The reserves at Simplipal in Orissa, Norkek in Meghalaya and Panchmarhi in Madhya Pradesh are added to the list today bringing the total number of sites to 553.
UNESCO, whose International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB-ICC) is meeting on the Island of Jeju in South Korea, now has its Biosphere Reserves in 107 countries.
Similipal, 320 kilometre from Bhuvneshwar, which used to be the hunting ground of the Maharajah of Mayurbhanj is now a home to three animal species--Tiger, Asian Elephant and gaur.
Nokrek, a famous biological hot spot, harbouring elephants,tigers, leopards and gibbons.
While Panchmarhi, which has tiger and other wildlife resorts, is considered a botanists paradise.
Biosphere reserves are areas designated to serve as places to test different approaches to integrated management of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine resources and biodiversity. As a result, they are sites for experimenting with and learning about sustainable development.
Ten of these sites in Asia, Europe getting six and the rest divided among Australia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.
Swabian Alb in Germany, covered by beech forests and orchards and housed a military training area that was closed to the public for over 100 years until recently, is also on the list.
Other approved sites include Giam Siak Kecil – Bukit Batu, Indonesia, a peat land area in Sumatra featuring sustainable timber production and two wildlife reserves which are home to the Sumatran tiger, elephant, tapir, and sun bear, and Tasik Chini, the first site in Malaysia designated as a UNESCO designated biosphere reserve, which is a sanctuary for many freshwater species.
The other new sites are: Lagunas de Montebello (Mexico), Flores Island (Portugal), Geres-Xures (Portugal and Spain), Shinan Dadohae (ROK), Altaisky (Russia), Vhembe (South Africa), Fuerteventura (Spain), Lajat Biosphere Reserve (Syria).
Apart from this, Desnianskyi (Ukraine), Delta del Orinoco (Venezuela), Cu Lao Cham – Hoi An (Viet Nam), Mui Ca Mau (Viet Nam), Mount Myohyang (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Biosphare Bliesgau (Germany), and Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve (Lebanon), are also on the list.
