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The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force in December 1993 as part of the outcome of the decisions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) decisions. In May 1998, the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the CBD adopted a work programme on forest biological diversity (Decision IV-7) which was reviewed during the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, May 2000 (Decision V-4). Forest ecosystems will be an item for in-depth consideration at the next COP meeting in 2002 which will deliberate on, inter alia, expanding the work programme from research to practical action. Several other items in the work programme of the CBD are of direct relevance to forest biological diversity such as its work on indicators, traditional knowledge, public education and awareness, cooperation and the ecosystem approach. More generally, the CBD is the only global framework addressing forest biological diversity and genetic resources, their conservation and sustainable use.
BACKGROUND
The Convention on
Biological Diversity which was formally adopted in May 1992 in Nairobi,
Kenya, was opened for adherence at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June
1992, where other instruments addressing directly or indirectly the
forestry sector were adopted, namely: (i) the Agenda 21, Chapter 11
of which aims to "Combat Deforestation" and Chapter 15 deals with the
"Conservation of Biological Diversity"; (ii) the "Forest
Principles"; and (iii) the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The stated objectives of the CBD are, "the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources". To achieve its objectives, the Convention promotes partnership within and among countries. Its provisions on scientific and technical cooperation, access to genetic resources, and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies form the foundations of this partnership. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the financial mechanism of the Convention, helps to fund the added costs of making planned projects environmentally friendly and finances regional approaches to multinational problems.
The Secretariat of the CBD is based in Montreal, Canada. The Convention, which entered into force on 29 December 1993, has to date been ratified by 180 countries. Decisions are taken by the Conference of the Parties (COP), which meets every two years to discuss thematic agendas. COP meetings are preceded by preparatory meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) which provide relevant background information and make recommendations to the Parties.
FOREST BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
Within the CBD, while the issue of forest biological
diversity was discussed at the first and at the second meetings of COP,
the momentum was given at COP4, in 1998, where Parties adopted Decision
IV/7 and the work programme for forest biological diversity. The work
programme elaborates, as follows, the elements for inclusion:
(i) a holistic and inter-sectoral ecosystem approach that integrates the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking account of social and cultural and economic considerations;
(ii) a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which human activities, in particular forest-management practices, influence biological diversity and assessment of ways to minimize or mitigate negative influences;
(iii) methodologies necessary to advance the elaboration and implementation of criteria and indicators for forest biological diversity, and
(iv) specific research and technological priorities.
COP-5 (May 2000) highlighted the need to expand the focus of the CBD programme of work for forest biological diversity from research to practical action. Decision V/4 calls upon parties, governments and organizations to take practical action within the scope of the existing work programme. It encourages the application of the ecosystem approach, a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. It also decided to establish an ad hoc technical expert group on forest biological diversity to assist SBSTTA in its work programme. The group, whose mandate includes a review of available information on the status and trends of, and major threats to, forest biological biodiversity, and identification of options and suggestions for action for conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and its genetic components, will report to SBSTTA at its Seventh Meeting in November 2001, in view of the discussion of COP6 (April 2002).
OTHER WORK PROGRAMMES
In addition
to its work programme on forest biological diversity, the CBD addresses a
number of issues directly affecting forest biological diversity and forest
genetic resources. These issues include:
(i) Property rights on, and access to, genetic resources, and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use. The on-going discussions in the framework of the Convention have contributed to raising awareness of the actual or potential value of genetic diversity. Exchange of materials, including the forestry sector where the issue has long been overlooked, is increasingly taking place under the terms of agreed contracts (Mutual Terms Agreements) recognizing the origin or provenance of the materials exchanged, even when exchange is made on a non-commercial basis.
(ii) Biosafety (safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology) specifically focusing on transboundary movements. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, adopted in January 2000, seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. It establishes a procedure for ensuring that countries are provided with the information necessary to make informed decisions before agreeing to the import of such organisms into their territory.
The CBD has also initiated, or given impetus to, work on a global taxonomic initiative; agrobiodiversity, including forest trees growing in agricultural ecosystems; marine and coastal ecosystems, including the protection and conservation of mangroves; introduced alien invasive species, a major threat to forest genetic resources in some Pacific islands and in some countries of Southern Africa; and biological diversity of dry and sub-humid lands.
The CBD is the only international legally binding instrument to which actions and activities relating to conservation, sustainable use, management and enhancement of forest genetic resources can be referred at global level. In the forestry sector, although the need for specific focus on the management of the genetic resources of trees and shrubs has received increasing attention over the past 30 years, there is to date no forestry equivalent to the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which focuses on agricultural crop species. The plan, adopted by the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig, Germany in June 1996, makes reference to wild relatives of cultivated plants, often found in forest ecosystems, and to domesticated tree crops (fruit trees, rubber, etc.), but explicitly excludes forest genetic resources. The CBD work programme on forest biological diversity, and other related work programmes and activities, provides a global framework for action in which the issues regarding forest genetic resources can be addressed in a global and comprehensive, although not very specific, way.
Future meetings in the framework of the CBD with relevance to forests include: SBSTTA-6 (Alien Invasive Species, February 2001); SBSTTA-7 (Forest Biodiversity, November 2001); COP6 (Forest Ecosystems and Alien Species, April 2002); SBSTTA-8 (Protected Areas); SBSTTA-9 (Mountain Ecosystems), and COP 7 (Protected Areas and Mountain Ecosystems). More detailed information is available from the Clearing House of the CBD, at the Internet address: http://www.biodiv.org/chm/index.html.
1Received Nov. 2000. Original language: English