CONFERENCE OF PARTIES TO BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION ADOPTS MINISTERIAL STATEMENT AND LAUNCHES NEW INITIATIVE ON COASTAL AND MARINE AREAS
Press Release
HE/918
CONFERENCE OF PARTIES TO BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION ADOPTS MINISTERIAL STATEMENT AND LAUNCHES NEW INITIATIVE ON COASTAL AND MARINE AREAS
19951124 Decides to Locate Convention Secretariat in Montreal; Accepts Argentina's Offer to Host Next Session in November 1996(Delayed in transmission.)
JAKARTA, 17 November (UNEP) -- The second session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity concluded here today by adopting decisions that will guide the international community's future work on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
The meeting's two-day ministerial segment, which featured 80 speakers, produced the Jakarta Ministerial Statement on the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. "This Statement represents a powerful political commitment to moving the Convention forward at both the national and international levels", said Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, President of the meeting and Environment Minister of Indonesia.
The most far-reaching decision adopted was the Jakarta Mandate on Coastal and Marine Biodiversity. By urging governments to initiate immediate action for the conservation and sustainable use of the biological resources in coastal and marine areas, the Jakarta Mandate promises to raise the profile of this vital issue.
"This will encourage a more comprehensive approach to coastal and marine biodiversity", says Calestous Juma, the Convention's Executive Secretary. "We need to consider the essential processes and functions of entire ecosystems in addition to managing for specific species or populations." Coastal and marine areas are currently threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, invasions by alien species and over-exploitation.
A great deal of work needs to be done to improve our understanding of the problems and the possible solutions. Gaps need to be identified in the knowledge and understanding of all aspects of marine and coastal biodiversity (including ecosystems, species and genes) and the impact of human activities. This will require research and analysis in the areas of science, law,
economics and technology, as well as indigenous and traditional knowledge. More research and monitoring is needed to assess the status of biodiversity and important trends. Meanwhile, improved management approaches must be developed for construction and mining operations, tourism and recreation, and specific ecosystems such as mangroves.
Fishing issues were among the most contentious parts of the debate. The area of government subsidies and incentive measures, in particular, has important political and trade implications. Other key concerns include fisheries management and the management of captive bred populations which can mix genetically and ecologically with wild populations.
"The Jakarta Mandate will contribute to broadening and eventually transforming the way people and governments think about the vital natural resources of marine and coastal areas", says Avrim Lazar of Canada, who was Chairman of the main negotiating committee. "It reflects and strengthens the new concepts and philosophy agreed in the Convention -- that the best way to promote development and protect the environment is to ensure both the conservation and the sustainable use of biological resources."
The decision on forests and biological diversity similarly grants an important new mandate for future work. Again, this mandate will promote a shift away from a narrow perspective -- that forests are merely sources of timber -- to a more comprehensive one recognizing the full range of services provided by tropical, temperate and boreal forests. These include, for example, absorbing and storing carbon (which reduces the risk of climate change) and watershed management.
This new approach also respects the presence and knowledge of indigenous and local communities and the cultural, religious and aesthetic roles that forests play. The Conference further decided to forward a statement to the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (the forum for forestry issues under the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development) and to request the Panel to provide inputs to the Convention process.
The Conference also agreed to start drafting a protocol on biosafety to help minimize the potential risks posed by organisms modified by modern biotechnology. The draft protocol will cover the transboundary movement and transfer of these organisms, which means it will address both accidental releases and trade. An open-ended working group created to develop a protocol will endeavour to complete its work in 1998.
Another decision vital to the Convention's long-term success outlines the national reports that parties are to submit by June 1997. These first reports are to focus as much as possible on measures governments are taking for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Secretariat will prepare a paper synthesizing the information contained in these national
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reports. The suggested guidelines ask governments to describe their action plans and budgets, to summarize the gaps between their current situation and their visions and goals for biodiversity, and to explain how they will track the results of the action plans and monitor changes in the economy, environment and society.
The parties also agreed to strengthen work on issues involving indigenous peoples and local communities. A new post will be created in the Convention's secretariat, and this increased capacity could help make the Convention one of the few international fora where land rights, traditional knowledge, access to genetic resources, prior informed consent and other issues of concern to indigenous peoples can be effectively addressed.
The meeting decided that the clearing-house for scientific and technical cooperation should be established with a two-year pilot phase. The debate on technology transfer will continue at the next meeting of the Conference's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice.
Parties agreed that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) will continue to serve as the Convention's funding mechanism on an interim basis. The next meeting of the Conference will endeavour to designate an institution to play this role on a permanent basis. The GEF, which helps finance developing country projects relating to biodiversity and other environmental issues, has a $2 billion funding target for a three-year period ending in 1997.
It was further decided that Montreal will become the permanent seat of the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and now has 134 Parties. The Jakarta Conference was attended by over 1,000 delegates from 117 States parties, 18 non-parties, and non-governmental organizations and other observers. The parties accepted the offer of Argentina to host the next Conference in November 1996.
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