In a pivotal moment for global conservation policy, UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme has endorsed the Hangzhou Strategic Action Plan (HSAP) 2026–2035 (UNESCO, 2025), a decade-long roadmap that positions the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) as central actors in delivering biodiversity, climate and sustainable-development goals (SDGs). The plan — developed and opened for global consultation in the run-up to the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves — articulates strategic directions, measurable action targets and practical instruments to strengthen biosphere reserves as living laboratories for people and nature (Ma, 2025).

1. Significance

The HSAP replaces and builds on prior MAB guidance (including the 2015–2025 strategy and the Lima Action Plan), responding to three converging realities: accelerating biodiversity loss, the need to mainstream ecosystem resilience into climate and development planning, and the demand for area-based solutions that are socially equitable and culturally anchored. The WNBR — a global network of sites that combine conservation, sustainable development and logistical support for research and education — is uniquely positioned to translate international targets into local actions. The HSAP therefore reframes biosphere reserves not only as protected areas, but as instruments to deliver multilateral environmental agreements on the ground with a special focus at sustainable development agenda.

Three features make the Hangzhou plan consequential. First, it explicitly aligns the MAB decade (2026–2035) with broader global agendas — notably the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and the Sustainable Development Goals — meaning that progress in biosphere reserves will be measured against internationally agreed biodiversity targets. Second, the HSAP emphasizes people-centered, equity-based implementation: Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are placed at the heart of the plan's vision, reflecting current best practice in rights-based conservation which emphasizes the importance of recognizing and respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local.

Communities in biodiversity conservation efforts (Ma et al., 2022). Third, the plan moves forward by tabling 34 action targets and operational pathways — a shift from strategic aspiration to programmatic delivery. Together these elements aim to re-energize investment, technical support and policy leverage for WNBRs worldwide (Fig. 1). The action targets are voluntary and countries are strongly encouraged to make efforts toward their effective implementation.

2. Key points of action targets

The HSAP organizes its 34 action targets under three core objectives:

1. Contribute to international agreements and sustainable development — targets that embed biosphere reserves in national reporting and implementation mechanisms for the KMGBF, the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. These include targets to expand the WNBR's coverage, prioritize high-biodiversity and under-represented regions, and foster transboundary reserves where appropriate.

2. Strengthen the MAB Programme and its WNBR capacity — targets focused on governance, financing, scientific excellence and knowledge exchange. This includes improving monitoring systems, scaling up research and education platforms, building human and financial resources at national and site levels, and creating stronger partnerships with universities, research institutions, civil society and the private sector.

3. Deliver resilience, equity and sustainable livelihoods locally — targets that emphasize nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity-sensitive land-use planning, and the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in reserve governance. The HSAP emphasizes climate adaptation and the protection of ecosystem services that sustain local economies and cultural values.

Each target is linked to indicators and suggested instruments — from technical guidance and capacity building to financing mechanisms — intended to make commitments actionable rather than merely aspirational (Table S1). Early drafts and presentations at the World Congress have repeatedly emphasized a monitoring and reporting backbone so Member States and reserve managers can track progress.

3. Special features compared to the Lima and Madrid Action plans

The Hangzhou plan marks a significant evolution from its predecessors, the Madrid Action Plan (2008–2013) (UNESCO, 2008) and the Lima Action Plan (2016–2025) (UNESCO, 2016).

Stronger integration with global frameworks: The Madrid and Lima plans primarily focused on strengthening the identity and visibility of the MAB Programme and its network. Hangzhou plan goes further by explicitly aligning its 34 action targets with the KMGBF, SDGs, and climate frameworks. This ensures direct contributions of biosphere reserves to multilateral environmental agreements.

Enhanced emphasis on equity and rights: While the Lima Action Plan highlighted participation, the HSAP institutionalizes equity by embedding Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities at the core of governance and implementation. This marks a paradigm shift toward more inclusive conservation.

