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One of the missions of Unesco’s intergovernmental scientific programme, Man and the Biosphere (MAB), is to support and encourage research activities. These activities are based in specific areas, the Biosphere Reserves considered as model sites for the study and demonstration of integrated approaches to conservation and development. However, identifying scientific activities in Biosphere Reserves turned out to be more challenging than previously imagined. After reflecting upon the place of science at Unesco, the originality of the conceptualisation of this place within the MAB programme and the structural conditions of its implementation, we present different methods to identify the diversity of scientific activities within French Biosphere Reserves. In a context of evolution and territorialisation of public action, this exploratory survey proposes a methodology allowing to come to grips with the complexity of scientific contributions within territorial projects whose aims are not purely academic.