Ulaanbaatar
The 16th meeting of the East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network takes place
Environment
Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The 16th meeting of the East Asian
Biosphere Reserve Network (EABRN) took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on October 3-5. The
meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Mongolian
National Commission for UNESCO, National Committee for Man and the Biosphere (MAB)
Programme, UNESCO Cluster Office in Beijing, EABRN Secretariat, The Nature
Conservancy Representative Office in Mongolia and other related organizations.
The meeting was
attended by 50 participants from EABRN countries, EABRN Secretariat and related
national and local organizations.
This meeting, which is held biennially, was postponed for 4 years due to the pandemic. The participants discussed the impacts of the pandemic on biosphere reserves, post-pandemic situations in the reserves as well as works carried out for the protection of biosphere reserves, and shared their experiences. Moreover, the participants discussed about the activities trainings and research works to be done within the framework of the network.
In his opening speech, Minister of Environment and Tourism B. Bat-Erdene emphasized that Mongolia is one of few countries that still carry its nomadic civilization and preserves its pristine nature.”
There are currently 738 designated biosphere reserves in 134 countries, 8 of them are in Mongolia. Biosphere reserves in Mongolia:
· Great Gobi Biosphere Reserve (Designated in 1990)
· Bogd Khan Uul Biosphere Reserve (1996)
· Uvs Nuur Basin Biosphere Reserve (1997)
· Hustai Nuruu Biosphere Reserve (2002)
· Dornod Mongol Biosphere Reserve (2005)
· Mongol Daguur Biosphere Reserve (2007)
· Toson-Khulstai Biosphere Reserve (2020)
· Uvs Lake Depression Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Mongolia-Russian Federation) (2021)
· Khuvsgul Lake Biosphere Reserve (2022)
The East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network was created in 1994. The 17th meeting of EABRN will be held in the People`s Republic of China in 2024. On this occasion, the 30th anniversary of the network will be celebrated. The regular meetings of the network were held in Mongolia in 1997, 2003, 2007, and 2013, respectively.
