The International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO yesterday named the eight recipients of the 2021 Young Scientists Awards and the Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management for a case study concerning the management of a biosphere reserve. Both announcements were made during the MAB Council’s annual meeting, held in Abuja (13-17 September 2021).

Awarded every two years, the US$12,000 Michel Batisse Award goes to Sharon Wright (Australia) for her work in the Noosa Biosphere Reserve. The project “Keeping it in Kin Kin – Community efforts to manage riparian ecosystems and waterways” demonstrates how integrated and collaborative approaches can achieve healthy land, soil and water management and biodiversity conservation, while providing the foundation for sustainable livelihoods and communities.

The MAB Young Scientists Awards of up to US$5,000, awarded by UNESCO to promote new generations of scientists poised to address ecological and sustainability issues worldwide since 1989 and encourage them to work on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity preservation in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, go to eight young scientists:

Esteban Valencia (Ecuador): Development of a methodology for the monitoring of ecosystems’ hotspots in the Choco Andino de Pichincha Biosphere Reserve through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and satellite imagery.

Micaela Giorgini (Argentina): Explanation of the effects of disturbances associated to climate change and anthropic action on ecosystem services provided by the Parque Atlántico Mar Chiquito Biosphere Reserve.

Loua Serge Patrick Kone (Côte d'Ivoire): Improving the performance of cocoa-based agroforestry systems (AFS) in the transition zone of the Taï Biosphere Reserve.

Dese Yadeta Edesa (Ethiopia): Assessing the socio-economic contributions of Majang Forest Biosphere Reserve to the livelihoods of local and indigenous communities: Promoting innovative approaches to socio-economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable.

Zeina Asaad Bourhane (Lebanon): Elaboration of the first microbial study of the environmental quality of the Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve, Lebanon.

Grace Warira (Kenya): Understanding of land use change and impacts on animal dispersal of Maasai spaces within Amboseli Biosphere Reserve ecosystems: the linkage between core and kimana conservancy/lenker swamps buffer.

Szabolcs Szanyi (Hungary): Survey on the scientific possibilities of establishing a transboundary Biosphere Reserve in the Bereg lowland based on community ecological research in the Szatmar-Bereg Landscape Protected Region in Hungary and in the Game Reserve Area near Vel'ka Dobron' in Transcarpathian region of Ukraine

Dian Burhani (Indonesia): Deciphering the potential of local commodity of macroalgae from Karimunjawa-Jepara-Muria Biosphere Reserve as mask filter-based cellulose nanofiber in non-medical cloth masks to promote green economy for the local community

Biosphere reserves are areas that promote innovative solutions for sustainable development and serve as laboratories of ideas and good practices on biodiversity conservation. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is managed by the MAB Programme, which pioneered the idea of sustainable development.