From 22-26 September, MRI Chair Jörg Balsiger and MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler attended the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in Hangzhou, China. This event aimed to map out the future of UNESCO biosphere reserves by deciding on a new Strategy and Action Plan for 2026-2035, and the MRI was proud to bring a mountain research perspective to this pivotal global dialogue.
“Inaction will influence our future forever.” These words from Lidia Arthur Brito, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences at UNESCO, added a strong sense of urgency to last month’s 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves. Against a backdrop of accelerating climate and biodiversity crises, 4,000 delegates from 150 countries came together to chart a new path for the forthcoming decade of work under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, endorsing the Hangzhou Strategic Action Plan (HSAP) 2026–2035 and Hangzhou Declaration – two key frameworks that will guide biosphere reserves in advancing sustainable development for the decade ahead.
Among those contributing to this important dialogue was the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), supporting the World Network of Mountain Biosphere Reserves (WNMBR) in ensuring that the world’s mountains – home to exceptional biodiversity, cultural heritage, and communities living on the frontlines of global change – were firmly represented in discussions shaping the MAB Programme’s future.
Elevating Mountain Systems in Global Sustainability Conversations
At the Congress, MRI Executive Director Dr. Carolina Adler joined a plenary panel on Synergies with Other Biodiversity-Related Conventions and International Organizations. Drawing on her experience as an IPCC Lead Author, Adler emphasized the critical role of biosphere reserves as “pilots that set the context for evaluating nature-based solutions” – living laboratories where integrated, community-driven approaches can be tested and scaled.
She highlighted that resilient ecosystems are foundational for the success of nature-based solutions, warning that climate change impacts and degraded landscapes create conditions where these ecosystems risk becoming sources, rather than absorbers, of greenhouse gas emissions. “Biosphere reserves,” Adler stressed, “are essential in demonstrating how adaptation and mitigation can go hand in hand, providing concrete contexts in which these measures can be evaluated for their effectiveness, thereby supporting both people and nature in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
Alongside her other panellists, Adler also called for greater efforts to link biosphere reserves with other global monitoring systems to reduce data fragmentation, and to integrate Indigenous knowledge and local worldviews into the future implementation of the HSAP – a message that resonated strongly with the Congress’s overarching emphasis on inclusion, collaboration, and co-production of knowledge.
Pictured: MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler participates in a panel discussion at the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves. Image credit: IISD/ENB – Andrés Felipe Carvajal Gómez.
Strengthening Collaboration for the Decade Ahead
MRI Chair Professor Jörg Balsiger also took part in the Congress, where he contributed to discussions on the scientific foundations of sustainable mountain development and the importance of linking research and practice within biosphere reserves. Reflecting on the event, Balsiger remarked:
“[This has been] a wonderful opportunity to deepen and strengthen an important dialogue. The long-standing collaboration between MRI and the MAB Programme is alive and well, with exciting plans for a future in which MRI is already demonstrating key contributions. A big thanks again to the organizers: a most impressive display of commitment to UNESCO!”
Balsiger’s reflections underscored the enduring and fruitful partnership between the MRI and UNESCO’s MAB Programme, built around a shared vision of fostering knowledge exchange and strengthening networks such as the WNMBR. This collaboration continues to spotlight the unique value of mountains as crucial laboratories for sustainability science and models for resilience in a changing climate.
Looking Forward: From Hangzhou to the Highlands
The newly adopted Hangzhou Strategic Action Plan (HSAP) 2026–2035 provides a roadmap for how biosphere reserves – and the networks connecting them – can advance the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and beyond. Its emphasis on research, capacity building, and equitable governance aligns closely with the MRI’s mission to connect people, science, policy, and practice for sustainable mountain development.
For mountain regions, the next decade represents an opportunity to further demonstrate how integrated science and inclusive governance can address global challenges from the ground up. Through their contributions to the Congress, Adler and Balsiger highlighted that mountain biosphere reserves are not only sites of vulnerability, but can also be places of innovation, resilience, and hope – spaces where the balance between people and nature can be reimagined and renewed.
Read More:
- Hangzhou Strategic Action Plan (HSAP) 2026–2035
- Hangzhou Declaration
- IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin: Summary Report
- UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB)
- World Network of Mountain Biosphere Reserves (WNMBR)
Cover image: MRI Chair Jörg Balsiger and MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler at the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves. Image credit: MRI.