UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves

As of 2023 the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves is made up of 738 reserves in 134 countries of which 22 are transboundary. Biosphere reserves are large landscapes with significant biodiversity and important ecological systems. Together, the reserves are representative of the world's major ecoystems. Each reserve is a focus for environmental collaboration and sustainable development. They offer travellers an opportunity to appreciate and understand unique parts of the natural environment, although the information provided isn't necessarily targeted at tourists from abroad, and what kind of infrastructure there is for visitors varies.

Understand

UNESCO describes the reserves as follows:

Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems. Each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.

Biosphere reserves are ‘Science for Sustainability support sites’ – special places for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity.

See UNESCO World Heritage List and Ramsar sites for related lists.

Africa

Algeria

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Tassili N’Ajjer	Saharan Algeria	1986	2014
El Kala	Northeast Algeria	1990	2002, 2016
Djurdjura	Central Algeria	1997	2011
Chréa	Blida, Central Algeria	2002	2014
Taza	Northeast Algeria	2004	2016
Gouraya	Central Algeria	2004	2016
Belezma	Batna, Northeast Algeria	2015
Tlemcen Mountains	Tlemcen, Northwest Algeria	2016

Benin

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Complex W-Arly-Penjari	Southwestern Niger	2002, 2020	2014, 2017	Shared with Burkina Faso and Niger
Mono	Southern Benin	2017		Shared with Togo
Oueme Lower Valley	Southern Benin	2017

Burkina Faso

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mare aux hippopotames	Black Volta Region	1986	1998, 2016
Complex W-Arly-Penjari	East Burkina Faso (see W National Park)	2002	2014,2016	Shared with Benin and Niger

Cape Verde

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Fogo		2020
Maio		2020

Cameroon

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Waza	Northern Cameroon	1979	2006, 2016
Benoué	Northern Cameroon	1981	2006, 2016
Dja	South Cameroon Plateau	1981	2006,2017
Doumba-Rey	Adamaoua	2021

Central African Republic

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Basse-Lobaye		1977

Chad

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Sena Oura	Soudanian Chad	2022

Comoros

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mwali		2020

Republic of the Congo

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Odzala	Cuvette and Sangha and Likouala	1977	2017
Dimonika	Coast and Mayombe	1988	2017

Democratic Republic of Congo

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Yangambi	Congo Basin	1976	1998, 2016
Luki	Western DRC	1976	1998, 2005

Côte d'Ivoire

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Taï	Southwestern Forests	1977	1999
Comoé	Northern Savanna	1983	1999, 2010

Egypt

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Omayed	Lower Egypt	1981	2001, 2011	Extended in 1998
Wadi Allaqi	Lake Nasser, Upper Egypt	1993	2004, 2012

Eswatini

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Lubombo		2019

Ethiopia

Official name	Location	Year of designation
Kafa	Southern Ethiopia	2010
Yayu		2010
Sheka	Western Ethiopia	2012
Lake Tana	Northern Ethiopia	2015
Majang Forest	Western Ethiopia	2017

Ghana

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Bia	Ashanti-Kwahu	1983	1998, 2017
Songor	Ghanaian Coastal Plain	2011
Lake Bosomtwe	Ashanti-Kwahu	2016

Guinea

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Mont Nimba	Guinee Forestiere	1980	2004
Massif du Ziama	Guinee Forestiere	1980	2004
Badiar	Moyenne Guinee	2002
Haut Niger	Haute Guinee	2002

Guinea-Bissau

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Boloma Bijagós		1996	2015

Kenya

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Mount Kenya	Southern Rift Valley	1978	2016
Mount Kulai	Northern Rift Valley	1978	2011
Malindi-Watamu	Malindi, Coastal Kenya	1979	2016
Kiunga	Lamu, Coastal Kenya	1980	2016
Amboseli	Coastal Kenya	1991	2003, 2017
Mount Elgon	Western Kenya	2003	2017

Lesotho

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Matšeng Biosphere Reserve		2021

Madagascar

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Mananara Nord	Toamasina Province	1990	2012
Sahamalaza-Iles Radma	Antsiranana Province	2001	2012
Littoral de Toliara	Toliara Province	2003
Belo-sur-Mer—Kirindy-Mite	Morondava, Toliara Province	2016
Tsimanampesotse - Nosy Ve Androka	Toliara Province	2018

Malawi

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mount Mulanje	Southern Malawi	2000	2014
Lake Chilwa Wetland	Southern Malawi	2006

Mali

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Bouclé du Baoule	Kayes	1982	1998, 2013

Mauritania

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Delta du Fleuve Sénégal	Coastal Mauritania	2005		Shared with Senegal

