National committee

In 1972, just one year after the start of the MAB programme, the Austrian National MAB Committee was established at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), based on an agreement with the federal ministry of science and research and charged with the task of controlling and coordinating MAB research. Austria is one of the first nations to get involved in the MAB programme. The National Committee is made up of acclaimed scientists, plus representatives of ministries, federal land organizations, the Austrian UNESCO Commission and NGOs, and was endowed with a separate research budget from the start. This budget allows the Committee not just to identify research gaps, but to fill them with appropriate research projects. The National Committee monitors Austrian research, analyses research needs, formulates new research strategies and stimulates as well as funds research projects. Overall, the MAB National Committee, which is unique in the world for having its own research budget, has funded countless research projects in the four decades of its existence. The National Committee advises and supports BR managements on scientific and technical issues and provides the link to the MAB Secretariat in Paris. It is also responsible for any submission to UNESCO of an area as a biosphere reserve as well as for enforcing the UNESCO standards.

Members of the Austrian MAB National Committee