves that have not yet received UNESCO recognition under the WNBR. Expanding the network further – and pursuing transboundary biosphere reserves with neighbouring countries – is a stated priority of India’s MAB programme. Such transboundary designations could significantly enhance conservation outcomes for shared ecosystems that do not follow political borders. Integrating management plans with State Action Plans on Climate Change and investing in landscape restoration, particularly in coastal reserves, will be essential steps forward.

UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme represents one of the most thoughtful approaches to conservation developed in the modern era – one that treats human communities not as threats to nature, but as its stewards. India’s growing network of biosphere reserves, now 13 strong within the WNBR, demonstrates that ecological protection and sustainable development can advance together. The real test going forward will be whether governance, funding, and community engagement can scale up to match the ambition of the programme’s founding principles.

What do you think? As climate change continues to alter India’s ecosystems, should biosphere reserves be given greater legal powers to restrict harmful activities in their buffer zones – even if that means limiting local livelihoods in the short term? And how can indigenous knowledge systems be more formally integrated into the scientific management of these reserves?

References

1. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/biosphere-reserves-are-evolving-pockets-hope
2. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/5th-wcbr-designates-cold-desert-indias-13th-unesco-biosphere-reserve
3. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2185715&reg=3&lang=2
4. https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=169754
5. http://www.moef.gov.in/uploads/pdf/Approved%20copy%20of%20Website%20note%20of%20BR.pdf
6. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/biosphere-reserves-in-india-2