UNDP Resident Representative remarks at opening ceremony of UNDP regional stakeholder consultation  on biodiversity

 

On Monday 26^th April, 2010, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP’s Resident Representative, Dr. Marcia de Castro presented remarks at the UNDP regional stakeholder consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean in Trinidad held as part of the regional initiative “Biodiversity and Ecosystems: Why these are Important for Sustained Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

 

Other members of the head table at this consultation were Dr. Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde; Minister in the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment and Ms. Emma Torres, Senior Adviser for Environment and Energy- Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP. Present at this consultation were representatives from St. Lucia, Jamaica, Guyana, Dominica, St. Vincent and Suriname.

 

This regional initiative was identified by the UNDP Regional Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean as one of its strategic areas. It focuses on the presentation of concrete financial and economic benefits and costs to countries derived from sustainable ecosystem management. The main goal of the initiative is to produce a report with sufficiently valuable and robust data to inform policy and decision makers in Latin America and the Caribbean of the need to invest in and maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services and the urgency involved in conserving them. The report will be disseminated to governments and civil societies around the region during the latter half of 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, and in time for the 10th  Conference[ES1]  of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity to take place in Japan in October 2010 (http://www.cbd.int/cop10/). This meeting will be organized by the Secretariat of the Convention through the United Nations. 

 

A regional stakeholder consultation process for the initiative started in August 2009. A number of consultations have been completed so far including consultations in Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, and Trinidad.

 The main objective of the consultation held in Trinidad was to involve and seek feedback from Caribbean stakeholders in the process of:

·        identifying critical areas of biodiversity  and ecosystem services in the region

·        identifying mechanisms to encourage investment in conservation and ecosystem services

 Dr. de Castro in her remarks emphasized the central place for sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystem services in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the fact that the MDG target to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met. The richness of the ecosystems within the region was contrasted with the rate of ecosystem degradation and species loss, with the region presenting one of the highest rates of habitat loss globally.

 Dr. de Castro noted that biodiversity is essential for the functioning of ecosystems which underpin the provisioning of ecosystem services. These services ultimately affect human well being, particularly the well being and livelihoods of the region’s poorest who are most dependent on the services provided by their environment. She illustrated this by highlighting the importance of the ecosystems throughout the Caribbean in supporting industries such as tourism and marine fisheries.

Dr. de Castro outlined the issues involved in biodiversity loss. These include conflicting demands on the environment, the impact of linked environmental issues such as climate change, human ignorance of the value of ecosystems and their biodiversity and inadequate social and economic mechanisms to encourage individuals and governments to invest in maintaining them. Compounding this is the fact that biological functions are highly complex and interlinked.

Dr. de Castro spoke to the importance of the consultation in assisting to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem conservation into national policies and development strategies by tapping into the information and experiences of the region that contradict the persistent myth that investing in biodiversity and ecosystem conservation does not present positive economic. The consultation was expected to highlight potential benefits and revenues from proper management of ecosystems thus simplifying and translating issues linked to biodiversity degradation into a common language that can be understood and appreciated by decision makers and individual users alike.

 In closing Dr. de Castro encouraged participants to freely share their views and information on how to enhance biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services at the national, local and regional level. She pointed out that key policy events linked to the environment were to take place in 2010 underscoring the significance of the consultation and its contribution to the sustainable use and conservation of our ecosystems in the region.

 

For more information on UNDP’s work on biodiversity refer to http://www.undp.org/biodiversity/