Pacific island nations highlight their unity at global biodiversity conference

07 October 2014, Pyeongchang Korea, CBD COP12 - The Pacific island nations have showcased their unity at the 12th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, sharing with over 190 governments the joint framework on nature conservation and protected areas.

Recently endorsed at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and highlighted during the Third UN International Conference on Small Islands Developing States, the Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands region 2014 - 2020 is being celebrated yet again at the international arena.

"This is a significant milestone achievement for the Pacific Islands region mainly because the new Framework is closely aligned to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plans," said Ms. Atelaite Matoto, Director for Environment of Tonga, who made a statement at the CBD COP 12.

"This is probably the first for any sub-region and the next six  6 years will be an exciting one for us as we embark on this journey to implement our commitments through this Framework.  We cannot work alone on this journey thus the need for us to work together."

Ms. Atelaite Matoto, Tonga

The regional framework was developed with the contribution and input of over 800 stakeholders from throughout the Pacific islands region at a conference hosted by Fiji in December last year and was raised during a global discussion on strengthening support to parties to meet the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Concerns have been raised by the fast rates of loss of biodiversity and the slow pace at which actions are happening to help address this.  Actions that are to be carried out to meet the global agreement of 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

To help the Pacific islands meet the Aichi BiodiversityTargets, the regional framework document helps encourage an integrated approach, coordinating work at biodiversity at national and regional level in the Pacific islands in partnership with stakeholders.

"Tonga extends an invitation to governments, development partners, organisations and institutions who wish to partner and collaborate with us," said Ms. Matoto.

"This includes our regional organisations such as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to ensure the successful implementation of the Framework and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans which supports the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the Pacific Islands region."

The Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands region 2014 - 2020  will be shared at the CBD COP 12 during a special Pacific islands event.

14 Pacific island countries are party to the Convention on Biological Diversity with Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu currently in Korea attending the CBD COP12 from 6 - 17 October, 2014.  Soon to arrive are the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

194 governments unite to save global biodiversity

6 October 2014, Pyeongchang Korea, CBDCOP12 - Traditional Korean drums set an exciting pace this morning at the opening of the 12th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fast pace symbolic of the urgent need to save global biodiversity. 

The World Wide Fund for Nature's Living Planet Report 2014 found that global wildlife populations have declined on average by 52% in the 40 year period since 1970. 

Over the next two weeks thousands of representatives of governments, non-governmental organisations, indigenous peoples, scientists and the private sector are gathered to accelerate the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 - 2020 and its 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets which are to be achieved by the end of 2020.

All of which contribute to halting biodiversity loss across the planet.

The collection of decisions to be taken at the CBD COP 12 is referred to as the Pyeongchang Road Map and is anticipated to include a resource mobilisation strategy expected to significantly increase the resources available for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

"There has been increased financial investment and policy action to protect biodiversity, yet, studies show that it will be difficult to reach the full set of the Aichi targets if we remain within the current trajectory, due to accumulated and increased pressures on the natural world," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner at the opening of the CBD COP 12.

"We need to do more, and do it fast, to protect the very fabric of the natural world."

At the opening today the Presidency of the Conference of the Parties was handed over from the Government of India to the Government of Korea.  The last Conference of the Parties to the CBD was hosted in Hyderabad, India in 2012.

The CBD COP 12 is from 6 to17 October in Pyeongchang, Korea.  14 Pacific island countries are party to the Convention on Biological Diversity with Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu currently in Korea attending the CBD COP12.  Soon to arrive are the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

To read the full CBD Secretariat press release on today's opening event please visit:  http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2014/pr-2014-10-06-cop-12-en.pdf

UN meeting agrees on decisions to advance the implementation of the International Agreement on the safe use of living modified organisms

Pacific delegates attending the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety to the CBD,
L - R Kiribati, Palau, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Fiji.

CBD Press Release

Pyeongchang/Montreal 3 October 2014. Governments attending a United Nations meeting on the safe use of living modified organisms have agreed on various actions to advance the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity as a global tool contributing to the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMO) that may have negative effects on biodiversity.

Among the most significant outcomes was a decision inviting governments and other stakeholders to use the Guidance on Risk Assessment of Living Modified Organisms developed by an expert group that was established by governing body of the Protocol in actual cases of risk assessment and as a tool for capacity-building activities in risk assessment. A mechanism for revising and improving the Guidance was also agreed with a view to having an improved version of the Guidance by the eight meeting of the Parties in 2016.

The Parties also agreed to continue to identify living modified organisms intended for direct use as food or feed, or for processing that are subject to transboundary movement, by incorporating the information identified in decision BS-III/10 into existing documentation  accompanying living modified organisms.

Socioeconomic considerations were discussed extensively and a decision to re-convene a group of experts to further develop clarity on this issue and to develop an outline for guidance on this subject was adopted.

In a decision on improving the efficiency of structures and processes under the Convention and its Protocols, Parties agreed to hold subsequent meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol concurrently with the other meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, and also agreed that any Subsidiary body on Implementation established by the Convention should also serve the Protocol.

Parties also called upon countries that had not yet done so to ratify the Nagoya Kuala-Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress, and called upon the Executive Secretary to produce materials that would expedite its entry into force.

Pacific delegates attending the Cartegena Protocol to the CBD, L - R Mr. Joe Horokou (Solomons),
Mr. Puta Tofinga (Kiribati),  Ms. 'Eleni Tokaduadua (Fiji), Ms. Lupe Matoto (Tonga), Mr. Rahul Chand (Fiji)
and Mr. Fred Sengebau (Palau) 

Other decisions were reached on, inter alia, the Biosafety Clearinghouse, compliance, the financial mechanism and resources, monitoring and reporting, contained use of Living Modified Organisms and assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Protocol and the Protocol budget for the 2015 – 2016 biennium.

