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Geneva, 19 November 2019: The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) announced today the theme of United Nations World Wildlife Day 2020: “Sustaining all life on Earth”.
The year 2020, known as a “biodiversity super year”, will host several major global events that place biodiversity at the forefront of the global sustainable development agenda. It provides a unique opportunity to deliver transformative progress for the conservation and sustainable use of the species of wild animals and plants in response to global sustainable development challenges that can best be addressed with nature-based solutions.
The theme of World Wildlife Day 2020, “Sustaining all life on earth”, encompasses all wild animal and plant species as a component of biodiversity as well as the livelihoods of people, especially those who live closest to the nature. It also underlines the importance of sustainable use of natural resources in support of the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including Goal 14 (Life Below Water), Goal 15 (Life on Land), Goal 1 (No Poverty) and Goal 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns).
CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero said: “Wildlife, namely the species of both wild animals and plants for the purpose of World Wildlife Day, is an integral part of the world’s biological diversity which has the greatest resonance with the general public. In the run-up to and on World Wildlife Day 2020 we will raise awareness of the multitude of benefits of wildlife to people, the interlinkages between the various components of biodiversity and the threats they are facing. It is also a good opportunity to call on governments around the world, civil society, private sector and individuals to add their voices and take actions to help conserve wildlife and ensure sustainable use before it’s too late”.
The CITES Secretariat, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and other UN system organizations, Member States, biodiversity-related conventions and civil society, are unrolling a series of global and national events and social media activities around World Wildlife Day 2020, including a high-level event at the UN Headquarters in New York on 3 March, a film festival and international youth art competition.
In line with the UN General Assembly Resolution proclaiming World Wildlife Day, the CITES Secretariat calls on all member States and organizations of the United Nations system and other global, regional and sub-regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and all interested individuals, to:
More information on the values of wildlife as a component of biodiversity, the interlinkage between genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, the various threats facing wildlife, and promotional materials to illustrate the theme will be made available at a later stage on the World Wildlife Day website and social media channels.
#DoOneThingToday to help conserve the world’s biodiversity
On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3 March – the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants.
The UNGA resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar. World Wildlife Day has now become the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife.
World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2020 under the theme "Sustaining all life on Earth", encompassing all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world's biodiversity. This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 14 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life both on land and below water to halt biodiversity loss.
Earth is home to countless species of fauna and flora – too many to even attempt counting. This rich diversity, and the billions of years during which its myriad elements have interacted, are precisely what has made our planet inhabitable for all living creatures, including humans. Historically, we have depended on the constant interplay and interlinkages between all elements of the biosphere for all our needs: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the materials we need for all purposes. However, unsustainable human activities and overexploitation of the species and natural resources that make up the habitats and ecosystems of all wildlife are imperiling the world’s biodiversity. Nearly a quarter of all species are presently at risk of going extinct in the coming decades, and their demise would only speed up the disappearance of countless others, putting us in danger as well.
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If you are interested in covering the CBFP 19th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) and related meetings, please register before 28 June 2022 by completing the form below and clicking on the button “register”. It will not be possible to cover the 19th MOP without strictly following the registration process.
Meeting in person for the first time since the COVID pandemic began, the Global Environment Facility’s governing body approved the final tranche of its seventh funding cycle and endorsed record donor contributions for the coming four years as the partnership rallied around the need to invest in improved planetary health.
Conference venue , Registration, Shuttle between conference hotel and other hotels, Internet, Weather information, Plugs, Currency , Health information, Covid , Documents ,Travel expenses and subsistence allowances (funded participants only)… Please download the Document…
Registration for field trips for the CBFP MoP19 has been prolonged until Sunday, 26 June 2022 at 6pm CEST. These exclusive field Trips will kick-off the diverse and ambitious technical and political discussions that will take place during the MoP19. They will offer great scenery and expert inputs on a variety of relevant themes. Field trips will take place before the beginning of the official meetings, between July 02 and 04, 2022.
