Highlights and images for 24 November 2018

Day 8 at the Rio Conventions Pavilion took place under the overall theme of ‘Harnessing Biodiversity for a Healthy and Resilient Future.’ Discussions on Health Day highlighted emerging initiatives, partnerships, tools and opportunities for engagement, with a focus on integrated approaches for maximizing co-benefits for ecosystems and human health.The Day aimed to:

• Provide a forum to showcase new tools, best practices and lessons learned to foster interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration on biodiversity and health;
• Present scalable initiatives to support implementation and policy coherence in the context of global environmental change;
• Contribute to the dialogue on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, to ensure key issues at the intersection of biodiversity and health are well embedded and aligned with global commitments for sustainable development; and
• Contribute to the development of communities of practice on integrated approaches to health, such as One Health, aimed at informing actionable policies and bridging the science-policy gap at appropriate scales.

A highlight of Health Day was the launch of the ‘Global Biodiversity for Health’ 2020 challenge, aimed at restoring green urban spaces in 20 cities across 20 countries by COP 15 in 2020.The Day was co-organized by the CBD and the World Health Organization (WHO) and diverse partners working at the interface of health and biodiversity.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

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Creating healthy and resilient societies: Local perspectives

Michael Garbo, Society for the Conservation of Nature, Liberia

Hewadhura Gedera Nimalasiri Hewanila, Nirmanee Development Foundation, Sri Lanka

Cristina Romanelli, CBD Secretariat

Raja Sharma Rymbai, Indigenous Terra Madre Network

Suneetha Subramanian, Biodiversity and Community Health Initiative

Harnessing local and national commitments to achieve planetary health

From L-R: Simon Rüegg, The Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH); Marieta Sakalian, UN Environment Programme (UNEP); and Elpidio Peria, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Elpidio Peria, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Simon Rüegg, NEOH

Marieta Sakalian, UNEP

Pierluigi Bozzi, International University Network on Cultural and Biological Diversity (IUNCBD)

Official Launch: 2020 Challenge - Healthy Urban Microbiome Initiative (HUMI)

From L-R: Martin Breed, University of Adelaide; David Cooper, CBD Secretariat; David Philips, National Health Service, UK; Craig Liddicoat, HUMI; and Jacob Mills, HUMI

David Cooper, CBD Secretariat

Jacob Mills, HUMI

Martin Breed, University of Adelaide, and Cristina Romanelli, CBD Secreatariat

Craig Liddicoat, HUMI

Healthy Food Systems for a Sustainable Future

From L-R: Gam Shimray, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP); Prem Mathur, Bioversity International; Gamini Samarasinghe, Plant Genetic Resources Centre; Hasan Gezginç, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Turkey; Victor Wasike, Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO); and Teresa Borelli, Bioversity International

Gam Shimray, AIPP

Teresa Borelli, Bioversity International

Victor Wasike, KALRO

Danny Hunter, Bioversity International

Linking public health and ecosystem approaches for the prevention of infectious diseases

Catherine Machalaba, EcoHealth Alliance

Chadia Wannous, Toward A Safer World Network for Pandemic Preparedness

Laetitia Navarro, Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON)

The Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework for healthy and resilient societies

Cheryl Charles, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Masatoshi Funabashi, Sony Computer Science Laboratories

Balakrishna Pisupati, Forum for Law, Environment, Development and Governance (FLEDGE)

From L-R: Hilary Allison, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Jamison Ervin, UNDP; Verónica Ruíz García, IUCN; and Cheryl Charles, IUCN

Around the Venue