Mauritius

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Black River Gorges-Bel Ombre		1977	1998	Previously named Macchabee/Bel Ombre

Morocco

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Arganeraie	Agadir, South Atlantic Coast	1998	2010
Oasis du sud marocain	Saharan Morocco	2000	2017
Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean	Mediterranean Morocco	2006		Shared with Spain
Atlas Cedar	Middle Atlas	2016

Niger

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Aïr et Ténéré	Northern Niger	1997	2009
Complex W-Arly-Penjari	Southwestern Niger	2002	2013	Shared with Benin and Burkina Faso
Gadabedji	Northern Niger	2020

Nigeria

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Omo	Lagos State, South West Nigeria	1977	1998, 2012
Hadejia Nguru Bade	North West Nigeria	2020
Oban	Cross River State, South South Nigeria	2020	1998
Okwangwo	Cross River State, South South Nigeria	2020	1998

Rwanda

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Volcans		1983
Gishwati-Mukura Landscape		2020

São Tomé and Príncipe

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
The Island of Principe		2012

Senegal

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Samba Dia	Central Senegal	1979	1999, 2015
Delta du Saloum	Palmarin, Central Senegal	1980	1999, 2015
Niokolo-Koba	Tambacounda Region	1981	1999
Delta du Fleuve Sénégal	Northern Senegal	2005		Shared with Mauritania
Ferlo	Northern Senegal	2012

South Africa

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Kogelberg	near Kleinmond, Overberg	1998	2010
Cape West Coast	near Langebaan, West Coast	2000		Extended in 2003, Reviewed 2016
Waterberg	Waterberg, Limpopo	2001	2013
Kruger to Canyons	Kruger National Park and Blyde River Canyon	2001	2013
Cape Winelands	Western Cape	2007
Vhembe		2009
Gouritz Cluster	Little Karoo, Western Cape	2015	2013
Magaliesberg	West Rand, Gauteng	2015
Garden Route	Eastern Cape	2017
Marico	North West Province	2018

Sudan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Dinder	Eastern Sudan	1979	2001, 2016
Radom	Darfur	1979	2001
Jebel Al Dair	Central Sudan	2017

Tanzania

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Lake Manyara	Arusha, Northeast Tanzania	1981	2017	Extended 2017
Serengeti - Ngorongoro	Northeast Tanzania	1981	2017	Extended 2017
East Usambara	Northeast Tanzania	2000	2017	Extended 2017
Jozani-Chwaka Bay	Zanzibar	2016
Gombe Masito Ugalla	Northwest Tanzania	2018

Togo

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Oti-Kéran/Oti-Mandouri	Northern Togo	2011
Mono Transboundary Biosphere Reserve	Maritime Togo	2017		Shared with Benin

Tunisia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Djebel Bou-Hedma	Saharan Tunisia	1977	1999
Djebel Chambi	Saharan Tunisia	1977	1999
Ichkeul	Northern Tunisia	1977	1999
Iles Zembra et Zembretta	Northern Tunisia	1977	1999

Uganda

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Queen Elizabeth	Western Uganda	1979	1998
Mount Egon	Eastern Uganda	2005

Zimbabwe

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Middle Zambezi	Lake Kariba-Lower Zambezi	2010
Chimanimani	Eastern Highlands	2022

Asia

Cambodia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Tonle Sap		1997	2012

China

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Changbaishan	1979	1998
Dingushan	1979	1998
Wolong	1979	1998
Fanjingshan	1986	1999
Xilin Gol	1987	1999
Wuyishan	1987	1999
Bodega	1990	2001
Shennongjia	1990	2011
Yancheng	1992	2003
Xishuangbanna	1993	2004
Maolan	1996	2007
Tianmushan	1996	2007
Fenglin	1997	2009
Jiuzhaigou Valley	1997	2011
Nanji Islands	1998	2011
Shankou Mangrove	2000	2011
Baishujiang	2000	2011
Gaoligong Mountain	2000	2011
Huanglong	2000	2011
Baotianman	2001	2012
Saihan Wula	2001	2012
Dalai Lake	2002
Wudalianchi	2003
Yading	2003
Foping	2004
Qomolangma	2004
Chabaling	2007
Xingkai Lake	2007
Mao’er Mountain	2011
Jinggangshan	2012
Niubeiliang	2012
Snake Island, Laotie Mountain	2013

India

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Nilgiri	2000	2012
Gulf of Mannar	2001	2013
Sunderban	2001	2013
Nanda Devi	2004
Nokrek	2009
Pachmarhi	2009
Similpal	2009
Achanmar-Amarkantak	2012
Great Nicobar	2013

