The Conference of the Parties of the CBD has encouraged Parties to develop regional, sub-regional, and bio-regional mechanisms and networks to support implementation of the Convention. Some of the approaches include the development of regional or sub-regional strategies and action plans, the identification of common constraints and impediments to implementation, and the promotion of joint measures for addressing these (see e.g. decision VI/27A). Notable examples of such regional and sub-regional frameworks include the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, the Strategic Plan on Biodiversity for Tropical Andean Countries, the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD), and the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
For more information,see http://www.biodiv.org or contact secretariat@biodiv.org
Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS)
The Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), endorsed in 1995 at the Third Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference, is a response to support implementation of the CBD in the pan European region. The Strategy is not a legally binding instrument, but it does provide a coordinating and unifying framework for strengthening and building on existing initiatives, as well as a framework for relevant actions at the national level and promoting regional cooperation. It does not aim to introduce new legislation or programmes, but to fill gaps where initiatives have not been implemented to their full potential or fail to achieve desired objectives. Furthermore, the Strategy seeks to more effectively integrate ecological considerations into all relevant socio-economic sectors, and will increase public participation in, and awareness and acceptance of, conservation interests.
At the Fifth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in 2003, the Ministers of Environment and Heads of Delegations of the States participating in the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity process endorsed the Resolution on Biodiversity and agreed to halt the loss of biological diversity at all levels by 2010. The Resolution is a response to the 2010 target of the CBD and the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Ministers committed to achieving nine specific sub-targets through national efforts and regional cooperation in the key areas of forests and biodiversity, agriculture and biodiversity, the Pan-European Ecological Network, invasive alien species, financing of biodiversity, biodiversity monitoring and indicators, and public participation and awareness. The PEBLDS has now adopted seven action plans for implementation of activities to achieve the sub-targets in the pan European region with special focus on Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
For more information, see http://www.strategyguide.org or contact secretariat@strategyguide.org