The 24th Chinese Biosphere Reserves Network (CBRN) Member Conference, marking the 50th anniversary of China's participation in the Man and the Biosphere Programme and the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Biosphere Reserves Network, was held on Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province between November 27 and 30, 2023. Nine institutions officially joined in CBRN membership at the conference, including the Hunan Nanshan National Park Management Bureau and the Management Center of the National Giant Salamander Nature Reserve in Zhangjiajie. 

(Photos were provided by the correspondant.)

Initiated in 1971, the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme of UNESCO is an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to improve human livelihoods and safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.

China joined in the programme in 1973 and established CBRN in 1993. As of November this year, the membership of the programme has increased to 200, including 34 biosphere reserves around the world.

The Nanshan National Park is situated at the intersection of the western range of Nanling Mountain and the southern range of Xuefeng Mountain, featuring an overlap of the flora and fauna of the central and southern regions of China. It is highly valued as a typical example of the forest ecosystem in mid-subtropical areas, a model of China's Danxia landform of a mature stage, an important part of the ecological shield area of the hilly and mountainous in southern China, and an inheritor of the fine traditional Chinese culture and the Long March revolutionary culture.

The National Giant Salamander Nature Reserve in Zhangjiajie is China's first and largest national-level natural reserve which was established to protect the giant salamanders and their habitat. Located in an inland biodiversity protection priority area, it is an important water resource of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn

Photo source: hunantoday