Beyond Protected Areas

A side event was held at the twentieth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice on 'other effective area-based conservation measures. On Monday 25 April, the WCPA Task Force on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) and the Secretariat of the CBD (SCBD) hosted a side event on OECMs. The event was chaired by Kathy MacKinnon (Chair, WCPA/Co-Chair, Task Force on OECMs) and was opened by Braulio Dias (Executive Secretary, SCBD) who underscored the importance of developing guidance on OECMs as a means of contributing to the security of biologically diverse areas that lie beyond the current protected area estate. Trevor Sandwith (Director, Global Protected Areas Programme, IUCN) suggested that the development of guidance on OECMs provides an important opportunity to consider the factors that lead certain areas that are currently not considered to be protected areas to support the conservation of biodiversity and to explore means of enhancing those qualities. Harry Jonas (Natural Justice/Co-Chair, Task Force on OECMs) presented an overview of the Task Force, the roadmap developed in Cambridge (January 2016) and the Task Force’s progress to date. David MacKinnon (Canadian Council on Ecological Areas - CCEA) presented on the CCEA’s work on OECMs, including a screening tool. Questions were raised by, among others, Puri Canals (Mediterranean Protected Areas Network), Simone Lovera (Global Forest Coalition) and Sarah Pearson Perret (Switzerland). Further information about SBSTTA-20 is available here.  

"Catching a Leopard by its Tail": SBSTTA 18 Wraps Up, Ahead of COP12

SBSTTA Chair Gemedo Dalle Tussie

The 18th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) closed on 28 June 2014 after six intensive days of discussions and negotiations among the Parties and observers. In keeping with the format first used at the SBSTTA 17 in October 2013, the CBD Secretariat developed official and information documents, but left the task of developing draft recommendation to committees convened during the meeting. As the Chair of SBSTTA Gemedo Dalle Tussie (Ethiopia) stated in opening the meeting, this format was akin to catching a leopard by the tail, and once you have done so, you must hold on tight.

Natural Justice and ICCA Host Side Event at SBSTTA 18

On June 26, 2014, Natural Justice and the ICCA Consortium held a side event during SBSTTA 18 on Indigenous peoples’ and community conserved territories and areas (ICCAs) and how they can help in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The side event focused in particular on Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), a type of ICCA that encompasses coastal and ocean territories and areas. This topic was particularly relevant given SBSTTA 18 Agenda Item 4 on marine and coastal biodiversity (link to agenda).

The side event featured two speakers, Onel Marsadule, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Indigenous Knowledge, and Taghi Farvar, President of the ICCA Consortium. Onel's presentation focused on the Kuna Yala people of Panama, whose territory includes a large marine ecosystem on Panama's Caribbean coast. Onel noted that the Kuna people have their own system of governance for the protection of marine and coastal biodiversity of their territory. For the Kuna, the importance of protecting marine resources and ecosystems is not only food dependency, but also on a holistic, cultural and spiritual relationship with the marine ecosystems. The Kuna have codified their customary laws into a written text, and one provision requires any project or activity affecting natural resources and biodiversity (which would include marine resources and biodiversity) to have an environmental impact study. He concluded by observing that it is essential to recognize indigenous resource management of marine ecosystems and called on Parties to strengthen customary laws and practices of conservation and traditional institutions.

Ninth Issue of [square brackets] Published

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the CBD Alliance have jointly produced the ninth issue of the [square brackets] newsletter to coincide with the recent meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice.

This issue of [square brackets] includes articles on coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean, implementation of Aichi Target 3 in the livestock sector (by Mia MacDonald and Simone Lovera), and biofuel subsidies, among others. The ninth issue of [square brackets] is available for download here.

18th Meeting of the CBD SBSTTA Begins in Montreal

23 June 2014 marked the opening day of the 18th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) in Montreal. Several critical issues are on the agenda this year as the Parties prepare for the 12th Conference of the Parties in South Korea in October. These issues include synthetic biology, marine and coastal biodiversity, the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4), invasive alien species, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and harmful incentives (link to meeting documents).

Synthetic biology is important for a number of reasons, including the potential for users to bypass the Nagoya Protocol through the transfer of digital information rather than genetic material itself. It is anticipated that countries in favor of synthetic biology will call for additional studies and argue that an agreed definition of the term is needed in order to delay any action on the matter by the CBD. However, several studies have already been undertaken, and extensive precedent exists for Parties entering into agreements despite a lack of of key terms being defined (i.e. the Cartagena Protocol). Marine and coastal biodiversity is also a key issue, and civil society has called for real action to address ocean acidification, underwater noise and marine debris.

Seventeenth SBSTTA Meeting Enters Final Day of Panel Discussions, With Drafting of "Conclusions" to Begin Thursday

As the seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) continues in Montreal, Parties and Observers continue to address the Strategic Goals and Aichi Targets of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. The meeting is being conducted with a combination of short speeches by members of panels who are selected based on their expertise in the Strategic Goal being addressed, followed by interventions on the part of Parties and Observers. This format means that some interventions with regard to a specific Strategic Goal are not able to be heard during the plenary and are pushed to the following day. On Thursday, 17 October, the agenda calls for the drafting of "conclusions and recommendations for further work." (Agenda link here.)

Thus far, Natural Justice has been involved in the SBSTTA meeting in several ways. On Monday, Eli Makagon spoke at a side event held by the CBD Alliance regarding a proposed ABS regulation to implement the Nagoya Protocol in the European Union (EU) currently pending before the European Council (for further information, see links on this page). On Tuesday, 15 October, Eli, with the assistance of Nele Marien, coordinator of the CBD Alliance, briefed delegates from the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) on the EU's proposed regulation, noting that it severely limits the Nagoya Protocol's scope by limiting its application to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge accessed after the Nagoya Protocol enters into force for the EU. On Wednesday, 16 October, Natural Justice and the Global Forest Coalition will co-host, along with the ICCA Consortium, a side event on meeting the Aichi Targets. In addition, Natural Justice will be attending several other side events as well as the ongoing plenary sessions. For more immediate updates and further information on the meeting, check out Natural Justice's Twitter feed online at https://twitter.com/naturaljustice.

Seventeenth Meeting of the SBSTTA Begins in Montreal, Canada

On October 14, 2013, country delegates, representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities, and other participants came together in Montreal, Canada for the seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). This meeting, chaired by Mr. Gemedo Dalle Tussie (Ethiopia), is particularly noteworthy because it involves an entirely new meeting format. In the past, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) prepared draft recommendations that the Parties attending the SBSTTA meeting then considered throughout the meeting's course. This year, however, the CBD Secretariat did not prepare any draft recommendations. Instead, the first three days of the 17th meeting will consist of expert panels addressing issues on the SBSTTA agenda. Summaries of the discussions held during those panels will then be created in order to draft "conclusions, and if appropriate, recommendations." (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/17/1/Add.2, para. 6(c)). The effectiveness and ramifications of this new format remain to be seen, and some countries have called into question whether the decision to change the format conforms with the decisions regarding SBSTTA adopted during prior Conferences of the Parties.

On the agenda for this meeting are 2 main items: Item 3 -- Facilitating the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets through scientific and technical means; and Item 4 -- Assessing the effects of the types of measures taken in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. With regard to Item 3, only the first four Strategic Goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (Goals A-D) will be discussed. Thus, Strategic Goal E, and its crucial Target 18 regarding traditional knowledge of and customary use of biological resources by indigenous peoples and local communities will dot be addressed.