In a Man & the Biosphere (MAB)-sponsored meeting, 16 scientists from the USSR, China, Czechoslovakia, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, West Germany and Canada, met at UNESCO in Paris January 23-26, 1990 to consider how a small sub-set of the 273 MAB biosphere reserves could be developed into an international network to monitor and study global change in the reserves.
The meeting focused on how to structure such a network, but there was also strong interest in developing pilot projects oriented toward scientific questions, both simple monitoring projects between two sites and more complex projects involving many sites.
Products planned include a booklet for scientific organizations and governmental agencies describing the need for international long-term ecological research at biosphere reserves, and a technical report of the January 1990 meeting which includes papers on biosphere reserve activities in various countries (both scheduled for late 1990 completion).
For further information contact Caroline Bledsoe, National Science Foundation, BSR, Room 215, 1800 G Street NW Washington DC 20550.