The eleventh session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opens today at the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal, Canada, and will continue until 2 December. 
SBSTTA-11’s topic for in-depth discussion will be dry and sub-humid lands biodiversity, and the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI). The meeting will also address strategic issues for evaluating progress or supporting implementation of the Strategic Plan, including the 2010 biodiversity target to significantly reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss, and contributions to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Other scientific and technical issues to be discussed include: marine and coastal biodiversity; inland water ecosystems; forest biodiversity; invasive alien species: further consideration of gaps and inconsistencies in the international regulatory frameworks; sustainable use: further consolidation of the work on the use of terms and on associated instruments; and guidance for promoting synergy among activities addressing biodiversity, desertification, land degradation and climate change. 
The SBSTTA-11’s recommendations will be forwarded to the eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-8) of the Convention, to be held in March 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil.


Please return on 28 November for complete ENB coverage of SBSTTA-11