Menorca, a Biosphere Reserve

Thanks to the wise and far-sighted ancestral human intervention of farmers and to the innate consciousness of Menorcan society of the importance of the preservation and careful maintenance of this immense natural and cultural heritage, the island of Menorca entered into the focus of interest of UNESCO and so became one of the first regions in the world to be a reference model for a healthy and harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

In 1993 UNESCO, within the framework of the MaB (Man and Biosphere) programme, declared the whole of Menorca a Biosphere Reserve in recognition of its great natural and cultural values, as well as the island’s commitment to preserve and maintain its extraordinary natural and patrimonial legacy. Menorca has a great variety of protected natural areas which account for 66% of its 700km².

Because of its remarkable prehistoric legacy, UNESCO inscribed the group of sites known as “Talayotic Menorca” on the World Heritage List in 2023, following the candidacy presented in 2022 under the project “Talayotic Menorca, an insular cyclopean odyssey”. Read more in the article on the island’s historical heritage.

Since 2012 Menorca holds one of the two technical secretariats dedicated to the sustainable development of the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves.

In June 2019, the expansion of the terrestrial Biosphere Reserve with two marine areas was approved: the North Marine Reserve and the S’Albufera des Grau Natural Park area. As a result Menorca now has the largest Marine Biosphere Reserve in the Mediterranean.

What being a Biosphere Reserve means

Biosphere reserves are a UNESCO programme (MaB, Man and Biosphere) that seeks to reconcile nature conservation with people’s lives and economies. In general a reserve combines strictly protected areas with others where traditional activities are carried out sustainably. In Menorca the reserve is the whole island — and since 2019 part of its sea too.

Natural areas and farmland landscape

More than 66% of the territory holds protected natural areas, including the s’Albufera des Grau Natural Park. But the landscape you see is also the work of traditional farming: fields divided by dry-stone walls — a craft, that of the paredador, still practised today — and lanes between farms. You can learn more in the articles on landscape, flora and fauna and on culture and traditions.

How to enjoy it respectfully

Walk on marked paths such as the Camí de Cavalls, and close the livestock gates.
Take your waste with you and avoid disturbing wildlife.
At sea, do not anchor over posidonia; more in the article on the beaches.
Buy local produce: you help keep the farmland landscape that is part of the reserve.