Convention On Biological Diversity Research Articles

An Urgent Call to Integrate the Health Sector into the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to stop biodiversity loss and secure the resilience of all life on Earth. In December 2022, Parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in Montreal, Canada, to finalize the language and terms of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (Post-2020 GBF). The Post-2020 GBF aims to address the shortcomings of the previous Strategic Plan on Biodiversity 2011-2020, by introducing a Theory of Change, that states that biodiversity protection will only be successful if unprecedented, transformative changes are implemented effectively by Parties to the CBD. In this policy perspective, we explore the implications of the Theory of Change chosen to underpin the Post-2020 GBF, specifically that broad social transformation is an outcome that requires actors to be specified. We detail how the health sector is uniquely positioned to be an effective actor and ally in support of the implementation of the Post-2020 GBF. Specifically, we highlight how the core competencies and financial and human resources available in the health sector (including unique knowledge, skill sets, experiences, and established trust) provide a compelling, yet mostly untapped opportunity to help create and sustain the enabling conditions necessary to achieve the goals and targets of the framework. While by no means a panacea for the world's biodiversity problems, we posit that explicitly omitting the health sector from the Post-2020 GBF substantially weakens the global, collective effort to catalyze the transformative changes required to safeguard biodiversity.

Biobanks, offspring fitness and the influence of developmental plasticity in conservation biology.

Mitigation of the widely known threats to the world's biodiversity is difficult, despite the strategies and actions proposed by international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Nevertheless, many scientists devote their time and effort to finding and implementing various solutions to the problem. One potential way forward that is gaining popularity involves the establishment of biobank programs aimed at preserving and storing germplasm from threatened species, and then using it to support the future viability and health of threatened populations. This involves developing and using assisted reproductive technologies to achieve their goals. Despite considerable advances in the effectiveness of reproductive technologies, differences between the reproductive behavior and physiology of widely differing taxonomic groups mean that this approach cannot be applied with equal success to many species. Moreover, evidence that epigenetic influences and developmental plasticity, whereby it is now understood that embryonic development, and subsequent health in later life, can be affected by peri-conceptional environmental conditions, is raising the possibility that cryopreservation methods themselves may have to be reviewed and revised when planning the biobanks. Here, I describe the benefits and problems associated with germplasm biobanking across various species, but also offer some realistic assessments of current progress and applications.

Protecting biodiversity and human health along the belt and road

In 2022, the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), which aimed to strengthen international protections on terrestrial and marine areas through biodiversity investments, corporate responsibility, and the elimination of environmentally damaging subsidies. China was fundamental in forming and passing this pivotal biodiversity framework. China's leadership in COP15 should result in escalated Chinese biodiversity protections, specifically through mandated biodiversity impact disclosures (BIDs) for companies associated with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To achieve this, BID clauses should be inserted into BRI development agreements between Chinese foreign development institutions and BRI partner states or companies. Mandated BIDs would expand biodiversity and human health protections within China and globally. BRI-associated companies would be motivated to improve BID ratings for financial benefits, increased social capital, employee engagement, and customer loyalty. Biodiversity protection will also “future-proof” companies against any future environmental policy changes. By providing improved materiality to investors, governments, and other interested parties, BRI BIDs would enhance corporate oversight and awareness of biodiversity issues, advance the standardization and pervasiveness of BIDs, and elevate biodiversity and human health issues into more traditional commercial reporting systems. Thus, China's corporate responsibility measures under COP15 will influence global biodiversity, human health, and the future of BIDs.

