Afrimab: Biosphere reserves in sub-saharan Africa: showcasing sustainable development - Edited by Ruida Pool-Stanvliet and Miguel Clüsener-Godt

Africa is a vast continent of more than 30 million square kilometres, covering a fifth of the Earth's total land area and housing 15 percent of the human population of the world. 

Sub-Saharan Africa covers about 23 million square kilometres and is made up of 48 countries. UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme is active throughout Africa. AfriMAB is the sub-regional network of biosphere reserves for Sub-Saharan Africa and currently includes 64 biosphere reserves in 28 countries.

Biosphere reserves have to conform to specific guidelines in accordance with the MAB Programme, which addresses a specific designation of functions and zonations. Globally, biosphere reserves are considered as sites of excellence where new and optimal practices in the management of the interface of nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. The MAB programme is used as a tool to help countries implement the objectives of the World Summit on Sustainable Development as well as the Ecosystem Approach of the Convention on Biological Diversity. UNESCO has drafted the Madrid Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves (2008 - 2013) that provides an evaluation framework for the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In accordance with this Plan, biosphere reserves are positioned to create a new partnership between environmental and development agendas. In Africa, projected to be the fastest growing region in the World, this is an imperative concept to ensure sustainability. 

This publication on biosphere reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa is the culmination of an idea that had its origin at the AfriMAB meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010. The book is aimed at exchanging information, providing for learning experiences, and creating awareness of the MAB Programme and its value towards sustainable development in African countries.

Readers are invited to share our stories, in an intellectual and emotional way, and to experience life in biosphere reserves as it plays out on a daily basis in our beloved Africa.