on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity, as an international treaty, identifies a common problem, sets overall goals and policies and general obligations, and organizes technical and financial cooperation. However, the responsibility for achieving its goals rests largely with the countries themselves.
Private companies, landowners, fishermen, and farmers take most of the actions that affect biodiversity. Governments need to provide the critical role of leadership, particularly by setting rules that guide the use of natural resources, and by protecting biodiversity where they have direct control over the land and water. Under the Convention, governments undertake to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity. They are required to develop national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and to integrate these into broader national plans for environment and development. This is particularly important for such sectors as forestry, agriculture, fisheries, energy, transportation and urban planning.
Other treaty commitments include:
* Identifying and monitoring the important components of biological diversity that needs to be conserved and used sustainably.
* Establishing protected areas to conserve biological diversity while promoting environmentally sound development around these areas.
* Rehabilitating and restoring degraded ecosystems and promoting the recovery of threatened species in collaboration with local residents.
* Respecting, preserving and maintaining traditional knowledge of the sustainable use of biological diversity with the involvement of indigenous peoples and local communities.
* Preventing the introduction of, controlling, and eradicating alien species that could threaten ecosystems, habitats or species.
* Controlling the risks posed by organisms modified by biotechnology.
* Promoting public participation, particularly when it comes to assessing the environmental impacts of development projects that threaten biological diversity.
* Educating people and raising awareness about the importance of biological diversity and the need to conserve it.
* Reporting on how each country is meeting its biodiversity goals.
Surveys
One of the first steps towards a successful national biodiversity strategy is to conduct surveys to find out what biodiversity exists, its value and importance, and what is endangered. On the basis of these survey results, governments can set measurable targets for conservation and sustainable use. National strategies and programmes need to be developed or adapted to meet these targets.
Conservation and sustainable use
The conservation of each country's biological diversity can be achieved in various ways. In-situ conservation - the primary means of conservation - focuses on conserving genes, species, and ecosystems in their natural surroundings, for example by establishing protected areas, rehabilitating degraded ecosystems, and adopting legislation to protect threatened species. Ex-situ conservation uses zoos, botanical gardens and gene banks to conserve species.
Promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity will be of growing importance for maintaining biodiversity in the years and decades to come. Under the Convention, the "ecosystem approach to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is being used as a framework for action, in which all the goods and services provided by the biodiversity in ecosystems are considered. The Convention is promoting activities to ensure that everyone benefits from such goods and services in an equitable way.
Reporting
Each government that joins the Convention is to report on what it has done to implement the accord, and how effective this is in meeting the objectives of the Convention. These reports are submitted to the Conference of the Parties (COP) - the governing body that brings together all countries that have ratified the Convention. The reports can be viewed by the citizens of all nations. The Convention secretariat works with national governments to help strengthen reporting and to make the reports of various countries more consistent and comparable, so that the world community can get a clearer picture of the big trends. Part of that work involves developing indicators for measuring trends in biodiversity, particularly the effects of human actions and decisions on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The national reports, particularly when seen together, are one of the key tools for tracking progress in meeting the Convention's objectives.