Legal protection concerning marine environment and coastal areas in Indonesia based on the convention on biological diversity (CBD)

Indonesia has ratified The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) through Law Number 5 of 1994 with considerations that biodiversity, including ecosystems, types, and genetics of animals, plants, and micro-organisms, need to be guaranteed for their existence and sustainability for life. However, the management of Marine Conservation, which is also one of the implementations of CBD ratification, has not provided firm and clear legal protection for managing marine and coastal environmental areas. The management of marine conservation itself is a manifestation of sustainable development that stated in the Sustainable Development Goals, Goals 14, Conserve and Sustainability use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development, and it is clearly seen that the principles of sustainable development have not been effective synergized in the implementation of CBD in Indonesia. This study uses a normative judicial approach with descriptive analytical research. The result of the research is The regulation of underwater biodiversity related to a sustainable environment which is regulated by various international, national, and local provisions, must be explicitly determined about the importance of protecting and conserving biological diversity, including marine biodiversity. The related framework also should accommodate its availability and ecosystems for a sustainable environment and human benefits for present and future generations. As a result of the destruction of marine ecosystems, marine biodiversity must be given sanctions for the violators. The sanctions can be in the form of administrative sanctions, criminal sanctions, or civil sanctions.

Implementation of Biodiversity Conventions in Protecting and Conserving Indonesia’s Marine Environment

Indonesia has three main ecosystems, mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass bed ecosystems as characteristics of a coastal countries. However, the three ecosystems are getting more and more damaged daily. This is caused by activities carried out by humans such as very fast infrastructure of coastal areas, marine debris and overfishing, and other consequences. To overcome this, the government has issued various policies, especially regarding protecting biodiversity in the three ecosystems. One of the actions taken by the government is to ratify the biodiversity convention (CBD) through Law Number 5 of 1994. Since the agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a global development established, the implementation of the biodiversity convention must be aligned with the SDGs, to create equitable development and ensure human welfare. Subsequently, a conflict emerged, was how to align policies to provide effective protection for the conservation of the three marine ecosystems while continuing to develop globally so that the marine environment preservation was maintained and developed for the community, especially in coastal areas continued to develop. This study uses a normative approach by analyzing international conventions and related national regulations and then be written down by descriptive analysis. This research has purposed to find the perfect concept of policy for the implementation of CBD to give protection and conservation the environment in the Indonesia sea. Research shows that it is necessary to make legal regulations that contain strict sanctions against perpetrators of destroying marine ecosystems because so far, there have been no strict sanctions given by law enforcement officers against those who violate these rules.

Where access and benefit-sharing comes from: A historical overview

The international legal system of access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources (or ABS) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an ever-evolving field as its material, temporal and activity scope is still under discussion to meet the needs of the advancement of research and development activities as well as the questions of fairness and equity that evolve with them. Activities, such as research and development with digital sequence information (DSI), currently take considerable space in the negotiations and the lack of consensus between the Global North and Global South continues. This paper gets its raison d'être from this lack of consensus and aims to provide a better understanding of the debate around the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources as well as states' sovereignty over their natural resources. As such, the paper provides an analysis of all relevant documents at the international level, starting from the UN Charter to the CBD final text with the hope of reminding the ongoing CBD negotiations why we have ABS in the first place and what the international community historically aimed for when regulating genetic resources at the international level. Looking back at why we had the first legally binding ABS instrument in the first place, and why we thought this instrument would achieve fairness and equity in dealing with genetic resources, will serve the interests of all Parties to the CBD and will hopefully enable them to interpret the provisions based on their overarching aim and reasoning.

Japanese Pharmaceutical Regulations of Engineered Viral Vectors for Medical Use Compared With Those in the United States and the European Union.

Japanese Pharmaceutical Regulations of Engineered Viral Vectors for Medical Use Compared With Those in the United States and the European Union.

