UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), launched in 1971, is an Intergovernmental Scientific Programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.

MAB combines the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihoods and the equitable sharing of benefits, and to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable.

There are 714 biosphere reserves in 129 countries, including 21 transboundary sites, that belong to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. (as of February 2021)

South Korea has eight biosphere reserves: Mt. Sorak (1982), Jeju Island (2002), Shinan Dadohae (2009), Gwangneung Forest (2010), Gochang (2013), Suncheon (2018), Gangwon Eco-Peach (2019), and Yeoncheon Imjin River (2019).