Indonesia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Cibodas, including Mount Gede Pangrango National Park	Bogor Raya	1977	2011
Komodo National Park	Flores	1977	1999,2013
Lore Lindu National Park	Central Sulawesi	1977	1999,2013
Tanjung Puting National Park	Central Kalimantan	1977	1998, 2013
Gunung Leuser National Park	Aceh and North Sumatra	1981	1999, 2013
Siberut	Mentawai Islands	1981	1999, 2013
Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu Bioreserve	Riau	2009
Wakatobi	Southeast Sulawesi	2012

Iran

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Arasbaran	1976	2002, 2013
Arjan	1976	2002, 2013
Geno	1976	2002, 2013
Golestan	1976	2002, 2013
Hara	1976	2002, 2013
Kavir	1976	2002, 2013
Lake Oromeeh	1976	2002, 2013
Miankaleh	1976	2002, 2013
Touran	1976	2002, 2013
Dena	2010

Israel

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mount Carmel		1996	2007
Ramat Menashe		2011

Japan

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mount Hakusan	1980	1999
Mount Odaigahara & Mount Omine	1980	1999
Shiga Highland	1980	1999	Extended in 2014
Yakushima Island	1980	1999
Aya	2012
Minami-Alps	2014
Tadami	2014

Jordan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Dana		1998
Mujib		2011

Kazakhstan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Korgalzhyn		2012
Alakol		2013
Ak-Zhayik		2014
Katon-Karagay		2014

Kyrgyzstan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Sary-Chelek	Ferghana Valley	1978	2013
Issyk Kul	Issyk Kul and the Tian Shan	2001	2013

Lebanon

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Shouf		2005
Jabal Al Rihane		2007
Jabal Moussa		2009

Malaysia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Tasik Chini		2009
Crocker Range		2014

Maldives

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Baa Atoll		2009

Mongolia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Great Gobi		1990
Bogd Khan Uul		1996
Uvs Nuur Basin		1997
Hustai Nuruu		2002
Dornod Mongol		2005
Mongol Daguur		2007

North Korea

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Mount Paekdu	Baekdu Mountains	1989	2002
Mount Kuwol		2004
Mount Myohyang		2009
Mount Chilbo		2014

Pakistan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Lal Suhanra	Southern Punjab	1977	1998
Ziarat Juniper Forest	Balochistan	2013

Philippines

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Puerto Galera	1977
Palawan	1990	2012
Albay	2016

Qatar

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Al Reem		2007

South Korea

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Mount Sorak		1982	1998, 2013
Jeju Island	Jeju	2002	2013
Shinhan Dadohae		2009
Gwangneung Forest		2010
Gochang		2013

Sri Lanka

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review
Hurulu		1977	1998
Sinharaja	Southern Province	1978	1998, 2004
Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadenya		2004
Bundala		2005

Syria

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Lajat		2009

Thailand

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Sakaerat	1976	1999
Hauy Tak Teak	1977	1999
Mae Sa-Kog Ma	1977	1999
Ranong	1997	2011

Turkmenistan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Repetek		1978	2005

United Arab Emirates

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Marawah		2007

Uzbekistan

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mount Chatkal		1978	1999

Vietnam

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Can Gio Mangrove	2001	2011
Dong Nai	2001	2012	Formerly Cat Tien, extended in 2011
Cat Ba	2004
Red River Delta	2004
Kien Giang	2006
Western Nghe An	2007
Mui Ca Mau	2009
Cu Lao Cham-Hoi An	2009

Yemen

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Socotra Archipelago	Socotra	2003
Bura’a		2011

Europe

Albania

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Ohrid-Prespa	Southeastern Albania	2014		shared with North Macedonia

Austria

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Gossenköllesee	1977
Gurgler Kamm	1977
Lobau	1977	1998
Neusiedler See	1977	1998
Grosses Walsertal	2000	2011
Wienerwald	2005
Salzburger Lungau & Kärntner Nockberge	2012

Belarus

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Berezinskiy		1978	1998, 2011
Belovezhkaya Pushcha	Brest Oblast	1993	2005, 2011
West Polesie		2003		Shared with Poland and Ukraine

Bulgaria

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Steneto		1977
Alibotouch		1977
Bistrichko Branichté		1977
Boitine		1977
Djendema		1977
Doupkata		1977
Doupki-Djindjiritza		1977
Kamtchia		1977
Koupena		1977
Mantaritza		1977
Ouzounboudjak		1977
Parangalitza		1977
Srébarna		1977
Tchervenata Sténa		1977
Tchoupréné		1977
Tsaritchina		1977

Croatia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Velebit Mountain		1977	1998, 2003
Mura Drava Danube		2012		Shared with Hungary