Invasive species policy in Brazil: a review and critical analysis

SummaryBiological invasions represent one of the main threats to biodiversity and a recognized economic burden worldwide; the issue has been included in the conservation agenda such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Brazil is a signatory country of the CBD; however, the number of alien species records in its territory is continuously rising. To evaluate the invasive alien species (IAS) policy in Brazil, we reviewed the legislation delineating historical trends to identify potential gaps and avenues for improvement. We consulted several websites using keywords related to invasions in order to track legal instruments such as laws, decrees and regulations. We classified the documents regarding their main aims with regard to IAS, taxon and environment of interest. We found 85 legal instruments in force related to IAS published in the federal sphere up to October 2021, with decrees being the most common type. Most documents were classified as ‘control’ and ‘prevention’ and were related to all taxa and environments. Two species (wild boar Sus scrofa and golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei) have more specific legislation, probably due to their conspicuous economic impacts. We discuss policy gaps and their implications for the efficient management and prevention of new IAS introductions to the country.

Biodiversity Agenda Congruent with ‘One Health’: Focusing on CBD, FAO, and WHO

The decrease in biodiversity occurs across national borders and has mutual influences on food and health. In this study, we analyzed the links and relationships between the decisions made by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—the highest decision-making bodies in each field—from 1994 to 2018. We aimed to determine how each regime related to the decisions of others and identify the critical agendas that mediate the three regimes. Consequently, critical agendas, including agricultural biodiversity, taxonomy, traditional knowledge, access and benefit sharing, antimicrobial resistance, and marine biodiversity, were observed. In the order of degree centrality, the top six agendas were discussed in terms of the cooperation history of ‘One Health’ and its implications.

Using ecosystem integrity to maximize climate mitigation and minimize risk in international forest policy

Several key international policy frameworks involve forests, including the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). However, rules and guidelines that treat forest types equally regardless of their ecosystem integrity and risk profiles in terms of forest and carbon loss limit policy effectiveness and can facilitate forest degradation. Here we assess the potential for using a framework of ecosystem integrity to guide policy goals. We review the theory and present a conceptual framework, compare elements of integrity between primary and human-modified forests, and discuss the policy and management implications. We find that primary forests consistently have higher levels of ecosystem integrity and lower risk profiles than human-modified forests. This underscores the need to protect primary forests, develop consistent large-scale data products to identify high-integrity forests, and operationalize a framework of ecosystem integrity. Doing so will optimize long-term carbon storage and the provision of other ecosystem services, and can help guide evolving forest policy at the nexus of the biodiversity and climate crises.

Biodiversity and Health

Abstract Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth, and refers to biological variety in all its forms, from the genetic makeup of plants and animals to cultural diversity. Human health depends upon ecosystem products and services (e.g. availability of fresh water, food and fuel sources) which are requisite for human and animal health. Biodiversity loss can have significant direct human health impacts if ecosystem services are degraded and not able to guarantee social needs. The ecosystems also control disease and stabilize the climate. However, biodiversity loss is occurring at unprecedented rates, impacting human health worldwide, according to the report jointly published by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In this report, awareness is provided to the need to promote integrated approaches to biodiversity and health by highlighting that biodiversity contributes to human health and wellbeing, and emphasizing also that biodiversity needs protection for development to be sustainable. Indirectly, changes in ecosystem services affect livelihoods, income, local migration and, on occasion, may even cause or exacerbate political conflict. Some features will be presented and discussed to describe in detail the most relevant impact that biodiversity has in human health and wellbeing and how the loss of biodiversity can imply risk for animal and human health.

Running to stand still: The application of substandard OECMs in national and provincial policy in Canada

Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) were introduced in the language of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2011–2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity as a mechanism to formally recognize the contributions that areas beyond traditional protected areas can make to the effective, long-term, in-situ conservation of biodiversity. Since the international conservation community agreed to a definition of OECMs in 2018, various Parties to the CBD have begun designating these areas and they are now being reported in global and national protected and conserved area databases. Using examples from Canada, this perspective details how the designation of some OECMs is circumventing the use of established and well-known decision support tools that work to uphold conservation standards, and why these designations may result in negligible gains for biodiversity. The perspective also details how labeling OECMs as “marine refuges” and “conserved areas” is misleading and can misinform the public on conservation success. To avoid the loss of biodiversity in ‘paper parks’ and eroding public trust in the institutions charged with effectively conserving biodiversity, the paper concludes by underscoring the need for new tools to evaluate the effectiveness of OECMs and new measures to hold countries accountable to protected and conserved area targets in the CBD so that their original intent is not further compromised in the post-2020 era of conservation.