Firstly, the European Commission (EC) published its breakthrough proposal for a EU Regulation on deforestation-free products, which Fern and allies have been working towards for years. We also came together with partner NGOs and civil society groups from around the world to successfully campaign to stop the EU from discarding Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreements - its best weapon to fight against illegal logging.
To kick off the diverse and ambitious technical and policy discussions that will take place during the conference, we are pleased to offer several field trip opportunities exclusively for MOP19. These will include beautiful landscapes and tours led by experienced experts on a variety of topics. The field trips will take place prior to the start of the conference, between July 02-4, 2022.
The Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) MOP19 will be held in Libreville, Gabon from 5-8 July 2022. If you have been accepted to attend the CBFP MOP19 and related meetings, please download the list of hotels selected for MOP19...
We are pleased to hereby inform you that exhibition registration for the CBFP MoP19 is open. The exhibition space offers your organization the opportunity to present your work, initiatives, projects and expertise to the participants of the MoP19. Exhibitors are able to rent a stand package at set prices with options for customization and additional equipment. To register as Exhibitor at the 19th Meeting of Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), please fill out this form online before June 10, 2022.
At the COP26 climate summit, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Féelix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a $500 million aid package to protect forests in the Central African country. Part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the announcement was one of the top headlines at the summit.
ATIBT had launched on February 15, 2022 the 2021 Timber Market Survey. This collection ended on May 9, 2022. The data is now being analyzed by the Probos Foundation and the results will be presented at the end of September 2022. We warmly thank all ATIBT members who have completed the Themis portal.
Bonn/Ventotene 26 May 2022 – Visualizing how migratory animals connect continents, countries, sites and habitats is the result of an international scientific effort under the aegis of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), in developing the first atlas of bird migration across three continents. CMS, an environmental UN treaty, will launch the Eurasian-African Bird Migration Atlas today at the Museum of Migration on the Italian island of Ventotene, as the first part of a broader initiative to develop a global atlas of animal migration.
Save the Childrenwill deliver the Pacific region’s largest ever investment in community-based climate change adaptation in one of the world’s biggest climate hotspots, the child rights organisation announced today.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has closed its 32nd meeting, approving four new climate projects worth USD 301.5 million in GCF funding and USD 1.7 billion in co-financing. Including the approval of tranche two funding for an approved project, USD 325.2 million of GCF funding was approved for climate action.
As climate change and global heating approach critical points of no return, experts gathered in Seoul at the World Forestry Congress to assess an often overlooked but increasingly important resource for limiting carbon emissions— the forests of Central Africa.
Establishing certification standards for forestry and agricultural commodities is no straightforward matter, particularly for smallholder farmers. Voluntary standards of the type designed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ensure timber and non-timber forest products are produced according to sustainability standards and audited by a third party. They have been used to tackle deforestation, forest degradation and ensure ethical trading practices for more than 30 years.
“At no other point in modern history has humanity faced such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks and hazards interacting in a hyper-connected and rapidly changing world,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, the executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), in a statement on the launch of the second Global Land Outlook report (GLO2).
Every two years, the FAO publishes the State of the World's Forests (SOFO) report. The report presents data and analysis on the interaction between forests and people. Each edition focuses on a specific relevant theme.
FSC's Principles and Criteria set out the global requirements for responsible forest management. Chamber-balanced standard development groups (SDG’s) adapt the International Generic Indicators at the regional or national level to reflect the diverse legal, social and geographical conditions of forests in different parts of the world. The resulting adjustment is incorporated into a National Forest Stewardship Standard.
If you wish to attend the 19th MoP of the CBFP and related events, please register before June 02, 2022 by completing the form below and clicking on the button “register”. It will not be possible to attend the meeting without a properly completed registration procedure.
With just over a week to go before the ATIBT Forum, we are sharing an updated version of the conference and roundtable program.This program will be regularly updated on the ATIBT website page dedicated to the Forum.
PeaceNexus is launching a call for proposals on embedding conflict sensitivity in environmental organisations. Environmental organisations are at the forefront of addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. In doing so, they grapple with conflict dynamics, face risks to their staff and partners, but also provide opportunities for divided groups to work together around issues of common concern. The deadline for application is Tuesday 21st June 2022.