Operational detail and monitoring: The Madrid and Lima plans articulated priorities but offered limited mechanisms for monitoring implementation. The HSAP introduces clear indicators, reporting mechanisms, and a culture of iterative learning to ensure that commitments translate into measurable outcomes.

Focus on financing and partnerships: Previous action plans emphasized scientific cooperation. The HSAP adds financing innovation, private-sector engagement, and cross-sector partnerships as central pillars — recognizing that sustainable financing and collaboration are critical for long-term impact.

4. Looking forward to the implementation

The HSAP champions scientific research by positioning its World Network of Biosphere Reserves as crucial sites for generating knowledge to tackle global conservation and sustainability challenges. The plan strongly advocates for biosphere reserves to function as "landscape laboratories" where transdisciplinary research can be conducted to test and monitor pathways towards conservation and sustainability (Leibenath et al., 2024). This involves promoting research that adopts a social-ecological systems framework, integrating natural and social sciences to better understand and manage these complex landscapes effectively. The framework provides a more inclusive approach, since it integrates the findings of studies with different research perspectives, considers a plurality of values attributed to natural resources, and the social–ecological system's scales dynamics (Ferreira et al., 2018). The HSAP encourages research not just on biodiversity but also on collaborative governance and stakeholder participation, which are vital for the reserves' success. Furthermore, the plan promotes an inclusive approach to science, urging the integration of local and indigenous knowledge systems with academic research to create holistic solutions (Sandström et al., 2025).

Implementing the HSAP requires innovative, data-driven monitoring, for which advanced technologies are essential. Remote sensing from satellites and drones provides a macro-level view, tracking large-scale habitat changes and ecosystem health (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-015-0947-z; Petrou et al., 2015). On the ground, automated sensors like camera traps and bioacoustic recorders offer non-invasive, continuous data on wildlife populations and species diversity. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis complements this by detecting rare or aquatic species from simple soil and water samples, providing a more complete biodiversity inventory (Kestel et al., 2025). The true power emerges when Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used to process the massive datasets generated by these tools. AI rapidly analyzes images, sounds, and genetic data, transforming it into actionable intelligence for managers (Tuia et al., 2022). This integrated technological framework creates a powerful, multi-scalar monitoring system. It enables the evidence-based, adaptive management that is fundamental to the Hangzhou Plan's vision for biosphere reserves as global models for sustainability.

The HSAP strengthens the KMGBF's implementation by aligning site-level targets in biosphere reserves with KMGBF goals, the HSAP creates a spatially explicit delivery mechanism — turning national and global targets into locally measurable outcomes (Han, 2025). The plan's emphasis on monitoring and data (including long-term ecological and socio-economic metrics) can feed the national reporting that KMGBF requires, improving the transparency and credibility of reported progress (Leibenath et al., 2024). The HSAP's call for financing innovation and strengthened partnerships could help mobilize the investments needed to close the KMGBF implementation gap between ambition and on-the-ground action. In short, the Hangzhou plan operationalizes KMGBF intent inside a mature network of sites suited for demonstration, scaling and learning.

Certain ambiguities persist with respect to financing and capacity-building arrangements, particularly concerning supplementary financing mechanisms. It is therefore essential to identify potential implementation risks and to establish appropriate contingency measures to address possible challenges, such as policy inconsistencies among countries or delays in fund disbursement during the implementation phase. In addition, cross-border protected areas may encounter constraints arising from issues of sovereignty, thereby highlighting the importance of establishing effective regional coordination and cooperation mechanisms. Translating the HSAP into measurable conservation gains will require political will, predictable funding, capacity building at national and site levels, and robust data systems. Member States and MAB partners will need to mainstream biosphere reserve contributions into national biodiversity strategies and NBSAPs, scale up monitoring networks and create financing instruments that reward local stewardship (Curtet et al., 2024). The HSAP will be tested, monitored and refined as Member States begin implementation.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, China (2022YFE0209400).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Ke-Ping Ma: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2025.11.002.