On the basis of the results of the First International Biosphere Reserve Congress, jointly convened in Minsk in 1983 by UNESCO and UNEP in cooperation with FAO and IUCN, at the invitation of the USSR, and of consultations with conservation specialists and scientists which have since taken place, an Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves was adopted by the International Coordinating Council of the Programme on Man and the Biosphere at its eighth session (Paris, 3–8 December 1984) and is presented in this document as a programme framework. This framework identifies a range of actions for consideration by Governments and concerned international organizations in developing the multiple functions of Biosphere Reserves within the overall context of the MAB Programme. Those actions concretely serve the implementation of the World Conservation Strategy. While a number of actions are of a permanent nature, the stress is placed on activities which can be carried out in the period 1985–89—see the following Table.

In summary, Governments and international organizations are invited to undertake activities which will improve and expand the international Biosphere Reserve network, to develop basic knowledge for conserving ecosystems and biological diversity, and to make Biosphere Reserves more effective in linking conservation and development in fulfilling the broad objectives of MAB.