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As the UN’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2020 gets underway, there is growing momentum to put biodiversity at the heart of sustainable development.
The COVID-19 outbreak has exposed our complex relationship with nature. Most emerging infectious diseases are driven by human activities such as agricultural intensification, wildlife use and misuse, and human-induced landscape changes, which can disrupt the balance of nature.
Biodiversity underpins 14 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, a recent study showed that only 20% of the countries analysed mention biodiversity as a national priority for sustainable development in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of their progress towards the SDGs.
The study conducted by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) considered 30 VNRs presented before the HLPF between 2017-2019 and found that only half of the sampled countries reported on how they reflect biodiversity in national SDG implementation and review processes.
There is much progress to be made, but there are also many positive examples to draw on where countries are integrating biodiversity into their wider sustainable development strategies.
Biodiversity is the foundation of sustainable development
The SDGs are integrated and indivisible, and advancing the implementation of biodiversity-related goals and targets will increase overall success in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
However, progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda has so far been insufficient. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), current negative trends in biodiversity loss and ecosystems degradation will significantly undermine achievement of 80% of the SDG targets related to poverty, hunger, health, water, cities, climate, oceans and land.
CIB is thrilled to be recommended by the auditor for renewal of the FSC certification for 2021. Our four concessions, Pokola, Kabo, Loundoungou and Mimbeli-Ibenga are 100% FSC certified. This year’s audit was not free of challenges that the pandemic brought with it.
This training, organized by IFED in partnership with Queen's University (Ontario, Canada), will be facilitated by trainers and high-level professionals with proven (many years) experience in the field of training and management of protected areas. Registation deadline: October 26, 2020.
The Summit focused on the theme “Urgent Action on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development,” to highlight the urgency of action at the highest levels in support of a post-2020 GBF that contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and places the global community on a path towards realizing the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, “Living in harmony with nature.”
In many parts of the world, autumn is the time to gather the harvest and count our blessings. This year’s trials and tribulations have taught us that while we can count on blessings bestowed by other humans to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, we are wholly dependent on blessings bestowed by nature to survive and flourish.
Illegal trafficking and unsustainable trade in wildlife are causing unprecedented declines in some species. They can also potentially lead to the spread of zoonoses, such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. While the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has been in force since 1975, there are growing calls to build a stand-alone international instrument to address illegal wildlife trade and crime.
The session will interactively present the different tools available for policymakers, researchers, NGOs, donors, private sector and students working in the region to obtain information related to biodiversity and forest management.
This struggle is essential and has always been part of ATIBT's missions. Even if this trade affects only a small share of imports, it needs to be eradicated. How do we combat illegal timber players in Europe?
When climate risk insurance (CRI) schemes first started gaining popularity ten years ago, many believed they would be a solid solution to help vulnerable communities financially manage natural hazards and adapt to climate change. However, over the past decade implementers have learned that changes to existing approaches are required to better meet the needs of the target populations.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented countries with unprecedented challenges this year, requiring them to respond quickly to major disruptions in health care, economic activity, and livelihoods.
Unaddressed, climate change will entail a potentially catastrophic human and economic toll, but it’s not too late to change course. Global temperatures have increased by about 1°C since the pre-industrial era because of heat-trapping green-house gases accumulating in the atmosphere.
“Spend what you need to, but you need to keep the receipts.” Speaker after speaker elaborated on this theme and its objectives during a discussion organized by the Open Government Partnership on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 75th session. Principles such as transparency, accountability, participation, trust, communication, and inclusion were highlighted as critical components for the effective governance of stimulus packages and efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A policy brief from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) emphasizes that reversing the alarming rate of biodiversity loss requires a significant policy shift away from business as usual. The coming decade is of utmost importance for global governance of biodiversity, the authors stress.
The UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw held a virtual meeting with the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Nicaragua Ms. Sumaya Castillo, the Executive Secretary of the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) Mr. Salvador Nieto, and the special envoy for LAC, Mr. Edgar Gutierrez, to discuss a future cooperation cooperation agreement and review land restoration activities in the region.
Bonn, Germany/Laxenburg Austria – UNCCD and the International institute of applied systems analysis (IIASA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 30 September 2020 to promote the application of integrated system analyses in support of science, technology and UNCCD implementation. This MoU builds on shared priorities and strategic vision of both institutions to advance transformational changes that help achieve sustainable development goals, in particularly SDG15.3 on Land degradation Neutrality.