Wild Edible Plants of Purmandal block of District Samba, J&K (UT), India

Background: Edible plants that are neither cultivated nor domesticated but can be found in their natural habitat are known as wild edible plants (WEPs). In times of food scarcity, WEPs give a valuable natural nutritional supply as food, diet, and nutrients. Methods: An ethnobotanical field study was conducted in eleven villages of Purmandal using focused group discussions, and interviews through semi-structured questionnaires. Information was gathered from a total of 153 informants (115 females and 38 males). Informants were briefed about the objectives of the study and Prior Informed Consent (PIC) was obtained as per Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The various uses of WEPs were quantified as use-reports, and Cultural Importance Value (CI) and Factor informant consensus (Fic) were calculated. Results: Altogether 58 plants belonging to 51 genera and 34 families were used as WEPs. Cucurbitaceae and Rutaceae (5 species each) were the most represented families, and leaves and fruits were the most frequently used plant parts. The contribution of herbs, shrubs, and climbers were 36.2%, 37.9%, and 15.5%, respectively. The maximum CI was recorded for Mangifera indica L., Phyllanthus emblica L., and Bauhinia variegata (L). Benth. The values of Fic varied between 0.95 (medicinal usage) and 0.99 (chutney preparation). Conclusion: Locals of Purmandal have good knowledge of WEPs. Traditional products made from WEPs like Mangifera indica, Phyllanthus emblica and Bauhinia variegata can be commercialized to improve the economic status of the locals. Furthermore, the nutritive values of important species may be studied. Keywords: Wild edible plants, Purmandal, Food security, Sustainable agriculture.

Monitoring genetic diversity with new indicators applied to an alpine freshwater top predator.

Genetic diversity is the basis for population adaptation and long-term survival, yet rarely considered in biodiversity monitoring. One key issue is the need for useful and straightforward indicators of genetic diversity. We monitored genetic diversity over 40 years (1970-2010) in metapopulations of brown trout (Salmo trutta) inhabiting 27 small mountain lakes representing 10 lake systems in central Sweden using >1200 fish per time point. We tested six newly proposed indicators; three were designed for broad, international use in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and are currently applied in several countries. The other three were recently elaborated for national use by a Swedish science-management effort and applied for the first time here. The Swedish indicators use molecular genetic data to monitor genetic diversity within and between populations (indicators ΔH and ΔFST , respectively) and assess the effective population size (Ne -indicator). We identified 29 genetically distinct populations, all retained over time. Twelve of the 27 lakes harboured more than one population indicating that brown trout biodiversity hidden as cryptic, sympatric populations are more common than recognized. The Ne indicator showed values below the threshold (Ne ≤ 500) in 20 populations with five showing Ne < 100. Statistically significant genetic diversity reductions occurred in several populations. Metapopulation structure appears to buffer against diversity loss; applying the indicators to metapopulations suggest mostly acceptable rates of change in all but one system. The CBD indicators agreed with the Swedish ones but provided less detail. All these indicators are appropriate for managers to initiate monitoring of genetic biodiversity.