The meeting was closed by Mr. Lee In Ho, of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Government of the Republic of Korea, and Acting President of COPMOP7. 

He said: “All efforts made by the delegates over the past 5 days will pave the way for the effective implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Korean government will spare no effort for the development of the Protocol as the hosting country. In particular, the Republic of Korea has created the “Korea Biosafety Capacity Building Initiative” for the implementation of the Protocol and capacity building, and the initiative has been adopted by the agreement of the Parties. I am looking forward to the cooperation between Korea and all Parties for the achievement of the initiative.”

Braulio Dias, United Nations Assistant-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said of the meeting: “I congratulate the Parties on their hard work, and their spirit of compromise that they demonstrated this week. Their work has advanced the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol, and in so doing, not only ensures  biosafety, but also contributes to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its important role in the global agenda for sustainable development.”

The meeting was the first of a series of three meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity scheduled to take place in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea. The 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity opens on Monday 6 October 2014.

Notes: 

1. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Its objective is to contribute to ensuring the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms that may have adverse effects on conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. 

2. The Protocol was adopted on 29 January 2000 in Montreal, Canada and entered into force on 11 September 2003. To date, 167 countries and the European Union have ratified or acceded to it. 

3. The Protocol is named after the Colombian city of Cartagena where the final round of its negotiations was launched.

Traditional knowledge valuable resource for the Pacific

 Article 8. In-situ Conservation

(j) Subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices;

12 October 2012, CBD COP 11, Hyderabad India - The value of traditional knowledge in the Pacific was acknowledged at the 11^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.  Known as Article 8J in the CBD, this strengthens the role of traditional knowledge in contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

Fiji presented a statement on behalf of FSM, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Nauru and Tonga:

“Traditional knowledge and culture are important components of biodiversity within these countries. The Pacific island countries including the stated countries are diverse in culture and traditional knowledge which are intricately linked to our livelihoods. Cultural practices and traditional knowledge have enabled the people of these nations to survive on the islands since time immemorial. It is for this reason that the Governments for these countries consider cultural diversity, an important component of the national biodiversity programmes implemented at the national, islands and village levels.”

While the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing pertains to the genetic resources and their use, Traditional knowledge is about the innovations, practices and knowledge of local communities around the world.

The Institute of iTaukei Language and Culture is undergoing a Cultural Mapping project working closely with the Department of Environment to look at linkages between Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity.

This project covers all villages within the 14 provinces in Fiji with research teams recording and documenting indigenous knowledge and cultural expressions.  A key objective of these activities is to retrieve important traditional knowledge from the elderly who are often the key repositories of knowledge.

L - R Sarah Tawaka Fiji, Rawlston Moore GEF, Easter Galuvao SPREP

“We proposed on behalf of these countries that we link the role of biodiversity and traditional knowledge to climate change, as traditional knowledge can assist with climate change adaptation,” said Sarah Tawaka of the Fiji delegation.

“We also asked that they consider how we can resolve repatriation of traditional knowledge before Article 8J came into force as countries have varying levels of traditional knowledge that was released before Article 8J, we would like to address this.”

For more information on Article 8J.

Vava'u, Tonga Mangrove Survey successfully completed using GIS

Mangroves, Vava'u, Tonga

11 October, 2012 - The Vava'u Mangrove Survey which used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) found the mangroves of the island of Vava'u, Tonga in generally good condition.

This is according to Environmental Monitoring Analyst, Mr. Paul Anderson, of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

"Despite the usual impacts, of cutting, burning and waste the mangroves were in generally good condition, meaning the mangroves are resilient and healthy in most cases," he said.

Mangroves are vital to island ecosystems as they provide habitats for fish and crabs, protect coastlines and keep the water clean.  Mangroves remain a major component of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change.

Anderson was the lead trainer for the one week Vava'u Mangrove Survey, a project by SPREP in partnership with Mangrove Ecosystems for Climate Change Adaptation and Livelihoods (MESCAL) and Ministry of Lands Environment Climate Change and Natural Resources, Tonga. (MLECCNR).

"The project maps and assesses the conditions of the mangroves of Vavau and trains local staff and volunteers on mangrove monitoring methodology and technology," Anderson said.

Field Team and trainer on the seaward edge of a mangrove stand, Vava'u, Tonga.

The technology used during the training included GIS, Geographical Positioning Systems (GPS) and the Pacific Mangrove Monitoring Manual produced by SPREP.   

Vava'u currently hosts 30% of Tonga’s mangroves, covering approximately 381 hectares of land.

Anderson said: "As part of the training and survey, we visited the majority of the sites,

exploring first-hand the condition of the mangroves, and assessing the impacts of human activity and nature on the mangroves."

During the surveys, the team discovered a small leaf mangrove associate species, which was only recently discovered in Tongatapu Pemphis acidula.

Pemphis acidula

 "This was a significant find as it expands the range of this species to a new island group," said Mr Anderson.

In addition to the small leaf mangrove associate, the team also came across the largest recorded red mangrove in the Tongan islands measuring at 20cm in diameter.

The team installed permanent monitoring points to asses and monitor the condition of mangroves over time.

Anderson acknowledged the contribution of his MLECCNR counterpart Sione Tukia Latu, the assistance of the MLECCNR Vava'u and Tongatapu personnel and the support of the Vava’u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) in the field monitoring and GIS work.