Coverage of Selected Side Events at the UN Biodiversity Conference
5-17 December 2016 | Cancún, Mexico
Events Covered on Tuesday, 13 December 2016
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IISD Reporting Services, through its ENBOTS Meeting Coverage, is providing daily web coverage of selected side-events from the UN Biodiversity Conference. | ||
Teaching Biodiversity Mainstreaming to all Stakeholders Presented by the Instituto Mora, Mexico, and the University of Trento, Italy
This event, moderated by Simone Lucatello, Instituto Mora, Mexico, discussed new tools for theoretical and practical training on integrated approaches to biodiversity mainstreaming. Discussants showed how these tools support implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Rio Conventions with parallel strategic agendas. Lucatello defined environmental mainstreaming as the inclusion and integration of relevant environmental concerns, particularly conservation and sustainable use, in plans, programmes and sectoral and intersectoral policies at all levels of decision making. Hesiquio Benítez Díaz, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), said mainstreaming requires capacity building and integrated approaches in order to break down barriers and silos between institutions and agencies. He said this approach was necessary in order to build a common vision of all stakeholders involved in organizing the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 13) in Mexico. Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, A. C. (IPICYT), Italy, presented a case study on mainstreaming biodiversity and the SDGs in drylands. She noted the need for new approaches to understand biophysical and socio-economic factors of desertification in order to focus more on the cause rather than the effects. In this regard, she stressed the need for a shift in focus from ecosystems to socioecological systems, and for the long-term monitoring of trends from identified baselines. Massimo Zortea, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair, University of Trento, outlined six steps for incorporating environmental mainstreaming into education and training: awareness raising; personal and collective willingness raising; capacity development; participation; actions or practice; and evaluation. He noted that the handbook for environmental mainstreaming for environmental studies contains case studies, best practices and vast references necessary for training. In discussions, participants noted that: mainstreaming of the production and environment sector is required; capacity building should be demand-driven; and there is need for an experience-sharing network on best practices. |
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Contact:
- Simone Lucatello | slucatello@mora.edu.mx
- Massimo Zortea | massimo.zortea@unitn.it
More Information:
Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative: Transboundary Conservation for Biodiversity and Peace Presented by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
This event, moderated by Sarat Babu Gidda, CBD Secretariat, officially launched the Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative (PBDI) website. Gidda noted the need to showcase the practicality of peace and biodiversity dialogues, lauding the Republic of Korea for furthering this cause. He described peace parks as transboundary protected areas that are designated for the promotion of conservation and peace, noting that the value of the PBDI is to showcase their benefits for conservation and conflict. Yunseok Choi, Republic of Korea, lauded the partnership between his government and the CBD in launching the PBDI. Thanduxolo Joel Mkefe, South Africa, spoke on peace and biodiversity in achieving landscape-level conservation in southern Africa, highlighting that South Africa is moving away from the biodiversity preservation model, which was a tool of exclusion, and toward biodiversity conservation models, which includes local communities managing conservation areas. He drew attention to the removal of people from protected areas during the apartheid era, and the transition from these practices to the opening of trans-frontier parks, which can enhance the protection of shared ecosystem services, as well as contribute to reuniting divided cultures. Lina Barrera, Conservation International (CI), described her organization’s mission, which includes environmental peacebuilding, and highlighted a conflict root cause analysis in Colombia, noting: definitional issues regarding what conflict is; a need for an overarching mining law; and a need for stakeholder mapping. Drawing from a peace park between Peru and Ecuador (Cordillera del Condor), she noted their contribution to peace and conservation in the area, and highlighted management tools, including meetings with and between indigenous peoples in order to ensure local ownership. Underscoring that men and women access natural resource benefits differently, she noted that vulnerability of women in conflict or post-conflict zones, and discussed CI’s work in Timor Leste in the management of marine protected areas (MPAs). Trevor Sandwith, IUCN, noted that transboundary conservation may pose a challenge in the achievement of mutual benefits. He said that a transboundary conservation programme could cause socio-economic challenges if management practices are not equally implemented across borders. He underscored that the