Policy action needed to unlock eDNA potential

Policy action needed to unlock <scp>eDNA</scp> potential

Biodiversity of Bulgaria: Characteristics, protection and trends

Bulgaria is a medium-sized country located in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. It hosts a rich mycota, flora and fauna, and quite well preserved natural and semi-natural ecosystems. This is mostly due to the country's geographic position between the temperate and subtropical zones, the complex geological history, and the big topographic variety. The high species diversity and endemism determine the high conservation value of Bulgarian biodiversity. The Bulgarian flora consist of more than 4,100 species, including more than 45 species of ferns, 250 species of mosses, and 2,800 higher plant species. The animals established in the country belong to 28 phyla and 75 classes. Vertebrates (858 species) comprise 2.7% of the Bulgarian fauna: 242 fishes and fish-like taxa; 24 amphibians; 40 reptiles; 452 birds; and 101 mammal species. Invertebrates account for more than 31,000 species. Over the past 25 years the number of known animals in the country has increased by over 4,500 species: from 29,000 in 1996 to 33,545 species in 2020. The total number of endemic animals is about 1,400 (4.2%). In some groups, the percentage of endemism is very high (95.5% of snails from the family Hydrobiidae and 71% of Clausiliidae; 53.6% of Diplopoda; 50.0% of terrestrial Isopoda). The richest endemic areas in Bulgaria are mostly in the mountains: Rila Mt.- 268, Pirin Mt. - 220, Western Stara Planina Mt. - 184, Western Rhodopes Mts - 183, and the Central Stara Planina Mt. – 181. Molecular data for Bulgarian animals is still insufficient, although Bulgaria ranks among the top 10 European countries in the proportion of the DNA-barcoded animal taxa; sequence coverage of animal specimens in Barcode of Life data System (BOLD) amounts to approximately 36,000 sequences from more than 7,100 Barcode index numbers (BINs). Bulgaria is part of large-scale initiatives of the European research infrastructure such as the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) and the MOBILISE COST Action, with mass digitization of museum collections currently underway. Legislation to protect nature in Bulgaria dates back to the end of the 19th century and covers forestry (1890), the protection of certain species (1890's) and hunting (1897). Organized civil movements resulted in the establishment of the Union of Nature Protection (1928), the designation of several nature reserves (1933), and the first National Park (1934). More specific regulation followed with Ordinance for the Protection of Nature (1936). The Red Data Book of Bulgaria was published as early as 1984 (vol. 1, Plants) and 1985 (vol. 2, Animals), with a second updated edition in 2011. Bulgaria is also among the first countries to prepare a National Strategy for Biodiversity Protection (1993, adopted in 1998) following the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) process. Since then, several national plans for protection of biodiversity have been adopted including assessments of the threats, objectives, and measures for their achievement. According to recent references, such as the Red Data Book (Beshkov 2011) and the Article 17 reports of 2014 and 2020, the main threats to biodiversity in Bulgaria at the beginning of the 21st century have been human induced degradation: fragmentation and loss of habitats; industrial, agricultural and household waste pollution; direct exploitation of biological resources; genetic ingression and invasive alien species; and global climate change effects. A set of drivers for the loss of biodiversity is related to agriculture and land management, including the whole spectrum from intensification to the abandonment of traditional land, and wetland management practices.

Tackling anthropogenic underwater noise through the Convention on Biological Diversity: Progress and future development

Anthropogenic underwater noise is a source of marine pollution that spans the world’s oceans. It has the potential to cause harmful impacts to many types of marine animals, ranging from whales and other cetaceans to smaller creatures such as fish and invertebrates. Discussion of the problem in international fora has become increasingly common following sustained scientific investigations into the extent of underwater noise and the threat it poses to marine animals. This article discusses whether the most suitable international regulatory framework to address this problem is the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its institutional measures. Although the CBD text does not expressly mention anthropogenic underwater noise, it can be argued that the convention’s provisions are applicable to the problem. CBD provisions provide a useful general environmental protection obligation which can be a legal basis on which to create expectations to adopt specific measures aimed at reducing the extent, intensity or types of anthropogenic underwater noise to minimise impacts on species at risk. To this end, the process to revise the CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 presents a golden opportunity to strengthen the conservation of marine biodiversity against the threats posed by anthropogenic underwater noise. This article reviews the negotiation history of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and suggests how more explicit measures addressing the problem of anthropogenic underwater noise could be adopted within the CBD legal framework.