Czech Republic

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Krivoklátsko	1977	1998
Trebon Basin	1977	1998	Shared with Hungary
Lower Morava	1986		Extended and renamed in 2003
Sumava	1990
Krkokonose/Karkonosze	1992	2012	Shared with Poland
Bílé Karpathy	1996	2012

Denmark

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
North-East Greenland	Northern Greenland	1977

Estonia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
West Estonian Archipelago	West Estonia and Islands	1990	2005

Finland

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
North Karelian	North Karelia	1992	2009	Extended in 2009
Archipelago Sea Area	Archipelago Sea, Finland Proper	1994	2006

France

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Commune de Fakarava	1977		Extended and renamed in 2006
Vallée du Fango	1977	1998	Extended in 1990
Camargue	1977	2000, 2006	Extended in 2006
Cévennes	1984	1998
Iles et Mer d’Iroise	1988	2001	Extended and renamed in 2012
Mont Ventoux	1990	2007
Archipel de la Guadeloupe	1992
Luberon-Lure	1997	2010
Fontainebleau et du Gâtinais	1998	2010	Extended and renamed in 2010
Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald	1998	2000,2011	Shared with Germany
Basin de la Dordogne	2012
Marais Audomarois	2013
Mont-Viso/Area della Biosfera del Monviso	2013		Shared with Italy

Germany

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Flusslandschaft Elbe	1979	2002,2009
Vessertal-Thüringen Forest	1979	2002, 2012	Extended in 1987, 1990
Berechtsgadener Land	1990	2003, 2013
Wadden Sea and Hallig Islands of Schleswig-Holstein	1990	2006	Extended and renamed in 2004
Schorfheide-Chorin	1990	2003, 2013
Spreewald	1991	2003, 2013
South-east Rügen	1991	2004
Rhön	1991	2004
Waddensea of Lower Saxony	1992	2006
Waddensea of Hamburg	1992	2006
Oberlausitzer Heide- und Teichlandschaft	1996	2007
Schaalsee	2000	2012
Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald	1998	2004, 2011	Shared with France
Bliesgau	2009
Schwäbische Alb	2013

Greece

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Gorge of Samaria	Chania	1981	1999
Mount Olympus	Macedonia (Greece)	1981	1999

Hungary

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Aggtelek	Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County	1979	2007
Hortobágy	Northern Great Plain	1979	2007
Kiskunság	Southern Great Plain	1979	2007
Lake Fertö		1979	2007
Pilis	Danube Bend	1980	2007
Mura Drava Danube		2012		Shared with Croatia

Italy

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Collemeluccio-Montedimezzo	1977	2012
Circeo	1977	2012, 2013
Miramare	1979	1999, 2011
Cilento and Valle di Diano	1997	2013
Somma-Vesuvio and Miglio d’Oro	1997	2013
Valle del Ticino	2002	2013
Tuscan Islands	2003
Selva Pisana	2004
Mont-Viso/Area della Biosfera del Monviso	2013		Shared with France
Sila	2014

Latvia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
North Vidzeme	Vidzeme	1997	2013

Lithuania

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Zuvintas		2011

Montenegro

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Tara River Basin		1976

Netherlands

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Waddensea Area		1986	2012

North Macedonia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Ohrid-Prespa	Western North Macedonia	2014		shared with Albania

Poland

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Babia Gora	Małopolskie	1976	2000, 2013	Extended in 1997, 2001
Bialowieza	Podlaskie	1976	1998, 2013	Extended in 2005
Lukajno Lake	Warmia-Masuria	1976	1999, 2011
Slowinski	Pomorskie	1976	1998, 2013
Krkonose/Karkonosze	Lower Silesian Voivodeship	1992	2012	Shared with the Czech Republic
Tatra	Małopolskie	1992	2013	Shared with Slovakia
East Carpathians	Podkarpackie	1998	2013	Shared with Slovakia and Ukraine
Puszcza Kampinoska	Mazowieckie	2000	2013
Tuchola Forest	Pomorskie	2010
West Polesie	Lubelskie	2012		Shared with Belarus and Ukraine

Portugal

Official name	Year of designation	Notes
Paúl do Boquilobo	1981
Corvo Island	2007
Graciosa Island	2007
Flores Island	2009
Geres/Xures	2009	Shared with Spain
Berlengas	2011
Santana Madeira	2011

Romania

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Pietrosul Mare		1979	1998
Retezat		1979	1998
Danube Delta	Northern Dobruja	1998	2003	Shared with Ukraine

