Under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), there are 70 biosphere reserves recognized as part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in African states as of 2016. These are distributed across 28 countries. While biosphere reserves in West African, East African, Central African and Southern African countries are organised in the AfriMAB regional network, biosphere reserves in Northern African countries are organised in the ArabMAB, UNESCO's regional MAB network (see World Network of Biosphere Reserves in the Arab States for reserves in these countries).