UNESCO has approved the designation of 11 new biosphere reserves in 11 countries, including Belgium and Gambia for the first time and two transboundary biosphere reserves.

The other new biosphere reserves are located in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Italy, Mongolia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Slovenia and Spain.

With these new biosphere reserves covering a total area of 37 400 km², equivalent to the size of the Netherlands, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves now totals 759 sites in 136 countries.