Implementing Programmes to Conserve Biodiversity

Conference Programme: MoroccoProgramme.pdf

Aerial view of Gobabeb

Onymacris bicolor

Scientists with
Welwitschia mirabilis

International Conference on Implementing Programmes to Conserve Biodiversity in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions in Developing Countries

27-30 August 2003 - Hilton Hotel, Rabat, Morocco

The conference is part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) funded project "Promoting Best Practices for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity of Global Significance in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones" implemented by TWNSO. It will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Rabat, Morocco.

Our biodiversity project is unique in two aspects. First, it is dedicated exclusively to activities in the developing world. Second, its focus is on experiences in arid and semi-arid zones which often are understudied and undervalued.

The overall goal of the project is to increase the size of and more widely disseminate the "portfolio" of research and other works aimed at protecting and sustainably utilizing biodiversity of global significance in arid and semiarid areas in Southern (developing) nations. Specifically, the project's objectives are:

1. identifying and disseminating best practices and lessons learnt for science, for public policy and management, for increasing the participation of local people in decision making, and for enhancing partnerships and capacity building between institutions;
2. increasing research cooperation and collaboration between centers of excellence working on biodiversity of drylands; and
3. assisting the efforts of local populations in drylands regions to manage and sustainably utilize the fragile ecosystems.

Recommendations and lessons learnt to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity in arid and semiarid regions developed from our project are included in over 50 of the project's case studies. The case studies are being widely disseminated in publications and other project outcomes.

In addition to the large number of case studies, the project also has held regional workshops. The workshops for Africa and North Africa/Middle East were held in April 2002 at CESAR, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman; the regional workshop for Asia was held in August 2001 at the Mongolia, National Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and the regional workshop for Latin, America and the Caribbean was held in March 2002 at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. The project also held an international conference in Egypt in December 2002.

The purpose of the conference scheduled in Morocco is to bring together project participants and representatives of government ministries, development agencies, GEF/UNEP, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), scientific centres of excellence, and a wide range of other stakeholders responsible for implementing development policies and programs to protect and sustainably use biodiversity in arid and semi-arid regions. During this conference, we will explore the prospects for developing and implementing policies and programs to provide long-term support for institutions responsible for biodiversity protection.

Possible topics to be discussed during the conference are:

1. How can lessons learned to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity be communicated upwards to decision makers and downwards to implementers at the local level?
2. How can recommendations to protect and sustainably use biodiversity be incorporated into practical management related to biodiversity in the regions concerned?
3. How can the lessons learned be incorporated into the ongoing activities of agencies and bilateral and multilateral institutions?
4. What are the strategically important issues entailed by protecting and sustainably using biodiversity in arid and semi-arid regions in developing nations?
5. What are the most pressing threats to biodiversity in arid and semi-arid regions?
6. What are the greatest challenges to implement policies and programs to protect biodiversity?
7. What opportunities exist to establish strong linkages between the CBD, UNCCD, and UNFCCC?
8. What nations have begun to incorporate arid and semi-arid region issues into national strategies to protect biodiversity?

Link: Conference Programme (PDF)