Whose Knowledge? Examining the Relationship between the Traditional Medicine Sector and Environmental Conservation Using a Stakeholder Analysis: Perceptions on Warwick Herb Market Durban South Africa.

The South African traditional medicine sector is estimated to accommodate millions of citizens, despite it being informal. The existence of such a healthcare system embodies the dual system of both primary and traditional healthcare, with some preferring one and others utilising both systems. The gathering, harvesting, and selling of medicinal plant and animal species have inevitable environmental effects. The paradox between biodiversity conservation and livelihood sustenance is eminent in South Africa’s contemporary environmental legislation. The purpose of the study was to highlight and examine the dynamics between prominent stakeholders involved in biodiversity conservation and the traditional medicine sector. The stakeholder analysis and political ecology approach were adopted and applied respectively to guide the study. The study was conducted in 2020 and a questionnaire was used to capture the realities and experiences of prominent stakeholders in the biodiversity sector. Common legal mandates such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act No. 10 of 2004; Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) regulations; and the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Ordinance 15 of 1974 are used to control and enforce legislation by biodiversity stakeholders. The main findings of the study are as follows: (a) Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) do not have adequate training and knowledge on the environmental and legal aspects of their system; (b) Biodiversity stakeholders are treated with violence and hostility when they attempt to enforce legal mandates at the Warwick Herb Market; (c) There is a significant gap in communication and co-operation between municipal officials and biodiversity stakeholders. There is evidently, a need for environmental educational initiatives and improved methods of enforcement and communication between biodiversity stakeholders, municipal officials and THPs.

Biodiversity data synthesis is critical for realizing a functional post-2020 framework

The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework currently is under development as part of the Convention of Biodiversity's aim to prevent global biodiversity losses by 2050, but targets can only be effectively developed and assessed if the data used for them are fit for purpose. The monitoring framework has been discussed at length and ensuring appropriate data use is critical to target effectiveness, enabling the monitoring of global biodiversity trends and assessment of target success. We outline a vision for how conservation data resources can be improved via automation and other routes to greatly enhance both ease of use and effectiveness for conservation. Synthesis across different types of data is urgently needed and could be enabled by a unified data system and automated workflows for cross-validation between data types, with downstream products such as grades for expert range maps that reflect their underlying bases and data quality and reliability to determine their fit for analysis, as well as automated preliminary IUCN assessments to expedite conservation. Capacity building and collaboration rooted in international agreements will be necessary for these initiatives to effectively function globally to enable new global targets to be achieved for effective conservation and targeted resource mobilization at all scales.

Can intellectual property be used to halt global biodiversity loss?

Biodiversity loss is the single biggest negative consequence from environment degradation. Access and benefit sharing (ABS) – stipulated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and established under Nagoya protocol (NP) – is a policy approach that links access to genetic resources (GR) and traditional knowledge (TK) to the sharing of monetary and nonmonetary benefits. This article examines how the ABS has become the principal instrument embraced by the international fora to prevent further biodiversity loss by avoiding GRs extinction and/or degradation, often due to the misuse and misappropriation of TK associated to GR management. The objective of this research is to analyse the process in which traditional knowledge associated to the management of genetic resources (TK–GR) came onto the Intellectual Property (IP) agenda and to verify whether ABS can effectively regulate the access to the world’s GRs while contributing to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components in a way that is acceptable to all stakeholders. The research was carried out in two parts:The first, explores the literature that outlines the evolution of the IP policy debate in which the IP–TK–GR linkage was recognised as having significant implications to avoid biodiversity loss by preserving TK holders’ role in a rapid evolving biotechnology innovation environment. This was conducive to the second part which assesses the governance in relation to TK–GR protection together with the challenges and opportunities that international institutional and political frameworks face to support ABS adoption across countries. A practical example illustrates how indigenous peoples and local communities’ skills can be embedded in technology transfer best practices to effectively adopt ABS to produce new knowledge, innovation and prosperity from joint research and cooperation between traditional and modern scientists.