Newly named a biosphere reserve, Indawgyi Lake is the largest body of freshwater in Myanmar.
UN Announces 23 New Nature Reserves While U.S. Removes 17
New UNESCO Biosphere Reserves protect sites across the world, while the U.S. and Bulgaria withdraw sites from the well-known program.
A major list of the world’s wildest natural treasures was just expanded—although a number of sites were also removed.
The International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), meeting this week in Paris, added 23 new sites to the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), a program of the United Nations.
Proposals for 28 new reserves and site extensions in 22 countries were considered (11 of those reserve extensions were approved and one reserve was renamed). Previously, the network consisted of 669 sites in 120 countries.
At the same time, the council approved requests by the U.S. and Bulgaria to remove some of those countries’ biosphere reserves from the official list. The U.S. withdrew 17 sites (out of
