The session will launch the White Paper and Policy Brief “Build Back Better in a post-COVID world – Reducing future wildlife-borne spillover of disease to humans” produced by the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme. Presenters will discuss alternative strategies to tackle the drivers of zoonotic disease emergence and their spread along wildlife value chains. They will emphasize the need to consider and involve the millions of citizens, communities and Indigenous People who rely on wildlife for food, income and cultural identity. Discussions will focus on how to encourage policy dialogue and coordinated targeted investments to prevent, detect and respond to future pandemics.
- Philippe Mayaux, Head of sector Biodiversity and ecosystem services – Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) – European Commission
- Michelle Edgardine Ngwapaza, Deputy General Director and National focal point for the SWM Programme in Gabon – Wildlife and Protected Areas General Directorate (DGFAP), Ministry of waters, forests, sea and environment, in charge of Climate Plan and Land Use Plan – Republic of Gabon (Central Africa)
- Nickolas Fredericks, Current Toshao (indigenous village chief) for Shulinab village. Current chairman of the National Toshaos Council, the highest representative body for Indigenous Peoples in Guyana
- Nathalie van Vliet, Associate researcher – Site Coordinator SWM Programme Guyana – CIFOR
- Amanda Fine, Associate Director, Wildlife Health Programme WCS
- Marisa Peyre, Deputy Head ASTRE research unit – CIRAD
- Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer and Leader of the Animal Health Programme at FAO Director of the Joint Centre for Zoonoses and Anti-Microbial Resistance (CJWZ)
Find this session’s white paper here.
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This session will discuss how jurisdictions with sustainability commitments can restore biodiversity and ecosystem values through a nature-based economy that enhances the value of local sustainable products and services sourced from healthy ecological areas. Representatives from government, civil society, community and the private sector will discuss progress in building a nature-based economy through jurisdictional approaches at the district level in Indonesia. To harness global support for LTKL member districts, the panel brings perspectives from partners working in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Insights from this panel will inform other jurisdictions embarking on similar journeys. The session will close by launching the first LTKL jurisdictional profile for Sintang district.
Find this session’s white paper here.
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The zoonotic origins of COVID 19 and countries’ reactions to the pandemic raise important questions about the future of protected areas. First, does the threat of virus spillover events after all call for a stricter separation of nature and people despite all justified criticism of fortress conservation approaches? Second, how can conservation funding cope with dumps in international wildlife tourism? We will discuss these questions in the format of a digital roundtable with experts in protected areas from different backgrounds. We will include practical examples of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on protected areas and aim to provide policy-oriented conclusions that could feed into the protected areas work at the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress and CBD COP 15.
Find this session’s white paper here.
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Rangelands (grassland, savannahs and silvo-pastoral systems) in dry areas and mountains account for the largest global restoration opportunities for ecosystems, human and environmental health, and economic growth. Restoring them and their biodiversity should be a priority for global “One Health” approaches. This session will explore the following questions: What is the existing and potential productivity and ecosystem service provision of biodiverse rangelands? What are the overall benefits of “One Health” to rangelands and people? How can we mobilize commitment for enhanced biodiversity and “One Health” in rangelands across the globe?
Find this session’s white paper here.
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To implement the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, a major challenge will be to customize and redesign financial instruments to ensure that investment plans are evaluated for their potential risk to nature, or to create incentives for biodiversity-friendly investment into value chains. The session will bring together expert practitioners from the public and private sectors in multiple continents to discuss existing approaches in the field of financial instruments, good practices and lessons learned, as well as how to bring successful approaches to scale and how to link COVID-19 response measures to financing for a biodiversity-friendly future.
Find this session’s white paper here.
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The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region extends across eight countries from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east, crossing Pakistan, India, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. It is a globally important resource – biologically and culturally rich, it provides ecosystem goods and services to a quarter of the world’s population. The HKH is the Pulse of the Planet – what happens here affects the rest of the world. This session will explain why the HKH is the Pulse of the Planet and the need to reinforce positive relations between biodiversity, landscapes, culture and health in a post-COVID ‘new normal’.
1. COVID-19 impact and policy responses in the Hindu Kush Himalaya
2. The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: mountains, climate change, sustainability and people
3. Kailash confluence
4. Landmark event: Ministers from eight countries sign declaration to work together for the Hindu Kush Himalaya region
5. HKH call to action
6. Hindu Kush Himalaya: The pulse of the planet
Find this session’s white paper here.
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This session will highlight the need for recognition of the contributions of mixed, diverse agricultural/agrarian landscapes – not only to biodiversity conservation, but also to the development of more resilient food systems to respond to challenges like those that the world is currently facing. Global policies, such as those of the CBD, have conventionally seen agriculture as a threat to biodiversity. Hence, responses have often focused on promoting the protection of natural ecosystems by concentrating efforts on preventing further expansion of agriculture. We argue that the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will be seriously flawed if it fails to tackle the effect of food systems and agriculture on biodiversity, or fails to bring farmers into the alliance towards biodiversity conservation and sustainable production. ICRAF and GIZ are the main organizing partners for this session. The CBD Secretariat, IUCN, national representatives, a representative of the private sector and a farmers’ representative will also participate.
Find this session’s white paper here.
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Biodiversity is already a well-recognized element of sustainable forest management (SFM). The role of forests in maintaining biodiversity is also explicitly recognized by the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030. The purpose of this session is to discuss the state of mainstreaming biodiversity in the forest sector, take stock of existing concepts and tools for integrating biodiversity in forest management and make recommendations for future actions. The results of the discussion will inform the research of FTA as well as preparatory work towards the implementation of FAO’s Strategy on Biodiversity Mainstreaming across Agricultural Sectors.
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Rewilding is a new, (pro)active approach to biodiversity conservation. Restoring ecosystems is key to our public health and mental well-being, and vital in the fight against climate change and mass extinction. The goal of this session is to discuss and promote sound models of rewilding, in order to reach and maintain a favourable level of health for habitats and species. Can we bring back natural processes while promoting socio-economic development and supporting rural communities? In this session, we share experiences with rewilding projects, and look at possible funding and income-generating mechanisms that contribute to healthy, life-supporting landscapes and rural development.
Find this session’s white paper here.
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Humanity’s destruction of biodiversity creates the perfect conditions for diseases like COVID-19 to emerge. Our lives depend on protecting our forests – not only to prevent future pandemics but also to reverse the impacts of catastrophic climate change. Indigenous communities in Sarawak are hard at work applying local solutions to these immense global challenges by protecting some of the richest tropical rainforests on earth. In this session, learn from grassroots leaders about what Indigenous-managed forest protection looks like on the ground: from investing in village-led research, mapping and forest management, to cancelling the construction of the second largest mega-dam of its kind in the world.
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