Ramsar Convention Secretary General Anada Tiéga and Jon Hutton, Director, UNEP-WCMC, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Ramsar offices in Gland, Switzerland, on 4 June 2010. The purpose of the agreement is to establish a framework for collaboration to further common goals, including the mobilization of UNEP-WCMC’s technical and capacity-building expertise for an improved implementation of the Ramsar Convention. Jon Hutton declared that UNEP-WCMC is proud to provide support to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, building on a long history of cooperation between the two institutions.

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On 21 May 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) concluded its 14th meeting at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition to the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), in which UNEP-WCMC was substantially involved, the meeting also benefited from other inputs from UNEP-WCMC, including reports on the biodiversity implications of ocean acidification and ocean fertilization. SBSTTA adopted 19 documents, containing recommendations for the Conference of the Parties, which will meet in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

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The 10th May 2010 saw the launch of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3). This much anticipated flagship publication of the CBD is the product of close collaboration between the Secretariat of the CBD and the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre. The Outlook, an assessment of the current state of biodiversity, is being launched simultaneously in a multitude of cities across the globe. UNEP-WCMC, with our partner the Zoological Society of London, is co-ordinating the UK launch.

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UNEP-WCMC, with support from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), has launched a new website highlighting the potential for actions on reducing emissions from land use change to secure additional important benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services (co-benefits). The website demonstrates the utility of spatial analyses to assist decision makers in identifying areas where high carbon, high biodiversity priority, and ecosystem service values overlap, which represent opportunities for securing co-benefits. It showcases UNEP-WCMC’s recent work with in-country partners on developing such analyses and includes an interactive mapping tool that allows users to explore the spatial relationships between carbon and co-benefits.

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World leaders have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, and have instead overseen alarming biodiversity declines. These findings are the result of a new paper published in the leading journal Science and represent the first assessment of how the targets made through the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have not been met.

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Restoring lost and damaged ecosystems from forests and freshwaters to mangroves and wetlands can trigger multi-million dollar returns, generate jobs and combat poverty according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Dead planet, living planet: Biodiversity and ecosystem restoration for sustainable development identifies thousands of ecosystem restoration projects worldwide and showcases over 30 initiatives that are transforming the lives of communities and countries across the globe.

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The website of the GLOBIO model has been fully renewed. The model is a tool to assess past, present and future human impact on biodiversity. As a policy tool, it is regularly applied in global, regional and national assessments.

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