Supporting Developing Countries to Implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Date: 17 December 2011: Open to the public, 18-19 December 2011: Invitation only
Location: Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Organizers: UNU, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, Ishikawa Prefecture, City of Kanazawa
Contact: Eric Fong, UNU-ISP undb_secretariat@unu.edu

At the Tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP10)- Biodiversity Summit, held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, many important decisions, inter alia, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, were adopted to provide the foundation for taking action to halt biodiversity loss and sustaining the ecosystems of the earth.

The CBD/COP10 also invited the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to consider declaring 2011-2020 the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNDB) to promote implementation of these decisions. In proposing the UNDB, the CBD/COP10 also referred to the importance of raising public awareness of biodiversity related issues and the momentum achieved by the celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity, of which the closing ceremony was conducted in Kanazawa, Japan in December 2010.

The 65th Session of the UNGA adopted a resolution which declared the UNDB with the aim of contributing to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity for the period 2011-2020, and requested the Secretary–General to lead the coordination of the activities of the Decade with the support of the secretariat of the CBD and other biodiversity-related organizations.

Via its role as the “think-tank” of UN organizations, the United Nations University’s research and outreach activities in the area of conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity e.g. Satoyama Initiatives, has been working closely with the secretariat of the CBD and the Japanese government to achieve the objectives of the Convention. In addition, 2011 is designated as the “International Year of Forests”, and “Biodiversity and Forests” was the theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2011.

The event is intended to both promote public awareness of the UNDB, and also to support developing countries implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. This event will be held in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, where the closing of the International Year for Biological Diversity was held. The Noto area in Ishikawa is also one of the first areas in Japan to be designated as a Global Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS).

For more details about the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020, please visit the official website.