Biodiversity underpins the supply of ecosystem services, including food, freshwater, timber, climate regulation, or protection from natural hazards. A significant reduction of biodiversity loss - the key target of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – is out of reach due to the ineffective implementation of the CBD. As human populations directly depend on those services provided by biodiversity, its current loss not only destabilizes ecosystems and weakens their ability to deal with stresses such as pollution and climate change, it also threatens the functioning of society and increases the risk of human conflict. Last but not least biodiversity loss will have adverse consequences to the world economy, as a report on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) outlines. This report was published during the 9th Conference of Parties (COP9) of the CBD in Bonn – a meeting where 191 countries and nearly 7000 participants discussed ways to stop the trend of biodiversity loss.



The COP9 set up the Life Web Initiative, which aims at building partnerships to improve funding of protected areas. Progress has also been made "[…] on the long neglected need for High Seas Marine protected areas, on the recommitment to planning conservation at a broad landscape level and on strengthening the links to the climate convention", said Gordon Shepherd, WWF International's Director of Global Policy. Delegates also agreed on a firm process toward the establishment of international rules on access to genetic resources and the equitable sharing of benefits from their use. Although the conference failed to adopt clear targets, timelines and restrictions on issues such as financing or illegal logging, it has undertaken efforts to move the conservation agenda forward over the next two years. However, greater ambition and mainstreaming of biodiversity in an integrated approach is needed to ensure that the next COP in Japan will deliver results better suited to the size and importance of the problem. (Christiane Roettger)



The official website of the event is available at http://www.cbd.int/cop9/



The main communication platform of NGO and civil society community on the COP9 can be found at http://www.biodiv-network.de/front_content.php



The following website provides an overview on the positions of the WWF on the COP9 http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/policy_and_events/cbd/cbd_cop_9/index.cfm



Information on "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" report is available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/index_en.htm  

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, June 2008