COP10: Conference of Parties to UN Convention on Biological Diversity
193 governments gathered in Nagoya, Japan for the 10th Conference of Parties (COP10) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity last October. They were asked to adopt a new ten-year strategic plan to protect biodiversity and ensure that it is used in a sustainable way.
IIED staff and partners were there at COP10 to raise awareness of the way that biodiversity can contribute to poverty reduction and help societies to build sustainable green economies. We participated in various side-events and had a permanent stand in the exhibition space where visitors could pick up our free publications and meet our team. We also shared news direct from the COP with people who cannot be there in person, with daily video logs and tweets.
Vlogs from Nagoya:
Come and visit us at the IIED Exhibition
 click map to enlarge | IIED has an exhibition stand located at the Interactive Fair for Biodiversity in the Expo Zone – no. 52. We will be open weekdays 9.30 – 18.30 and weekends 10.00 – 16.00 from Monday 18th to Friday 29th October. Come and visit our stand where we are holding a variety of events: |
- Biodiversity Film Festival – We will be showing films from IIED and partners on a range of topics including biocultural heritage, food sovereignty, forestry and community conserved areas. Daily from 10.00 to 17.00
- Meet the authors of Banking on Biodiversity on Tuesday 19th October and Wednesday 27th October @ 13.00
- Pick up free publications and a range of other useful information and materials
Drop by for a chat and meet IIED staff, parnters and other Poverty Conservation Learning Group members
We’ve set up areas for informal exchanges and a little relaxation away from the main hustle and bustle.
Understanding and applying the ecosystem approach for sustainable development and poverty reduction under global change
When: Thursday 21 October, 18.15 – 19.45
Where: Room 233B – Building 2, 3rd Floor
Jointly organised by SCBD, IIED, University of Montreal and University of Eberswalde, this side event will present a new volume of the CBD Technical Series dedicated to an analysis of the systemic character of global change, biodiversity and human development, and the relationships between them. The papers describe and evaluate the complicated relationships and dynamics between human and biological systems.
Protecting biocultural heritage in Peru, India, China and Kenya
When: Wednesday 27 October, 18.15 – 19.45
Where: Nagoya Gakuin University
Jointly organised by IIED, Asociación Andes, Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Ecoserve, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, this side-event will present the overall findings of a global research project on “Protecting Community Rights over Traditional Knowledge: Implications of customary laws and practices”, including case studies from Peru, China, India & Kenya and work on community biocultural protocols, registers and products. We will identify lessons for the International ABS Protocol and will be showing three short films.
Other IIED events in Nagoya
Presentations at Nagoya University on Payments for Environmental Services and on IIED’s work on Agrobiodiversity and Biocultural heritage
When: Monday 25 October, 18.00 – 19.30
Where: Nagoya University, Graduate School of International Development
Presentation: Payments for Environmental Services: a cure for biodiversity loss and poverty?
Land users can provide a variety of environmental services ranging from the regulation of hydrological flows to biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. However, natural environments that provide such services are being lost at an alarming rate. One of the main reasons for such environmental degradation is because land users lack incentive to protect the environment and provide environmental services. Payments for environmental/ecosystem services (PES) is an incentive mechanism to address the underlying causes of environmental degradation by inducing behavioural changes among land users or local actors. In the presentation we will provide a brief explanation how PES works, and highlight how the approach can address the issues of biodiversity loss and poverty in the developing world. We will share hands-on experience from our projects in Vietnam, Brazil and Uganda.
Presentation: Biodiversity & Agriculture links and IIED’s work on Agrobiodiversity & Biocultural Heritage
- the role of biodiversity and traditional knowledge in agriculture, resilience, adaptation and long term food security;
- loss of genetic diversity, traditional knowledge and ecosystem services due to modern agriculture;
- the need to protect farmers' rights, link formal and farmer seed systems and support in situ conservation;
- Protecting community rights over traditional knowledge - a participatory action-research project in Peru, Panama, India, China & Kenya;
- Sustaining local food systems; Democratising agricultural research; and Re-designing food systems.