Biodiv Sci ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (9): 25267.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2025267  cstr: 32101.14.biods.2025267

Special Issue: 世界生物圈保护区专题

• Special Feature: World Biosphere Reserves • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Global South-North differences in ecological representativeness and conservation performance of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves

Hui Wu1,2, Le Yu1,3*, Jianqiao Zhao4, Shijun Zheng1, Tao Liu1, Wenchao Qi1, Qiang Zhao1, Li Zhu5, Xiaoli Shen5, Keping Ma2,5   

  1. 1 Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 

    2 Northeast Asia Biodiversity Research Center, College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China 

    3 Ministry of Education Ecological Field Station for East Asian Migratory Birds, Beijing 100084, China 

    4 College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China 

    5 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China

  • Received:2025-07-12 Revised:2025-10-20 Accepted:2025-10-21 Online:2025-09-20 Published:2025-10-31
  • Contact: Le Yu
  • Supported by:
    the National Key R&D Program of China(2024YFF1307600); the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42401314); Chebaling National Nature Reserve Phenology Monitoring Network Construction and Application Project(CBLHT-2025050); the Investigation Research Program between Ecological Environment and Human Health in Wuyi Mountain(20242120035)

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Abstract:

Background: The World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), established under the framework of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme  (MAB), plays a key role in linking biodiversity conservation with sustainable development. However, the ecological representativeness and conservation effectiveness of the network remain uneven across the Global South and the Global North. Existing knowledge gaps persist in systematically comparing their performance in habitat protection and spatial coverage of priority biodiversity areas. This study provided a global assessment of the ecological outcomes and spatial representativeness of 759 biosphere reserves, with a particular focus on South–North differences. 

Results: Analysis of habitat quality data from 1992 to 2020 and three global conservation priority layers—Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs), and Centres of Plant Diversity (CPDs)—show that although habitat quality has generally declined over the past three decades, the rate of decline has slowed in the past ten years. Habitat conditions in the Global North have remained more stable and at higher levels than those in the Global South. The coverage of KBAs, EBAs, and CPDs by biosphere reserves reached 11.91%, 9.76%, and 9.52%, respectively, all notably higher than the expected random coverage of 4.83%. 

Problems & Prospects: Despite these positive signals, significant spatial gaps persist in ecologically critical regions—such as tropical mountains and islands—particularly within the Global South. These disparities highlight structural imbalances in monitoring capacity, conservation financing, and institutional support between the Global North and South. Looking ahead, building a more representative, equitable, and adaptive global conservation framework will depend on addressing these South–North differences and advancing the collaborative potential of the WNBR.

Key words: Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB),  Biosphere Reserves (BRs),  biodiversity

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