Russia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Kavkazskiy	Krasnodar Krai	1978	1998
Okskiy		1978	1998	Part of Oka River Valley until 2000
Sikhote-Alin		1978	1998
Tsentral’nochernozem		1978	1999
Astrakhanskiy		1984	2006
Kronotskiy		1984	2005
Laplandskiy		1984	1998
Pechoro-Ilychskiy		1984	1998
Sayano-Shusenskiy		1984	1998
Sokhondinskiy		1984	1998
Voronezhskiy		1984	1998
Tsentral’nolesnoy		1985	1999
Baikalskyi		1986	2005	Part of Lake Baikal until 2000
Tzentralnosibirskii		1986	2005
Chernyje Zemli		1993	2009
Taimyrsky		1995	2009
Ubsurnorskaya Kotlovina		1997	2009
Daursky	Zabaykalsky Krai	1997	2009
Teberda		1997	2009
Katunsky		2000
Prioksko-Terrasnyi		1978	1999	Part of Oka River Valley until 2000
Barguzinskyi		1986	2012	Part of Lake Baikal until 2000
Nerusso-Desnianskoe-Polesie		2001
Visimskiy		2001
Vodlozersky		2001	2012
Commander Islands		2002
Darvinskiy		2002	2013
Nijegorodskoe Zavolje		2002
Smolensk Lakeland		2002	2013
Ugra		2002	2013
Far East Marine		2003
Kedrovaya Pad		2004
Kenozersky		2004
Valdaiskiy		2004
Khankaiskiy		2005
Great Volzhsko-Kamsky		2005		Composed of Raifa, Sarali, Spassky and Siyazhsky units
Middle-Volga Integrated		2006
Rostovsky		2008
Altaisky		2009
Volga-Akhtuba Floodplain		2001
Bashkirskiyi Ural		2012

Serbia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Golija-Studenica		2001	2012

Slovakia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Slovensky Kras	Eastern Slovakia	1977	1998, 2013
Polana		1990	2001, 2013
Tatra	Central Slovakia	1992		Shared with Poland
East Carpathians		1998		Shared with Poland and Ukraine

Slovenia

Official name	Location	Year of designation
Julian Alps	Julian Alps	2003
The Karst	Coast and Karst	2004
Kozjansko & Obsotelje		2010

Spain

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Grazalema	Andalusia	1977	2004
Ordesa-Viñamala	Aragón	1977	2000, 2011	Extended in 2013
Montseny	Catalonia	1978	2000, 2011
Doñana	Andalusia	1980	2004
Mancha Húmeda	Castile-La Mancha	1980	2002
Las Sierras de Cazorla y Segura	Andalusia	1983	2004
Marismas del Odiel	Andalusia	1983	2004
La Palma	Canary Islands	1983		Extended and renamed 1997, 2002
Urdaibai	Basque Country	1984	2000, 2011
Sierra Nevada	Andalusia	1986	2000
Cuenca Alta del Río Manzanares	Community of Madrid	1992	2006
Lanzarote	Canary Islands	1993	2007
Menorca	Menorca	1993	2006	Change in zonation 2004
Sierra de las Nieves y su Entorno	Andalusia	1995	2007
Cabo de Gata-Nijar	Andalusia	1997	2011
Isla de El Hierro	Canary Islands	2000	2013
Bardenas Reales	Navarre	2000	2011
Muniellos	Asturias	2000		Extended in 2003
Somiedo	Asturias	2000	2011
Redes	Asturias	2001	2013
Las Dehesas de Sierra Morena	Andalusia	2002
Terras de Miño	Galicia	2002
Valle de Laciana	Castile and Leon	2003
Picos de Europa	Asturias	2003
Monfragüe	Extremadura	2003
Valles de JUbera, Leza, Cidacos y Alhama	La Rioja	2003
Babia	Castile and Leon	2004
Alto Bernesga	Castile and Leon	2005
Área de Allariz	Galicia	2005
Gran Canaria	Canary Islands	2005
Sierra del Rincón	Community of Madrid	2005
Los Valles de Omaña y Luna	Castile and Leon	2005
Los Argüellos	Castile and Leon	2005
Las Sierras de Béjar y Francia	Castile and Leon	2006
Os Ancares Lucenses y Montes de Cervantes, Navya y Becerra	Galicia	2006
Los Ancares Leoneses	Castile and Leon	2006
Intercontinental Biospehere Reserve of the Mediterranean	Andalusia	2006		Shared with Morocco
Rio Eo, Oscos y Terras de Buron	Galicia	2007
Fuerteventura	Canary Islands	2009
Geres/Xures	Galicia	2009		Shared with Portugal
La Gomera	Canary Islands	2012
Las Ubiñas-La Mesa	Asturias	2012
Mariñas Coruñesas e Terras do Mandeo	Galicia	2012
Real Sitio de San Ildefonso-El Espinar	Castile and Leon	2013
Terres de l’Ebre, Catalonia	Catalonia	2013
Meseta Ibérica Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Portugal/Spain)	Castile and Leon	2015		Shared with Portugal
Macizo de Anaga	Canary Islands	2015
Tejo/Tajo Internacional Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Portugal/Spain)	Extremadura	2016		Shared with Portugal
Ponga	Asturias	2018
Alto Turia	Valencian Community	2019
La Siberia	Extremadura	2019
Valle del Cabriel	Castile-La Mancha	2019
Ribeira Sacra e Serras do Oribio e Courel Biosphere Reserve	Galicia	2021
Val d'Aran Biosphere Reserve	Catalonia	2024
Irati Biosphere Reserve	Navarre	2024