We planted about 8,000 trees within a 20ha area in an effort to restore degraded forest within the agricultural zone in DSPA. Funding for this restoration project was provided by the Peter and Luise Hager Foundation (Peter und Luise Hager- Stiftung) through WWF Germany. We also maintained previously planted trees.
This workshop was organized by the Federation of Timber Manufacturers (FIB) in collaboration with ATIBT through the FLEGT REDD, FLEGT IP and FLEGT certification projects, namely "Improving the integration of third party verified certification into FLEGT-REDD processes", projects awarded to ATIBT aimed at improving the legal level of companies through professional associations, project partners, and through the promotion of third party verified certification, to prepare them for the implementation of FLEGT VPAs.
Within the framework of the realization of its projects, the ATIBT and its partners present you a directory guide to accompany the forest companies in the assembly of plantation project.
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) has established a regional office focused on adaptation issues and projects across Africa. The regional office is hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) at its headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
A High-level Roundtable on Climate Action, convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, showcased high-impact climate solutions and targets by governments, the finance sector, and civil society.
Around 40 kilometers south-west of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, native and exotic trees stand side by side on 8 hectares of the Suba Forest. Surrounded by tall junipers and idyllic mountains, this group of seed orchards is just one of many that serve as incubators for the country’s impressive landscape restoration efforts.
From action on climate, biodiversity, health, gender equality and more, world leaders, academics, young activists and others turned their attention to the United Nations in September with the need to work together for a sustainable future a common refrain.
5 October 2020, Rome – FAO has launched a new publication highlighting the major achievements of the FAO Forestry Programme in helping improve lives and livelihoods while making forestry more productive and sustainable.
The first UN Biodiversity Summit highlighted the urgency of action at the highest levels in support of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework that contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and places the global community on a path towards “living in harmony with nature” – the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.
Although research demonstrates the benefits – for people and forests – of secure land and resource rights, these rights remain unrecognized for many of the world’s estimated 476 million Indigenous Peoples.
Women have dominated shea production and sales for centuries in West Africa, managing trees, gathering nuts, roasting and crushing kernels to create rich butter used in cooking, cosmetics and medicines.
At the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) scientists are learning to adapt to the new reality of COVID-19.
The choice is simple: accept devastating wildfires, extreme weather, species loss, and disease outbreaks or secure a sustainable future at a fraction of the cost.
The aim of new guidelines published by ITTO on 5 October 2020 is to help stakeholders—from policymakers to foresters and farmers—in restoring degraded landscapes, thereby providing vital goods and ecosystem services and creating sustainable rural livelihoods and employment.
5 October 2020, Rome - Transformational change is needed in the way we manage our forests and their biodiversity, produce and consume our foods and interact with nature, if we want to build back better after the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This was the key message of a speech delivered today by FAO Director-General QU Dongyu at the 25th session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO).
Our forest elephant dung-based distance-sampling survey of the 5,260 km2 World Heritage Dja Faunal Reserve (DFR) in Cameroon systematically covered 298.2 km of line transects with a further 1,681.4 km covered as recces. The population estimates of 0.042 individuals/km2 (CV: 19.4%; 95% CI: 0.029–0.061) and 219 individuals (95% CI: 150–319) confirmed a significant decline over recent years.
The Congo Basin Climate Commission (CBCC) is launching a Call for Expression of Interest (CEI) for the selection of a Development Bank in charge of opening and managing a "Blue Fund for the Congo Basin" financing line.
...A possible pathway to overcome this barrier involves eliciting mental models behind policy decisions to allow better representation of human agency, changing perspectives to better understand divergent points of view, and refining strategies through explicit theories of change. Games can help decision makers in all of these tasks.
Read: FLEGT-IP and FLEGT-REDD Project Workshop SPIB - ATIBT "Traceability and Forest Certification of Wood"; ATIBT welcomes its new member Francisco Mourao; FSC Publishes The Revised National Forest Stewardship Standard of Cameroon*
On Tuesday, September 22, 2020 was held in Abidjan, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Palm Club Hotel, the workshop on Traceability and Certification, organized by ATIBT and SPIB, as part of the implementation of activities of the FLEGT-IP and FLEGT-REDD Project in Côte d'Ivoire.
The standard will be effective on 29 December 2020. The revised FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard (NFSS) of Cameroon applies to all forest types, small and low-intensity management units and community forests.