This is a reminder that registrations for the 19th Meeting of Parties (MoP) of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership in Libreville, Gabon, from 5 to 8 July 2022 are CLOSING IN 2 DAYS. Please note, that you can only attend with a completed registration. Please register here...
Mongolia flood defence project shows the way for urban adaptation. The project incorporates infrastructural upgrades with the formation of community action groups to improve the capital’s flood resilience . A project in Mongolia, which incorporates a wide range of initiatives and aims to build the resilience of high-risk communities, is directly confronting the burden of urban climate impacts.
Home to the only biosphere reserve of argan in the world, Morocco is facing a unique challenge. It must preserve its argan forests as a barrier to climate-induced desertification while helping the communities, that depend on these forests for a living, adapt and preserve their cultural heritage.
The 32nd meeting of the GCF Board is taking place in person in Antigua and Barbuda from May 16-19. The meeting, one of four scheduled this year, follows on the heels of the first Board meeting where USD 187.7 million was approved for new climate projects and major changes to GCF’s accreditation framework were approved. The changes aim to accelerate climate finance for developing countries and include strengthening the existing accreditation model and introducing the project-specific assessment approach (PSAA).
The proposed EU Regulation on deforestation-free products aims to ensure goods cannot be placed on the EU market if they have caused deforestation, forest degradation, or violated producer country laws. The Commission released a draft proposal of the Regulation on 17 November 2021, and now the European Parliament (EP) and the Council must agree on their positions. On 24 March 2022, the EP rapporteur Luxembourgish Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Christophe Hansen of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), released his draft response.
As world leaders, the private sector, and experts met for the final day of the 15th World Forestry Congress on Friday and the United Nations Forum on Forests begins today, fulfilling funding promises made during UNFCCC’s CoP26 to tackle the illegal timber trade and accelerating the implementation of sustainability strategies must be at the top of the agenda says TRAFFIC.
Global shipping to focus on bringing down the illegal networks exploiting maritime supply chains to traffic wildlife. On the 13 of May 2022, the 46th Meeting of the Facilitation Committee (FAL46) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted new ‘Guidelines for the Prevention and Suppression of the Smuggling of Wildlife on Ships Engaged in International Maritime Traffic’.
Fifty years after the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, which put “health and sanitation” on the international agenda, ensuring water and sanitation for all “remains one of the world’s biggest challenges.” A ‘Still Only One Earth’ policy brief from IISD argues that for universal access to become a reality,
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has issued the second edition of its flagship report titled, ‘Global Land Outlook: Land Restoration for Recovery and Resilience’ (GLO2). The publication outlines various future land scenarios, and highlights the potential contributions of land restoration investments to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, and human health, among other SDGs.
Delegates at the 15th meeting of the World Forestry Congress (XV WFC) called for immediate action to protect forests, forestry, and forest stakeholders as providers of nature-based solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, hunger, and poverty. They encouraged “actions for a green, healthy and resilient future with forests” as a contribution to the SDGs, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has launched its biennial flagship report on the state of the world’s forests (SOFO), which explores three intertwined forest pathways to achieve green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, among other “multidimensional planetary crises.”
A high-level panel marked Desertification and Drought Day 2020 with a discussion focused on the Day’s theme, ‘Food. Feed. Fibre,” and the question, “Is it time for a new social contract for nature?” Ministers and agency heads offered recommendations for addressing vulnerabilities for land management that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and options for building back better.
Convening under the theme “Building a Green, Healthy and Resilient Future with Forests,” the Fifteenth meeting of the World Forestry Congress (XV WFC) sought to define the role of forests in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other major agreements, including the Global Forest Goals, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
At the end of the XV World Forestry Congress held in Seoul from May 2 to 6, 8 ministers signed a text calling for the production and consumption of sustainable wood. Sustainable production and consumption of wood promotes forest conservation, enhances the value of forests and mitigates climate change. Building and living with wood responds to an increased demand for renewable materials and provides impetus for green recovery.