Other UNEP activities on Biodiversity & Biosafety

1. Assessments, carried out by UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA)

Ecosystem Assessment of Biodiversity in Central America. Project with the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and the University of Costa Rica. Final results (biodiversity assessment and assessment methodology)
Represented on Board of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; One of the primary ‘users’ of the Millennium Assessment.
GEMS/Water provides expertise, advice and strategic planning with respect to water quality for the Rapid Assessment of Biological Diversity (DBC/RAMSAR). Activities are directed to the evaluation and assessment of water quality at the watershed level.

2. Regional activities

2.1 Regional Office of West Asia

Development of Regional Strategies for Biodiversity and Protocols for the Establishment of Protected Areas in the ROPME and PERSGA Regions with the support of the Regional Organisation for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) and the Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA), supported by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), and the European Union.
PERSGA, ROPME and ROWA, supported by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development in Saudi Arabia (NCWCD), have developed a Regional Action Programme (RAP) for the Protection of Coral Reefs.
Organization of a workshop on the Joint Implementation of Biodiversity Related Conventions on 28-30 May 2002 in Cairo through the support of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE), the Arab Centre for the Study of Arid Zones and Drylands (ACSAD), the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Organization of an experts’ meeting to discuss the outcome of the Feasibility Study on the Establishment of a Genebank for Plant Genetic Resources in the Arab World in Syria 6-7 May 2002.

2.2 Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

In September of 2002, a document on the activities carried out with respect to the Harmonization of Reports of International Conventions related to Biodiversity was printed by UNEP/ROLAC and the National Environmental Authority of Panama. The document contains recommendations made to the Government of Panama after carrying out consultations with the focal points of 6 international conventions (CBD, RAMSAR, CITES, CMS, WHC, SPAW), related to biodiversity in order to determine the best way to efficiently harmonize and co-ordinate the process of presenting reports. The document also contains data on consultations held with Mexican environmental authorities for the same purpose.
UNEP/ROLAC has provided support for the implementation of the Biosafety Protocol of the CBD in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Regional Office provided technical assistance for the organization of the following three workshops for the development of National Biosafety Frameworks:

Workshop to improve issues in the development of National Biosafety Frameworks (Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 2002);

Workshop on risk assessment, management and public participation (Mexico City, December 2002);

Legal and institutional Workshop (venue to be determined, late 2003, beginning of 2004).

UNEP/ROLAC has officially begun to implement activities of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) Project in conjunction with the eight Mesoamerican countries that form part of the Corridor (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama). The Mesoamerican region, which begins in the Darien in Panama and ends at the Mayan Jungle in the South of Mexico crossing the territories of eight countries, contains 10% of the world’s known biodiversity that is rapidly diminishing due to rapid population growth.
Seven Latin American countries (Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela) form part of the Group of Like-minded Megabiodiverse Countries. UNEP/ROLAC has provided technical and financial support for the organization of several meetings in order to establish a group of Likeminded Megabiodiverse Countries that will exchange experiences concerning the identification of general principles and shared positions to present at different international forums.
Technical assistance will be provided in the near future to the National Commission of Biological Diversity of Peru so that it may fulfill its mandate, which includes the implementation of the CBD, the national biodiversity strategy and the Andean Biological Strategy.
ROLAC actively participated in the ‘Regional Biotechnology Consultative Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean’ held in Brasilia, Brazil from 22 to 25 July 2003.
In conjunction with the environmental NGO ‘Quercus Consultoría Ecológica’, UNEP/ROLAC implemented the project ‘State of Natural Protected Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean’.
UNEP/ROLAC is co-coordinating efforts with FAO and administrators of protected areas in Latin America, in order to reactivate the Latin American Network of National Parks, other Protected Areas and Wild Fauna and Flora.
UNEP/ROLAC is in the process of redefining the 2001-2005 Training Programme for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Indigenous Communities in Chiapas, Mexico.
A GEF project proposal is being prepared by UNEP/ROLAC on the application of a common strategy on the access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits resulting from their utilization in the five countries of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). This project will also support the Andean Biodiversity Strategy.
UNEP/ROLAC is currently preparing a GEF project proposal on the promotion and consolidation of a biological corridor along the Inca Trail in three Andean countries: Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

2.3 Regional Office for West Asia

The United Arab Emirates, ROWA and relevant regional organizations will establish a regional database and network for coastal wetland ecosystems.
ROWA participated in the Ramsar Convention meeting for West and Central Asian Sub-regional Meeting, held in Tehran (3-5 February 2002).
ROWA participated in the Arab regional Meeting on the RAMSAR Convention and the Middle East Regional Meeting on the Convention on Wetlands which was held in Beirut.