EarthTrends (http://earthtrends.wri.org) Searchable Database Results
Provided by the World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org)
"Biodiversity and Protected Areas -- Protected Areas: Biosphere reserves, number"

"Units: Number"

,,2004,
World
"World","",459,

,,2004,
Region/Classification
"Asia (excluding Middle East)","",67,
"Central America & Caribbean","",32,
"Europe","",172,
"Middle East & North Africa","",26,
"North America","",60,
"Oceania","",12,
"South America","",40,
"Sub-Saharan Africa","",50,

,,2004,
Country
"Algeria","DZA",6,
"Argentina","ARG",11,
"Australia","AUS",12,
"Austria","AUT",5,
"Belarus","BLR",3,
"Benin","BEN",2,
"Bolivia","BOL",3,
"Brazil","BRA",5,
"Bulgaria","BGR",16,
"Burkina Faso","BFA",2,
"Cambodia","KHM",1,
"Cameroon","CMR",3,
"Canada","CAN",13,
"Côte d'Ivoire","CIV",2,
"Central African Rep","CAF",2,
"Chile","CHL",7,
"China","CHN",26,
"Colombia","COL",5,
"Congo","COG",2,
"Congo, Dem Rep","COD",3,
"Costa Rica","CRI",2,
"Croatia","HRV",1,
"Cuba","CUB",6,
"Czech Rep","CZE",7,
"Denmark","DNK",1,
"Dominican Rep","DOM",1,
"Ecuador","ECU",3,
"Egypt","EGY",2,
"Estonia","EST",1,
"Finland","FIN",2,
"France","FRA",10,
"Gabon","GAB",1,
"Germany","DEU",14,
"Ghana","GHA",1,
"Greece","GRC",2,
"Guatemala","GTM",2,
"Guinea","GIN",4,
"Guinea-Bissau","GNB",1,
"Honduras","HND",1,
"Hungary","HUN",5,
"India","IND",4,
"Indonesia","IDN",6,
"Iran, Islamic Rep","IRN",9,
"Ireland","IRL",2,
"Israel","ISR",1,
"Italy","ITA",8,
"Japan","JPN",4,
"Jordan","JOR",1,
"Kenya","KEN",6,
"Korea, Dem People's Rep","PRK",2,
"Korea, Rep","KOR",2,
"Kyrgyzstan","KGZ",2,
"Latvia","LVA",1,
"Madagascar","MDG",3,
"Malawi","MWI",1,
"Mali","MLI",1,
"Mauritius","MUS",1,
"Mexico","MEX",16,
"Mongolia","MNG",4,
"Morocco","MAR",2,
"Netherlands","NLD",1,
"Nicaragua","NIC",2,
"Niger","NER",2,
"Nigeria","NGA",1,
"Pakistan","PAK",1,
"Panama","PAN",2,
"Paraguay","PRY",1,
"Peru","PER",3,
"Philippines","PHL",2,
"Poland","POL",9,
"Portugal","PRT",1,
"Romania","ROU",3,
"Russian Federation","RUS",34,
"Rwanda","RWA",1,
"Senegal","SEN",3,
"Serbia and Montenegro","YUG",2,
"Slovakia","SVK",4,
"Slovenia","SVN",2,
"South Africa","ZAF",4,
"Spain","ESP",27,
"Sri Lanka","LKA",3,
"Sudan","SDN",2,
"Sweden","SWE",1,
"Switzerland","CHE",2,
"Tanzania","TZA",3,
"Thailand","THA",4,
"Tunisia","TUN",4,
"Turkmenistan","TKM",1,
"Uganda","UGA",1,
"Ukraine","UKR",6,
"United Kingdom","GBR",9,
"United States","USA",47,
"Uruguay","URY",1,
"Uzbekistan","UZB",1,
"Venezuela","VEN",1,
"Viet Nam","VNM",4,
"Yemen","YEM",1,

Footnotes
No footnotes

Source
"United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - Man and Biosphere Program. 2004. UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory. Available on-line at: http://www.unesco.org/mab/wnbr.htm.  Paris, France."


Technical Notes
"Definition:"
"This dataset refers to the number of biosphere reserves located in each country.  Biosphere reserves are representative of terrestrial and coastal environments that have been internationally recognized under the Man and the Biosphere Programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These sites have been selected for their value in reconciling conservation and sustainable use; they are intended to foster the scientific knowledge and skills necessary for improving the balance between people and nature, and for promoting sustainable development.  Each reserve must contain a diverse, natural ecosystem large enough to be an effective conservation unit. "
""
"Years Covered and Frequency of Update:"
"The data shown here is from the UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory, last updated by UNESCO in November, 2004.  The directory is available online at: http://www.unesco.org/mab/wnbr.htm.  "
""
"Methodology:"
"Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the State where they are located. The reserves must meet a set of criteria and conditions set out in the Statutory Framework before being admitted into the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Each biosphere reserve is intended to fulfill three basic functions: "
"1) a conservation function - to contribute to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation; "
"2) a development function - to foster economic and human development which is socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable; "
"3) a logistic function - to provide support for research, monitoring, education and information exchange related to local, national and global issues of conservation and development. "
""
"Some biosphere reserves are shared by two or more countries.  For example, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is shared by Romania and Ukraine. These sites are counted only once in regional and world totals, although they are tallied in each country that share that site.  In addition, while some countries have their own nationally designated biosphere reserve programs, only those reserves recognized under UNESCO's Man and Biosphere framework as being part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves are shown here."
""
"Some biosphere reserves simultaneously encompass areas protected under other systems (such as national parks or nature reserves) and other internationally recognized sites (such as World Heritage sites or Ramsar wetland sites). A listing of these sites is available on line at: http://www.unesco.org/mab/BR-WH.htm and at http://www.unesco.org/mab/BR-Ramsar.htm. "
""
"Data Reliability:"
"Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments for international recognition as a part of UNESCO'S Man and biosphere programs.  Data presented here are an accurate account of the number of formally recognized biosphere reserves as of November, 2004.  Sites that had been nominated by national governments, but not yet recieved recognition at that time and sites that have been recognized since are not included.  Please refer to http://www.unesco.org/mab/wnbr.htm for the most recent directory."