Exploring climate and biodiversity projects in African biosphere reserves in contributing to sustainability dynamics

Abstract Climate-related projects within UNESCO’s AfriMAB biosphere reserves are increasingly positioned to advance climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development across African landscapes. Yet there is limited systematic and comparative evidence on how these initiatives align simultaneously with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) framework, and AfriMAB remains underrepresented relative to EuroMAB in empirical mapping studies. Addressing this gap, this study analyses 81 climate-related projects across 28 biosphere reserves in 19 countries using expert survey data, documentary triangulation, and goal-level SDG and CBD classification. The Nexus Approach serves as an analytical lens to assess cross-sector integration between climate, biodiversity, and development objectives. Political Ecology informs analysis of power asymmetries and equity implications, while Adaptive Governance and Sustainability Transitions perspectives interpret institutional capacity and long-term durability. Findings reveal a strong concentration on environmental goals, particularly climate action and ecosystem restoration, while socio-economic and institutional dimensions remain comparatively underrepresented. Limited emphasis on governance-related SDGs, especially SDGs 16 and 17, raises concerns about institutional resilience, accountability, and equitable benefit-sharing. This imbalance reflects structural constraints including donor funding priorities, fragmented governance arrangements, and uneven institutional capacity. Comparative reference to EuroMAB suggests that more balanced SDG integration emerges where governance structures and financing mechanisms are more stable. By systematically mapping climate projects across AfriMAB biosphere reserves, this study provides one of the first empirical assessments of how global climate, biodiversity, and development frameworks intersect in African biosphere reserve practice, contributing to sustainability and governance scholarship on nexus-based implementation.