Launched in 1971, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme 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 to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable. Its World Network of Biosphere Reserves currently counts 686 sites in 122 countries all over the world, including Indawgyi Lake.
