Tourism and biodiversity conservation

Conservation and management of marine biodiversity

IUCN was committed to making biodiversity conservation work more effectively for the poor, including through its Conservation for Poverty Reduction Initiative.

We attach great importance to the protection and conservation of the marine environment and its biodiversity.

UNEP, through its biodiversity arm at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), has produced a number of assessments focusing on species and ecosystems biodiversity including

The State Institute for Nature Protection was developing a national list of biodiversity indicators and setting up a national biodiversity monitoring programme to improve nature conservation.

Developing countries, which are often endowed with rich biodiversity, face the great challenge of combining poverty alleviation and economic growth with sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.

The promotion and revitalization of indigenous traditional knowledge of natural resources are necessary for the conservation of biodiversity.

The reports agree that the preservation and conservation of biodiversity have a real impact on desertification control.

The IUCN also organized, at the margins of COP 6, the Global Biodiversity Forum to address the issue of Ecosystem Approach to Drylands Management Integrating Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Security .

An important area in which international support for NEPAD will be required is that of environment and biodiversity conservation.

In the Lao People's Democratic Republic the Rice Biodiversity Project was approved for on farm conservation of rice germ plasm.

They need to find ways for the long term financing of biodiversity conservation, which is currently financed mostly through external funding.

Recent developments in close to nature forest management provide a model for a decentralized system that can yield good biodiversity conservation, consistent with the ecosystem approach adopted by the Convention on Biodiversity.

In China, the UNDP GEF supported multi agency and local participatory cooperation in biodiversity conservation in Yunnan upland eco systems' made significant efforts to empower women and help them manage microcredit schemes and monitor biodiversity resources.

Sayer, J.A., Elliott, C., Barrow, E., Gretzinger, S., Maginnis, S., McShane, T., and Shepherd, G. The Implications for Biodiversity Conservation of Decentralized Forest Resources Management

Biodiversity conservation programmes are supported by most organizations (UNEP, UNU, UNESCO, IUCN, Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), etc.).

Those organizations and their parties have a heavy responsibility as regards a broad range of challenges related to ecosystem based resource management and the conservation of biodiversity.

We hope that the meeting will help us to identify ways the international community can work together to improve the conservation and management of the ocean's biodiversity.

Some delegations emphasized the need for a coherent approach to the conservation and management of marine biodiversity both within zones under national jurisdiction and on the high seas.

Twenty years ago, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources classified the Niger Delta as a region of high biodiversity of marine and coastal flora and fauna tree species, fish, birds, and mammals, among other forms of life and therefore rated it as a very high priority for conservation. Yet it also noted that the region s biodiversity was under massive threat, with little or no protection.

Furthermore, the biodiversity related services offered through the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre will be revitalized to cater to the needs of both member States and multilateral environmental agreements.

The Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems project (LINKS) aims at fostering dialogue and understanding between indigenous knowledge holders and scientists, to empower local communities in biodiversity conservation.

Australia has been a longstanding champion of high seas biodiversity conservation and is seriously concerned about the impact of a range of human activities on the vulnerable ecosystems of the high seas.

Parties such as Bahamas, Costa Rica, Indonesia and Madagascar mentioned the adoption of national laws on environment that include measures to address climate change, biodiversity, forestry and coastal marine conservation.

The third IUCN World Conservation Congress, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2004, addressed pressing sustainable development challenges around the world and centred around four themes biodiversity loss and species extinction ecosystem management health, poverty and conservation and markets, business and the environment.

Several delegations welcomed the establishment of the ad hoc open ended informal working group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction.

We urge the international community to take the necessary measures for the sustainable use of oceans and for the conservation and management of the biodiversity of the international seabed as the common heritage of humankind.

As a result, we now have a baseline from which to measure progress in plant conservation around the world. We have the knowledge, expertise, and partnerships to make a very real positive difference to biodiversity conservation worldwide, and we welcome support from all parts of society to help us deliver this.

Here, we should like to note in particular the meetings of the Ad Hoc Open ended Informal Working Group on issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction.

He concluded by underscoring that more information was needed regarding the state of the oceans in order to address such questions as the degradation of the marine environment, and the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.

It is moving closer to realizing the goal of elaborating regulations for the prospecting and exploration of polymetallic sulphides and cobalt rich crusts in the international seabed area and for the conservation of biodiversity in the seabed.

Even before the decision to make land degradation a focal area, the GEF informed on assistance provided to African countries in meeting the biodiversity conservation and climate change objectives through dryland management projects.

These include improved rural livelihoods (including for women), improved local nutrition and food security, multi faceted environmental benefits, enhanced agro biodiversity through in situ conservation of indigenous farmers' varieties, increased employment opportunities, positive gender effects, etc.

The importance of trade as a positive incentive measure for biodiversity conservation is increasingly recognized at national and international levels, and efforts are under way to promote trade that takes ecological and social issues into account.

Recognizing that there is a need for a more integrated approach and to further study and promote measures for enhanced cooperation and coordination relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction,

In national forest programmes and related biodiversity strategies increasing emphasis is given to conservation and the management of environmentally critical areas, although in several reports submitted by the least developed countries, the problem of resource constraints is stressed.

If smallholders compete in the same markets as the large farms, they lose. Yet they render invaluable services, in terms of preservation of agro and biodiversity, local communities resilience to price shocks or weather related events, and environmental conservation.

Recognizing that there is a need for a more integrated approach and to further study and promote measures for enhanced cooperation and coordination relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction,

The Price of Biodiversity

A global plan of action with a world conservation union, the IUCN, is underway to protect biodiversity, to mitigate and recover from the impacts of climate change, on the high seas and in coastal areas, wherever we can identify critical places.

Multilateral environmental agreements cover many issues that are relevant to, and affected by, tourism, including global issues such as conservation of biodiversity and prevention of climate change, as well as impacts on transboundary resources such as migratory species, and water quality.

UNEP WCMC also provides assessment support to the multilateral environmental agreements, including work on the Global Biodiversity Outlook of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the CITES periodic trade analysisand the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) species assessment compilation.

Instruments aimed at tackling market failure and offering incentives to provide benefits such as watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, recreation and carbon sequestration would contribute to sustainable forest management, as well as socially more optimal forest activities.

Peru awaits with interest the onset of the work of the Ad Hoc Open ended Informal Working Group to meet in February 2006 to study questions related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.