International Environmental Convention - 2 | Environment for UPSC CSE PDF Download

• Unfortunately, we were unable to meet the target. As we are facing an ever-increasing biodiversity crisis, we need a new, clear and realistic target to respond to it.

Strategic Plan For Biodiversity 2011-2020

• In the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, held in 2010, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, adopted a revised and updated Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, for the 2011-2020 period.
• The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties agreed to translate this overarching international framework into national biodiversity strategies and action plans within two years.
• Additionally, the meeting decided that the fifth national reports, due by 31 March 2014, should focus on the implementation of the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan and progress achieved towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

AICHI BIODIVERSITY TARGETS
Strategic Goal A:
Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society

1. By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.
2. By 2020, at the latest, biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems.
3. By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio economic conditions.
4. By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.

Strategic Goal B:
Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

1. By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced.
2. By 2020 all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.
3. By 2020 areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity.
4. By 2020, pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity.
5. By 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment.
6. By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning.

Strategic Goal C:
To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity

1. By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
2. By 2020 the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.
3. By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.

Strategic Goal D:
Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services

1. By 2020, ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being, are restored and safeguarded, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities, and the poor and vulnerable.
2. By 2020, ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15 per cent of degraded ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification.
   3. By 2015, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits. Arising from their Utilization is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation.

Strategic Goal E:
Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building

1. By 2015 each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implementing an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan.
2. By 2020, the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all relevant levels.
3. By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied. By 2020, at the latest, the mobilization of financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 from all sources, and in accordance with the consolidated and agreed process in the Strategy for Resource Mobilization, should increase substantially from the current levels. This target will be subject to changes contingent to resource needs assessments to be developed and reported by Parties.

CoP₁₁ hyderabad

• One of the most important outcomes of the CoP is the commitment of the Parties to double the international financial flows for Bio Diversity by 2015. This will translate into additional financial flows to the developing countries to the tune of about US $ 30 billion equivalent to about Rs. 1,50,000 crore over the next 8 years.
• India has committed US $50 million towards strengthening the institutional mechanism for biodiversity conservation in the country during its presidency of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) called the Hyderabad Pledge.
• The funds will be used to enhance technical and human capabilities at the national and state-level mechanisms to attain the CBD objectives.
• The country has also earmarked funds to promote similar capacity building in developing countries. India formally took charge of the presidency of CBD from Japan for the next two years on October 8 at the inaugural of the eleventh meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP 11) to CBD.
• India has instituted together with UNDP Biodiversity Governance Awards. The first such awards were given during the CoP₁₁. It is now proposed to institute Rajiv Gandhi International Award for Harnessing Biodiversity for Livelihood.

RAMSAR CONVENTION ON WETLANDS

• The Convention on Wetlands [waterfowl convention] is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
• It was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975, and it is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem.
• Ramsar is not affiliated with the United Nations system of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, but it works very closely with the other MEAs and is a full partner among the “biodiversity-related cluster” of treaties and agreements.
• World Wetlands Day, 2 February every year. Number of Contracting Parties: 163

Mission
“The conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”.
“Three pillars” of the Convention
The Parties have committed themselves to:

• Work towards the wise use of all their wetlands through national land-use planning, appropriate policies and legislation, management actions, and public education;
• Designate suitable wetlands for the List of Wetlands of International Importance (“Ramsar List”) and ensure their effective management; and
• Cooperate internationally concerning transboundary wetlands, shared wetland systems, shared species, and development projects that may affect wetlands.
  The “Ramsar List”
• At the time of joining the Convention, each Contracting Party designates at least one site for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (the “Ramsar List”).
• The addition of a site to the Ramsar List confers upon it the prestige of international recognition and expresses the government’s commitment to take all steps necessary to ensure the maintenance of the ecological
  character of the site.

Transboundary Ramsar Sites

• An ecologically coherent wetland extends across national borders and the Ramsar site authorities on both or all sides of the border have formally agreed to collaborate in its management, and have notified the Secretariat of this intent.
• This is a cooperative management arrangement and not a distinct legal status for the Ramsar sites involved.

The Montreux Record

• Adopted by the Conference of the Contracting Parties in Brisbane, 1996, accompanying the Guidelines for Operation of the Montreux Record
• The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.
• It is the the principal tool of the Convention and is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.

Indian wetland and the Montreux Record

• Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan and Loktak Lake, Manipur have been included in Montreux Record in 1990 and in 1993 respectively
• Chilika Lake, Orissa included in Montreux Record in 1993 have been removed in November 2002. It is placed on the Montreux Record due to problems caused by siltation and sedimentation which was choking the mouth of the lake; removed from the Record in 2002 following rehabilitation efforts for which the Chilika Development Authority received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award for 2002.

“IOPs”
Five global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been associated with
the treaty since its beginnings and were confirmed in the formal status of International Organization Partners (IOPs) of the Convention.

1. BirdLife International (formerly ICBP)
2. IUCN – The International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
3. IWMI – The International Water Management Institute
4. Wetlands International (formerly IWRB, the Asian Wetlands Bureau, and Wetlands for the Americas)
5. WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) International

The Changwon Declaration on human well-being and
wetlands

• The Changwon Declaration highlights positive action for ensuring human well-being and security in the future under the themes - water, climate change, people’s livelihood and health, land use change, and biodiversity,

India and wetland convention

• India became a contracting party to the Ramsar Convention in 1981 and has been implementing conservation programmes for wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs.
• India presently has 26 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance.
• There is close coordination between implementing units of Ramsar with that of CBD at the national level. India took a lead role in the formulation of Ramsar guidelines on integration of wetlands into river basin management.
• The National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statements on Environment and Development (1992) and National Water Policy (2002) highlight conservation and sustainable development of wetlands.