Sweden

Official name	Location	Year of designation
Kristianstad Vattenrike		2005
Lake Vänern Archipelago		2010
Blekinge Archipelago	Blekinge	2011
Nedre Dalälven River Landscape		2011
East Vättern landscape		2012

Switzerland

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Reservat da Biosfera Val Müstair-Parc Naziunal	Graubünden	1979		Extended and renamed in 2010
Entlebuch		2001	2012

Turkey

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Camili	Eastern Karadeniz	2005

Ukraine

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Chernomorskiy	1984	1998, 1999, 2012
Askaniya-Nova	1985	1998, 2012
Carpathian	1992	2003
Danube Delta	1998	2010	Shared with Romania
East Carpathians	1998		Shared with Poland and Slovakia
Desnianskyi	2009
West Polesie	2012		Shared with Belarus and Poland. Extended and renamed in 2012.

United Kingdom

Official name	Year of designation	Notes
Beinn Eighe	1976
Braunton Burrow-North Devon	1976	Extended in 2002.
Biosiffer Dyfi	1977	Extended and renamed in 2009.
Galloway and southern Ayrshire	2012
Brighton and Lewes Downs	2014

North America

Canada

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mont Saint Hilaire	Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec	1978	1998, 2009
Waterton	Southern Alberta, Alberta	1979	1998, 2009
Long Point	Lake Erie Shore, Ontario	1986	2001, 2012
Riding Mountain	Prairie Mountain, Manitoba	1986	2001, 2013
Charlevoix	Charlevoix, Quebec	1988	2003
Niagara Escarpment	From Niagara Falls to Tobermory, Ontario (see Bruce Trail)	1990	2002
Clayoquot Sound	Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia (see Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and Strathcona Provincial Park)	2000	2011
Redberry Lake	West Central Saskatchewan, near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	2000	2012
Lac Saint-Pierre	Trois-Rivières and Louiseville, Quebec	2000	2012
Mount Arrowsmith	Arrowsmith Coombs Country, Vancouver Island, British Columbia	2000	2011
South West Nova	Annapolis Valley, South Shore and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (see Kejimkujik National Park)	2001	2012
Thousand Islands-Frontenac Arch	Seaway Region Ontario	2002
Georgian Bay Littoral	Parry Sound, Ontario (see Georgian Bay Islands National Park)	2004	2016
Manicouagan Uapishka	Baie-Comeau, Quebec (see Quebec Route 389)	2007
Fundy	Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick	2007
Bras d’Or Lake	Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia	2011
Beaver Hills	Edmonton Capital Region, Alberta	2016
Tsá Tué	Délı̨nę, Northwest Territories	2016
Átl’ka7tsem	Gibsons, Squamish and West Vancouver, British Columbia (see Garibaldi Provincial Park)	2021		Átl’ka7tsem is the Squamish language name for Howe Sound, pronounced "At-Kat-sum"

Costa Rica

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
La Amistad	1982	2002
Cordillera Volcánica Central	1988	2003	Extended in 2010.
Agua y Paz	2007

Cuba

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Sierra del Rosario	1984	1998
Cuchillas del Toa	1987	1999
Península de Guanahacabibes	1987	1999
Baconao	1984	1999
Ciénaga de Zapata	2000	2011
Buenavista	2000	2011

Dominican Republic

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Jaragua-Bahorocu-Enriquillo		2002

El Salvador

Official name	Year of designation	Notes
Apaneca-Llamatepec	2007
Xiriualtique Jiquitizco	2007
Trifinio Fraternidad	2011	Shared with Guatemala and Honduras

Guatemala

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Maya Biosphere Reserve	Northern Lowlands (Guatemala)	1990	2001
Sierra de las Minas		1992	2013
Trifinio Fraternidad		2011		Shared with El Salvador and Honduras

