Caring and sharing for maximum nature conservation benefit

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20 May 2009

Nature conservation has always been a global concern, but until today there has been no determined effort to share information between the UK-based¹ practitioners and contributors to the various conservation Conventions. In late 2008, several Conventions met and reflected on the current global conservation crisis. The UK contributed actively to all these meetings.

On 20 May 2009, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is hosting a conference in London called “Global Biodiversity Mechanisms”, to put plans in place following recent decisions from these Conventions.

Peter Bridgewater, Chair of JNCC said: “Nature conservation is never effective if those working within it stay in isolation. I have always seen JNCC as the ‘green glue’ that can help government and non-government organisations dealing with nature conservation put paper decisions into practice – and this conference is a further step in that direction.”

Whilst the scope and decisions of many of these meetings reflect particular areas of concern, they often propose actions in response to wider issues. “Global Biodiversity Mechanisms” will seek a way for the UK to implement decisions nationally, and provide international leadership. But rather than reviewing the Convention meetings one by one, a thematic approach will be taken, including:

Tackling the threats from invasive alien species and emerging wildlife diseases (such as highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1). The effects of invasives is the theme of this year’s International Biodiversity Day on 22 May;
The impacts of climate change and biodiversity, including implications of expanding markets for biofuels;
Implementing the Ecosystem Approach and better understanding the services provided to humanity by ecosystems;
How best to support the delivery of conservation in the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies – home to globally important biodiversity;
What data do decision-makers need and how can this best be provided? This is known as the science-policy interface.

The conference will also be hosting the launch of The Wader Atlas, published by Wetlands International. Waders are relatively small waterbirds, including species like lapwings, plovers, godwits, curlews and sandpipers. Many of them undertake long-distance migrations from their Arctic breeding grounds to wintering areas as far away as Southern Africa. Some concentrate in huge numbers at just a few sites, making these wetlands critical for their survival. More than half the populations of waders in Europe, West Asia and Africa are declining at an accelerating rate.

The Wader Atlas highlights the most important wetlands to be protected for each wader population. It provides decision makers across the Africa-Eurasian region with crucial information to increase and better focus their efforts for wetland conservation. It is a good example of the necessary data and information needed to support relevant Conventions such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement.

- ENDS -

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. In the case of MEAs, ‘UK’ also includes its devolved administrations and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

2. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the statutory adviser to Government on UK and international nature conservation. Its work contributes to maintaining and enriching biological diversity, conserving geological features and sustaining natural systems. JNCC delivers the UK and international responsibilities of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage. Visit the website at www.jncc.gov.uk

3. You can find further details of this event, and the topics under discussion at MEA-Event .

4. Decisions from the following international conventions and other international meetings will be discussed:

the 9th Convention on Biological Diversity - www.biodiv.org;
the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - www.ramsar.org;
the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species - www.cms.int;
the 4th Meeting of the Parties to the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement - www.unep-aewa.org/; and
the 4th IUCN World Conservation Congress - www.iucn.org.

5. The Wader Atlas (An Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia) will be launched on 20 May 2009 at the Strand Palace Hotel, London at 5:00 pm (MEA-Event ). Please if you wish to attend.

6. For any further information on either the MEA conference or the Wader Atlas, please contact the JNCC Press Office – telephone 01733 866886 or email