Pacific to benefit from new focus on island biodiversity under the CBD

The Pacific will benefit from efforts underway to develop a new Programme of Work (POW) on Island Biodiversity within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – particularly in efforts to implement current national biodiversity strategies and action plans. Pacific island countries will be able to use the new POW to help secure funding to deal with island biodiversity priorities as well as technical and other assistance from other CBD Parties. It is also expected that new partnerships will form between countries with islands as a result of the new POW outside our normal groupings (eg SIDS, Pacific etc).

The CBD Conference of the Parties in 2004 at its seventh meeting adopted a multi-year programme of work up to 2010 and established a new thematic programme of work on Island Biodiversity. Island biodiversity will therefore be a new issue for in-depth consideration at COP8. COP7 gave guidance to the CBD Sectretariat to develop a preparatory process for the work of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). This included electronic forums, the convening of an Adhoc Technical Expert Group Meeting and a liaison group meeting to be held after the Mauritius International Meeting. The Liaison Group met in early February and looked at how to incorporate the Mauritius outcomes into the Programme of Work. The SBSTTA also met in early February and sent a set of recommendations and a draft POW to COP8.

The mandate from the COP for the Ad Hoc Technical Experts Group was to develop proposals for a programme of work on island biodiversity which included priority actions to enhance conservation of island biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources on islands. These are in line with the general objectives of the convention. To do this the Adhoc Technical Experts Group considered the outcomes of the BPOA+10 preparatory meetings, reviewed the ongoing work of the different thematic areas and cross-cutting isses under the CBD and related work carried out within other processes. Particular attention was paid to mechanisms used to support implementation.

Recognising the importance of the new Programme of Work, the Roundtable for Nature Conservation convened a specific working group to focus on island biodiversity and was able to get resources from NZAID under the Type II Partnerships to support sustained engagement and input by Pacific members of the Ad Hoc Technical Experts Group through until COP 8 in 2006. The process started with a small group meeting of interested member countries at the SPREP meeting in Tahiti in 2004 and endorsed an approach of working with National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan Coordinators and Managers in the first instance to further the development of this Programme of Work. In October 2004, members of the Island Biodiversity Programme of Work who were available met in Brisbane to look at developing elements of a POW. This aided much of our thinking in terms of structure and content.

The Ad Hoc Technical Experts Group took place in Spain in mid December 2004. Joel Miles (Palau), Ana Tiraa (Cook Islands) and Nenenteiti Teariki (Kiribati) as well as representatives from The Nature Conservancy, SPREP and NZ’s Department of Conservation attended from the Pacific.

It is recognized that there are already thematic areas and cross-cutting programmes of work dealing with the Convention on Biological Diversity, such as marine and coastal biodiversity, which are addressing many of the threats facing island biodiversity. However this document gives all islands (whether they are SIDS or developing countries with islands or developed countries with islands) the opportunity to look at what are the important things they need to do to address the target of reducing biodiversity loss by 2010. It offers a snapshot of the convention particular for island biodiversity and as such is a significant opportunity for Pacific island countries.
The Programme of Work is organized into the following five goals:
Goal 1: Conservation of island biodiversity
Goal 2: Sustainable use of island biodiversity
Goal 3: Address the threats to island biodiversity
Goal 4: Access and benefit sharing of island genetic resources
Goal 5: Increasing capacities and financing for the implementation of the programme of work on island biodiversity. Each goal has a number of global targets and island specific priority actions for the parties.

SPREP is interested in developing some case studies on how the Pacific could implement this Programme of Work in preparation for COP8 in 2006. If anyone would like further information on this or if you would like to receive a copy of the proposed island biodiversity programme of work could you please contact Kate Brown, kateb@sprep.org.

The recent SBSTTA meeting in Bangkok recommended an Ad Hoc Technical Experts Group be established on biodiversity and climate change to report to SBSTTA 11 in November 2005. This AHTEG will develop advice for promoting synergy among activities to address climate change (including activities to combat desertification and land degradation) and activities for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

(The Terms of Reference for the AHTEG are available from SPREP – contact Kate Brown or from the CBD website: www.biodiv.org)

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