Haiti

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
La Selle		2012

Honduras

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Notes
Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve	Caribbean Honduras	2007
Trifinio Fraternidad	Honduran Highlands	2011	Shared with El Salvador and Guatemala
Cacique Lempira, Senor de las Montanas	Honduran Highlands	2015
San Marcos de Colon	Honduran Highlands	2017

Mexico

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Mapimí	Durango (state)	1976	1998
La Michilía	Durango (state)	1977	1998
Montes Azules	Chiapas	1979	1998
El Cielo	Tamaulipas	1986	2002
Sian Ka’an	Quintana Roo	1986	2002
Sierra de Manantlán	Colima, Jalisco	1988	1999
Región de Calakmul	Campeche	1993	2005	Extended and renamed in 2006.
El Triunfo	Chiapas	1993	2005
El Vizcaíno	Baja California Sur	1993
Alto Golfo de California	Sonora	1993		Extended and renamed in 1995.
Islas del Golfo de California	Sonora, Sinaloa	1995
Sierra Gorda	Queretaro	2001	2013
Banco Chinchorro	Quintana Roo	2003
Sierra La Laguna	Baja California Sur	2003
Ría Celestún	Yucatán	2004
Ría Lagartos	Yucatán	2004
Arrecife Alcranes	Yucatán	2006
Barranca Metztitlán	Hidalgo	2006
Chamela-Cuixmala	Jalisco	2006
Cuatrociénegas	Coahuila	2006
Cumbres de Monterrey	Nuevo Leon	2006
Huatulco	Oaxaca	2006
La Encrucijada	Chiapas	2006
La Primavera	Jalisco	2006
La Sepultura	Chiapas	2006
Laguna Madre y Delta Río Bravo	Tamaulipas	2006
Los Tuxtlas	Veracruz (state)	2006
Maderas del Carmen, Coahuila	Coahuila	2006
Mariposa Monarca	Michoacan	2006
Pantanos de Centla	Tabasco	2006
Selva El Ocote	Chiapas	2006
Sierra de Huautla	Morelos	2006
Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano	Veracruz (state)	2006
Volcán Tacaná	Chiapas	2006
Sierra de Alamos-Río Cuchujaqui	Sonora	2007
Islas Marietas	Nayarit	2008
Los Petenes	Campeche	2008
Lagunas de Montebello	Chiapas	2009
Naha-Metzabok	Chiapas	2010
Los Volcanes	Puebla, Mexico (state)	2010
Islas Marias	Nayarit	2010
Tenhuacán-Cuicatlán	Puebla / Oaxaca	2012

Nicaragua

Official name	Location	Year of designation
Bosawas	Northern Highlands	1997
Río San Juan	Rio San Juan Region	2003
Ometepe Island	Isla de Ometepe	2010

Panama

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Darién		1983	2000
La Amistad	La Amistad International Park	2000

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
St. Mary’s		2011

United States of America

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Notes
Aleutian Islands	Southwestern Alaska	1976
Big Bend	Trans-Pecos	1976
Cascade Head	Central Oregon Coast	1976
Central Plain	Eastern Plains	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Channel Islands	Channel Islands National Park	1976
Coram	Northwestern Montana	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Denali	Interior Alaska	1976
Desert	Western Utah	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Everglades & Dry Tortugas	Southwest Florida	1976
Fraser	Front Range	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Glacier (Crown of the Continent)	Glacier National Park	1976
H.J Andrews	Willamette National Forest	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Hubbard Brook	White Mountains	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Jornada	Southwest New Mexico	1976
Luquillo	El Yunque National Forest	1976
Noatak	Noatak National Preserve	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Olympic	Olympic National Park	1976
Organ Pipe Cactus	Western Arizona	1976
Rocky Mountain	Rocky Mountain National Park	1976
San Dimas	San Gabriel Valley	1976	Withdrawn in 2018.
San Joaquin	Madera County	1976	Withdrawn in 2019.
Sequoia-Kings Canyon	Sierra Nevada	1976
Stanislaus-Tuolumne	Sierra Nevada	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Three Sisters	Sisters	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Virgin Islands	Saint John	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Yellowstone-Grand Teton	Montana, Wyoming	1976
Beaver Creek	Northern Arizona	1976	Withdrawn in 2017.
Konza Prarie	Flint Hills	1978	Withdrawn in 2017.
Niwot Ridge	Front Range	1979	Withdrawn in 2017.
University of Michigan Biological Station	Central Michigan	1979
Virginia Coast	Eastern Shore	1979
Hawaiian Islands	Hawaii	1980	Includes Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakalā National Parks.
Isle Royale	Isle Royale National Park	1980
Big Thicket	Deep East Texas	1981
Guanica	Guánica	1981
California Coast Ranges	Bay Area, North Coast	1983	Withdrawn in 2017.
Central Gulf Coast Plain	Forgotten Coast	1983
South Atlantic Coastal Plain	Greater Columbia	1983
Mojave and Colorado Deserts	California Desert	1984	Includes Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Santa Rosa Mountains and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Carolinian-South Atlantic	Georgia, South Carolina	1986	Withdrawn in 2017.
Glacier Bay-Admiralty Island	Southeastern Alaska	1986
Golden Gate	Bay Area	1988
New Jersey Pinelands	Pine Barrens	1988
Southern Appalachian	Great Smoky Mountains National Park	1988
Champlain-Adirondak	Champlain Valley, Adirondacks	1986
Mammoth Cave Area	Caves and Lakes	1990	Extended in 1996.
Land Between The Lakes Area	Western Waterlands	1991	Withdrawn in 2017.