success of transboundary parks requires cooperation at all levels of authority, describing Austria’s commitment to dealing with migrants through involving them in the management of protected area parks. Braulio Ferrera de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, CBD, lauded the Republic of Korea for launching the PBDI at the CBD’s twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CBD COP 12), as well as the IUCN manual on transboundary conservation. He noted that at COP 12, there were discussions on the demilitarized zone, noting that this is an opportunity for transboundary conservation facilitating peace for the two countries. He stressed the need to share the outcomes on peace building through conservation with the World Conservation Congress as well as the World Parks Congress, and expressed pride in the launch of the PBDI website. |
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Assessing Equity in Protected Area Conservation Presented by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), IUCN and Forest Peoples Programme (FPP)
This event, moderated by Dilys Roe, IIED, discussed the equitable management of protected areas with a specific focus on how equity is defined in practice in terms of the recognition, procedural and distributional aspects. |
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Synthetic Biology and Synbiodiversity: How New Biotechnologies are Raising New Philosophical Questions for Biodiversity Conservation Presented by Genøk Centre for Biosafety
This event engaged participants in a discussion about the conservation value of the diverse “techno-life forms” being generated through genetic engineering and synthetic biology. |
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Participants engaged in a "four corners" discussion, presenting their positions on different statements related to genetic engineering and synthetic biodiversity.
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Biodiversity Governance – Identifying Knowledge Gaps and Needed Research Activities Presented by the Thompson Rivers University and the BENELEX project at the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG), Strathclyde University
This event, moderated by Nicole Schabus, Thompson Rivers University, discussed transforming biodiversity governance for a post-2020 strategy for biodiversity in relation to the intersection of diverse legal systems, including on biodiversity, international human rights and indigenous governance. |
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Participants during the discussion. | ||
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Sharks, Parks and Whales: Non-Extractive Uses of Marine Biodiversity Need Protection! Presented by Saving our Sharks, Divers for Sharks (D4S), Rede Nacional Pro Unidades de Conservação (RedePROUC) and Manta Ray Bay Resort and Yap Divers
This event, moderated by José Palazzo, Manta Ray Bay Resort and Yap Divers, discussed the values of non-extractive uses of marine biodiversity, such as recreational diving and ecotourism in generating benefit sharing, income for coastal communities and conservation of ecosystems. |
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Contact:
- José Palazzo | palazzo@mantaray.com
- Angela Kuczach | angela@redeprouc.org.br
More Information:
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin on the Side (ENBOTS) © enb@iisd.org is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). This issue has been written by Tallash Kantai, Vijay Krishnan Kolinjivadi, Ph.D., Dorothy Wanja Nyingi, Ph.D., and Cleo Verkuijl. The Digital Editor is Diego Noguera. The Editor is Leila Mead leila@iisd.org. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI kimo@iisd.org. Specific funding for coverage of selected side events from the UN Biodiversity Conference has been provided by the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico (SEMARNAT). The opinions expressed in ENBOTS are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENBOTS may be used in non-commercial publications only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at kimo@iisd.org. Electronic versions of issues of ENBOTS from the UN Biodiversity Conference can be found on the IISD Reporting Services website at http://enb.iisd.org/biodiv/cop13/enbots/. The ENBOTS Team at the UN Biodiversity Conference can be contacted by e-mail at tallash@iisd.org. |
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IISD Reporting Services is grateful to the many donors of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) and recognizes the following as core contributors to the ENB: the European Union, the Government of Switzerland (the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)), the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. General Support for the Bulletin during 2016 is provided by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, SWAN International, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Ministry of Environment (through the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies - IGES), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Funding for translation of the Bulletin into French has been provided by the Government of France, the Wallonia, Québec, and the International Organization of La Francophonie/Institute for Sustainable Development of La Francophonie (IOF/IFDD). |
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