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| Author: |
FACTSHEET, 2005-04-31
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| Title: |
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity |
| Publisher: |
UNDP/BDP Energy and Environment Group, 2 pages
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| Type: |
Outreach
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| Country / Region: |
Global
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| Categories: |
Ecosystems,
Conservation,
Indigenous
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| Themes/Issues: |
Biodiversity,
Development,
Employment
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| Date Posted: |
2005-11-30 |
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FACTSHEET ON UNDP'S WORK ON CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY
Poverty and biodiversity are intimately linked. The poor, especially in rural areas, depend on biodiversity – the full variety of life forms on earth – for food, fuel, shelter, medicines and livelihoods. Biodiversity also provides the critical ‘ecosystem services, on which society depends, including air and water purification, soil protection, disease control, and reduced vulnerability to natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides. Biodiversity loss exacerbates poverty, and likewise, poverty is a major threat to biodiversity.
Thus Biodiversity for Development is a prime focus of UNDP’s Energy and Environment Practice. Through capacity development, knowledge management, policy advice and advocacy, UNDP helps more than 140 countries maintain and sustainably use biodiversity. Closely integrated activities, including its Biodiversity Global Programme, the Equator Initiative and the Global Environment Facility, enable UNDP to leverage change at the local, national regional and global levels.
“The real key to a sustainable future is to remember that our efforts towards poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation are mutually reinforcing. That is why our programs focus on ‘biodiversity for development’ not ‘Biodiversity or development’. - Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, UNDP
Biodiversity and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
The production and sustainable management of biodiversity – including genetic resources, species and the ecosystem services that support human development – is central to achieving the MDGs. Although one of the MDGs (MDG7, on ensuring environmental sustainability) deals most explicitly with biodiversity, wise use of biological resources is important for the full range of development priorities encompassed by all eight MDGs. For example, eradicating hunger (MDG-1) depends on sustainable and productive agriculture, which in turn relies on conserving and maintaining agricultural soils, water, genetic resources and ecological processes. The capacity of fisheries to supply hundreds of millions of the world’s people with the bulk of their protein intake depends on the maintenance of ecosystems, such as mangroves and coral reefs that provide fish with habitat and sustenance.
UNDP works to ensure that biodiversity considerations are integrated in processes designed to achieve the MDGs. It also works to help the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), multilateral and bilateral organizations, CSOs, and the private sector incorporate the MDGs in their efforts.
UNDP’s Biodiversity Priorities:
• Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
• Equitable sharing of the benefits from biodiversity
• Mainstreaming biodiversity into production sectors, landscapes and national and global policy frameworks
• Public-Private Partnerships for biodiversity
• Generating, disseminating and adopting best practices in biodiversity.
UNDP’S Biodiversity Programmes:
THE BIODIVERSITY GLOBAL PROGRAMME:
UNDP’S Biodiversity Global Programme assists developing countries and communities to influence national and global policies, benefit from knowledge on biodiversity, and advance their sustainable development and poverty reduction goals. UNDP works to help integrate biodiversity, ecosystem services, protected areas and other commitments under the CBD into national policies and programmes. UNDP also works to empower local communities and indigenous peoples to protect their traditional knowledge and ensure equitable access to, and sharing of benefits, from biodiversity.
EQUATOR INITIATIVE:
The Equator Initiative is a UNDP partnership that brings together the UN, governments, civil society, business and grassroots organizations to build the capacity and raise the profile of local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY (GEF) BIODIVERSITY PROJECTS:
To date, UNDP-GEF has provided more than $1.5 billion through grants and cost-sharing to over 140 developing countries for biodiversity-related projects. Implemented by UNDP, the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) supports community-based approaches through grants of up to $50,000. To date, more than 3,000 biodiversity-related projects of local NGOs and community-based organizations in 84 countries have been funded, totalling over $60 million.
UNDP’S Biodiversity Partnerships include:
• Conservation Finance Alliance • Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research • Ecoagriculture Partners• Footprint Neutral Program • Global Biodiversity Forum • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment • Poverty-Environment Partnership • World Resources Report
Partners & Donors:
NGOs and Academia:
• Brazil Connects • Columbia University • Conservation International • Harvard Medical School • GROOTS • IDRC • IIED • IUCN • RSPB • Television Trust for the Environment • The Nature Conservancy • WCS • WRI • WWF
Governments:
• Canada • Germany • Sweden • UK
Intergovernmental:
• CBD • GEF • UNEP • UNESCO • UN Foundation • WHO • World Bank
A SUCCESS STORY:
Fiji Locally-Managed Area Network (Winner, Equator Prize 2002) - This community initiative, which began as a local experiment in one village to return to traditional modes of marine management, has spread to six national districts throughout Fiji. When extension officers from the government first visited the communities, they listened and learned from the local people. As a result, the flow of information from ‘extension officer to community’ was reversed and Fiji’s new national marine strategy is now based on the work of the Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Area Network.
FACTS & FIGURES:
• Over 3,500 UNDP biodiversity projects since 1992
• 140 countries with UNDP projects on biodiversity
• Over $2 billion UNDP biodiversity portfolio.
CONTACT
For further enquiries, please contact:
Charles McNeill (Biodiversity and Poverty Eradication Advisor)
United Nations Development Programme
Bureau for Development Policy
Energy and Environment Group
304 East 45th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 212-906-5960 Fax: +1 212-906-6973
Email: charles.mcneill@undp.org or biodiversity@undp.org
Website: www.undp.org/biodiversity
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