MAB France co-ordinates the activities of a network of 10 French biosphere reserves and encourages exchange of information, experience and personnel.

The reserve co-ordinators meet regularly and share ideas in the « Lettre de la biosphère », published every two months. MAB France documents can be consulted on the Bibliothèque de l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des mines de Paris web site.

International co-operation is encouraged. The MAB committee and the Biosphere Reserves of France participate actively in the regional network EUROMAB which gathers the MAB committees and national networks of the European countries and North America. It meets every two years. The meetings revolve around fundamental issues and also concrete experiences: What measures should be taken for the scientific follow-up of biodiversity? How can local participation be encouraged? What type of tourism should be preferred? How can the continuing drift from the land be accommodated? What is the best way to act on a local basis while preserving a global approach to land development. This is the type of question discussed on the international level. The meetings are relayed on internet by discussion groups. Co-operation programmes are established: for instance BRIM whose role is to develop the data bases that cover Biosphere Reserve issues.

The quite original Cross-Border Biosphere Reserves, spanning national frontiers that have often been a source of conflict in the past, are now very much in the forefront. Running a territory that covers a common culture but which can be administratively and politically very different, is a challenging task.

Examples in Europe include the reserve of the eastern Carpathians which covers borders between Poland, Slovakia and the Ukraine; the Danube delta reserve is part Romanian part Ukrainian; the Tatras are in a biosphere reserve crossing the Poland-Slovakia border; in both Poland and the Czech republic there is the Giant Mounts reserve (Krkokonose). France contributes the Vosges du Nord and Germany the Pfälzerwald to give the Franco-German cross-border biosphere reserve.

The Guadeloupe biosphere reserve is the driving force behind the creation of a regional network for the Caribbean islands. A co-operation programme has also been initiated between the committees of MAB France and MAB Czech Republic.

Bilateral co-operation programmes can be varied - some good examples are Luberon with the Palm groves of southern Morocco, Vosges du Nord with Berezinky (Belarus) or Cévennes with Montseny (Spain).

The biosphere reserves participate in common actions:

The Method for setting up management assistance guides for biosphere reserves, drawn up by the network as a whole, assists the local actors in defining, for their territories, a concerted project for long-term conservation and development. It has been published by UNESCO in the series MAB digest (Bioret et al. 1998). The method is intended to evolve at the same time as it is used to generate results on a number of sites in France and abroad. New editions will then be published.

The « forest group » includes the co-ordinators of biosphere reserves and the managers of public and private woodland. Its aim is to stimulate exchanges and promote forest management that reconciles ecology and economy. The group was created following the signature of an agreement between MAB France Committee and the National Forestry Commission (ONF).

The « schools group » has produced a leaflet for teachers presenting the notions of « biosphere" and "biodiversity » for each biosphere reserve. The first in the series is « Luberon, a patch of biosphere ». Three other publications are in preparation: Vosges du Nord, Pays de Fontainebleau and Mont Ventoux.