Convention on Biological Diversity

About: Convention on Biological Diversity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2232 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65599 citations. The topic is also known as: CBD & United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The least‐cost biodiversity impact mitigation hierarchy with a focus on marine fisheries and bycatch issues

Abstract: Least-cost implementation of the mitigation hierarchy of impacts on biodiversity minimizes the cost of a given level of biodiversity conservation, at project or ecosystem levels, and requires minimizing costs across and within hierarchy steps. Incentive-based policy instruments that price biodiversity to alter producer and consumer behavior and decision making are generally the most effective way to achieve least-cost implementation across and within the different hierarchy steps and across all producers and conservation channels. Nonetheless, there are circumstances that favor direct regulation or intrinsic motivation. Conservatory offsets, introduced within the conservatory first three steps of the mitigation hierarchy, rather than the fourth step to compensate the residual, provide an additional incentive-based policy instrument. The least-cost mitigation hierarchy framework, induced through incentive-based policy instruments, including conservatory offsets, mitigates fisheries bycatch consistent with given targets, the Law of the Sea, and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Balancing openness with Indigenous data sovereignty: An opportunity to leave no one behind in the journey to sequence all of life

Abstract: The field of genomics has benefited greatly from its “openness” approach to data sharing. However, with the increasing volume of sequence information being created and stored and the growing number of international genomics efforts, the equity of openness is under question. The United Nations Convention of Biodiversity aims to develop and adopt a standard policy on access and benefit-sharing for sequence information across signatory parties. This standardization will have profound implications on genomics research, requiring a new definition of open data sharing. The redefinition of openness is not unwarranted, as its limitations have unintentionally introduced barriers of engagement to some, including Indigenous Peoples. This commentary provides an insight into the key challenges of openness faced by the researchers who aspire to protect and conserve global biodiversity, including Indigenous flora and fauna, and presents immediate, practical solutions that, if implemented, will equip the genomics community with both the diversity and inclusivity required to respectfully protect global biodiversity.

Le Traité international sur les ressources phytogénétiques pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture : instrument innovant pour la gestion de l’agro-phytodiversité

Abstract: Plant genetic ressources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) are crucial for humanity. We inherit an amazing diversity of genetic ressources thanks to the work of generations of farmers (in situ conservation) and genebanks (ex situ conservation). The loss of the ressources would result in the potential for major food insecurity. Adopted in 2001, the International Treaty on PGRFA promotes an understanding of the importance of theses ressources and the implementation of solutions for their conservation and sustainable use. The Treaty has two main innovative elements: the recognition of farmers' rights to the ressources that past generations of farmers have developed, and the constitution of a Multilateral System of Access to and Benefit-Sharing of theses ressources. This thesis investigates the scope and application of the Treaty through a detailed study of its concepts and mechanisms and the relationship between the Treaty and other international texts (Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, patent law of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Law). It analyses the effectiveness of legal means of implementation of the Treaty at regional, sub-regional and national levels. The establishment of this Multilateral System is a new and innovative tool of the management of natural ressources. In fact, it is an application of the concept of « common heritage of mankind » because it ensures that the genetic ressources held under the sovereignty of individual States are available to others. The concept of farmers' rights in the Treaty is complementary to existing Breeders' Rights, recognizing the active role of farmers in the conservation of PGRFA. The identification of mechanisms for the successful implementation of these two facets, several of which are explored within the thesis, is essential to the success of the Treaty.

Botanic gardens in the age of climate change

Abstract: We are facing an unprecedented plant diversity crisis. If current trends in habitat conversion, over-exploitation, alien species invasions, and climate change continue, up to 50% of the world’s vascular plant flora is expected to become threatened with extinction within the twenty-first century (Pitman and Jorgensen 2002; Root et al. 2003; Hahns et al. 2009). Climate change seems to rapidly have become recognized as the primary threat to many plants. In Europe, more than half of the vascular plant flora may become endangered by the year 2080 as a result of climatic changes (Thuiller et al. 2005), and the first unfavourable trends in the threat status of plant species attributable to such changes have already been observed in successive Red List evaluations (Rassi et al. 2010). The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC; Secretariat of the CBD 2002) was adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002 as a policy response to the dire situation of plant life, and an updated version of the strategy up to 2020 was recently approved at the Conference of Parties to the CBD in Nagoya (Convention of Biological Diversity 2010). Botanic gardens of the world, largely through their advocate Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), were pivotal in the writing and promotion of the GSPC, and have continued in this role in the implementation, follow-up, and further development of the strategy (Secretariat of the CBD 2009). The role of botanic gardens in the creation and mainstreaming of the GSPC has been a manifestation of the fact that these time-honoured institutions have fully adopted a fourth main task—conservation—alongside their traditional responsibilities in research, teaching, and public education in the field of botany. However, the GSPC puts due emphasis also on these traditional tasks through the recognition that successful conservation must be based on a solid knowledge base and that the understanding of the value of plant diversity must also be disseminated to the widest possible audience in order to make a difference

Identifying and Preventing Biopiracy in Australia: patent landscapes and legal geographies for plants with Indigenous Australian uses

Abstract: There are legal and moral imperatives to protect biological resources and the ‘traditional knowledge’ associated with them. These imperatives derive from complex legal geographies: international law (such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol), State and federal laws, Indigenous customary law, codes of ethics and research protocols. This paper reports on a ‘patent landscape’ analysis of patents that refer to Australian plant species for which there is Indigenous Australian knowledge. We have identified several patents of potential new biopiracy concern. The paper highlights the way in which actors can gain private property monopolies over biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, even though there are overlapping sovereign rights and Indigenous rights claims. Regulatory gaps need to be closed nationally to fully govern the diverse human–plant bio-geographies in Australia. Further, Indigenous laws and governance have largely been ignored by these actors....