Oceania

Australia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Croajingolong		1977	2003
Kosciuszko		1977	2003
Prince Regent River		1977	2003
Unnamed	Mamungari Conservation Park / Unnamed Conservation Park	1977	2003
Uluru		1977	2003
Yathong		1977	2003
Fitzgerald River		1978	2003, 2013
Hattah-Kulkyne & Murray-Kulkybe		1981	2003
Wilson’s Promontory	Wilsons Promontory National Park	1981	2003
Riverland		1977	2003	renamed twice, extended in 1995
Mornington Penincula and Western Port		2002
Barkindji		2005
Noosa		2007
Great Sandy	Great Sandy National Park	2009

Federated States of Micronesia

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Utwe		2005
And Atoll		2007

Palau

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Ngaremeduu		2005

South America

Argentina

Laguna Oca y Herraduras del Río Paraguay

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
San Guillermo	1980	2000
Laguna Blanca	1982	2000
Costero del Sur	1984	2000
Ñacuñán	1986	2000
Laguna de Pozuelos	1990	2006
Yabotí	1995	2006
Mar Chiquito	1996	2012
Delta del Paraná	2000
Riacho Teuquito	1984	2000
San Guillermo	2000
Laguna Oca y Herraduras del Río Paraguay	2001		Renamed and extended in 2014.
Las Yungas	2002
Andino Norpatagónica	2007
Pereyra Iraola	2007
Valdés	2014

Bolivia

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Pilón-Lajas	1977	2006
Ulla Ulla	1977	2006
Beni	1986	2000

Brazil

Official name	Year of designation	Notes
Mata Atlântica (including Sao Paolo Green Belt)	1993	Extended in 2002, 2009
Cerrado	1993	Extended in 2000, 2001
Pantanal	2000
Caatinga	2001
Central Amazon	2001
Espinhaço Range	2005

Chile

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Fray Jorge	Bosque de Fray Jorge National Park	1977	1999	Extended in 2012
Juan Fernández	Juan Fernández Islands	1977	1999
Torres de Paine	Torres del Paine National Park	1978	1999
Laguna San Rafael	Laguna San Rafael National Park	1979	1999
Lauca	Lauca National Park	1981	1999
Araucarias	Conguillío National Park, Alto Bío Bío National Reserve	1983	1999	Extended in 2010.
La Campana-Peñuelas	La Campana National Park, Lago Peñuelas National Reserve	1984	1999	Extended in 2009.
Cabo de Hornos	Cabo de Hornos National Park	2005
Bosques Templados Lluviosos de los Andes Australes	Villarrica National Park (partially) Puyehue National Park Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park Alerce Andino National Park Hornopirén National Park Mocho-Choshuenco National Reserve Llanquihue National Reserve Futaleufú National Reserve	2005
Corredor Biológico Nevados de Chillán - Laguna del Laja	Laguna del Laja National Park	2011

Colombia

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Cinturón Andino	1979	2001
El Tuparro	1979	2001
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta	1979	2001
Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta	2000	2011
Seaflower	2000	2011

Ecuador

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Archipiélago de Colón (Galápagos)	1984	1999
Yasuni	1989	2001
Sumasco	2000		Extended in 2002.
Podocarpus-El Condor	2007
Macizo del Cajas	2013
Bosque Seco	2014

Paraguay

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Bosque Mbaracayú		2000	2013
El Chaco		2005

Peru

Official name	Year of designation	Periodic review
Huascarán	1977	1999, 2005
Manu	1977	1999
Noroeste	1977	1999
Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha	2010

Uruguay

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Bañados del Este		1976	2005
Bioma Pampa-Quebradas del Norte		2014

Venezuela

Official name	Location	Year of designation	Periodic review	Notes
Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare		1993
Delta del Orinoco		2009

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