Convention on Biological Diversity's 10^th
Conference of the Parties

In 2002, member parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) laid out conservation and sustainability targets to be met by the end of the decade, and labeled 2010 the “International Year of Biodiversity.” But as 2011 quickly approaches on the heel of reports that one-fifth of the world’s plant and vertebrate species are threatened with extinction,¹ there is unequivocal agreement that the Convention and its members failed to achieve their goals.² Now, CBD member parties have returned from their most recent international meeting with new policies to guide their conservation efforts through 2020.

CBD is an international treaty that aims to conserve the world’s biological diversity, encourage sustainable use of its components, and promote fair and equitable sharing of benefits that come from genetic resources. The European Union and 192 member countries make up its governing body, called the Conference of the Parties (COP), which meets every 2 years to review the Convention’s progress, adopt new goals and programs, and provide policy guidance.³

Seven thousand delegates gathered for the 10^th COP (COP 10) from October 18-29, 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, and adopted 47 decisions.⁴ These included a 2011-2020 Strategic Plan, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, and an updated and revised Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). Though several parties consider some of these decisions to be imperfect, many are calling the mere reaching of a consensus—which came after days of long negotiations—a historical achievement.⁵  

The Strategic Plan is considered a useful, flexible framework that country parties should use to revise or develop national and regional targets while taking into account their own priorities and capacities. The targets, summarized below, are to be met by 2020.⁴

Goal I: Address underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity action across government and society

(a) Ensure that people are aware of the values of biodiversity and what they can do to conserve and use it sustainably.

(b) Integrate biodiversity values into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and ensure that planning processes are being incorporated.

(c) Eliminate, phase out, or reform incentives (e.g., subsidies) that are harmful to biodiversity, and develop and apply positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

(d) Ensure that governments, businesses, and stakeholders have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have safely and ecologically used natural resources.

Goal II: Reduce direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

(a) Halve, or bring to zero where possible, the rate of natural habitat loss and significantly reduce degradation and fragmentation.

(b) Sustainably manage and harvest all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants through legal approaches that ensure fisheries do not adversely impact threatened species and ecosystems.

(c) Sustainably manage areas of agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry so that biodiversity is conserved.

(d) Reduce pollution levels so they are not detrimental to ecosystems and biodiversity.

(e) Identify and prioritize invasive alien species and pathways, control or eradicate priority species, and implement measures to prevent their introduction and establishment.

(f) Minimize the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification.

Goal III: Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity

(a) Conserve at least 17% of terrestrial and inland water areas, and 10% of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity.

(b) Prevent the extinction of known threatened species and improve and sustain their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline.

(c) Maintain genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their wild relatives, including economically and culturally valuable species.

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

(a) Restore and safeguard ecosystems that provide essential services, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities, and the poor and vulnerable.

(b) Enhance biodiversity’s contributions to carbon stocks through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15% of degraded ecosystems.

(c) Ensure that 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 by 2015.

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

(a) Ensure that each Party has started implementing an effective, participatory, and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan by 2015.

(b) Respect and recognize indigenous and local communities’ customary use of biological resources, traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices.

(c) Improve, widely share, and transfer biodiversity’s science base and technologies, values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss.

(d) Mobilize and substantially increase financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan 2011-2020.

Controversy Over Benefit Sharing Decisions

Perhaps the most contentious element of COP 10 was the Nagoya Protocol for Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), mentioned in the Strategic Plan’s Goal IV.⁴ One of CBD’s main objectives is to promote fair and equitable sharing of benefits that come from genetic resources, such as plants, fungi, and pathogens, and member parties have discussed a treaty on this subject for many years.

After many late-night sessions and last minute negotiations, the Protocol was passed and adopted at COP 10. It will go into effect in 2015. “The discussions around ABS were very difficult and took a long time to resolve,” said Suzanne Sharrock, director of global programs for Botanic Garden Conservation International (BGCI; e-mail, November 11, 2010).

As the medicinal plant trade often includes the exchanging of resources, knowledge, and benefits among developed and developing countries or indigenous groups, the Nagoya Protocol has the ability to affect industry practices. This will ultimately depend on the extent of related actions taken by member parties. Selected elements, summarized below, instruct member parties to do the following:⁴

• Ensure that parties who supply genetic resources are given in a fair and equitable way benefits (monetary and non-monetary) arising from the using of genetic resources, their subsequent applications, and commercialization. These benefits should be intended for and used for conserving biodiversity and sustainability.
• Ensure that access to genetic resources is decided by the country of origin of the resources or a party that has acquired resources in line with the Convention, and shall be handled in a fair, transparent, and legal way.
• Ensure that traditional knowledge of genetic resources from indigenous and local communities is accessed with their involvement and previously informed consent, and that mutually agreed terms have been established.
• Promote and encourage non-commercial research, especially which contributes to conservation and sustainability and that would be used to address threats to human, animal, and plant health.
• Practice trans-boundary cooperation between local and indigenous groups, as well as between these groups and other parties, and respect their laws and community procedures.
• Ensure that genetic resources are utilized within the policies of the Protocol and take necessary measures to support compliance and transparency, such as permits and checkpoints.

Though the passing of such a significant protocol is commendable, the document is not perfect in all parties’ eyes. During COP 10’s closing session, delegates from Venezuela expressed that it does not adequately stop biopiracy and others from Africa and Asia said it is not the best document but that they would accept it as a starting point.⁴ Representatives from Bolivia voiced their disagreement with the Protocol, saying that many countries’ viewpoints were left unaddressed, as was recognition of indigenous groups’ contributions. 

Concern with Loss of Plant Diversity

An additional important decision made by COP 10 was the updating and revising of the GSPC, which aims to stop the “continuing loss of plant diversity,” as well as focus on sustainable use and development and benefit-sharing that contributes to poverty alleviation.⁶ The targets are summarized below:

• Create an online flora of all known plants.
• Assess the conservation status of as many known plant species as possible.
• Secure at least 15% of each ecological region or vegetation type through using effective management and/or restoration techniques.
• Protect at least 75% of the most important areas for plant diversity of each ecological region.
• Sustainably manage at least 75% of production lands in each sector.
• Conserve at least 75% of known threatened plant species in situ.
• Make available at least 75% of threatened plant species in ex-situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and at least 20% available for recovery and restoration programs.
• Conserve 70% of the genetic diversity of crops, including wild relatives and other economically valuable plant species, while respecting, preserving, and maintaining associated indigenous and local knowledge. 
• Put effective management plans in place to prevent new biological invasions and to manage important areas for plant diversity.
• Ensure that international trade endangers no species of wild flora.
• Ensure that all wild-harvested plant-based products are sourced sustainably.
• Maintain or increase plant-related indigenous and local knowledge innovations and practices in order to support customary use, sustainable livelihoods, local food security, and health care.

“From our perspective, the most important decision regarding plants was the adoption of the revised and updated GSPC,” said Sharrock of BGCI. “A significant number of countries voiced support for the GSPC, highlighting both the need to continue to have a specific strategy for plants, as well as the desire to ensure that GSPC targets are incorporated into national biodiversity strategies and action plans. BGCI is working on the development of a toolkit to assist national implementation of the GSPC. This will include identification of methodologies and case studies related to the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants.”

COP 10 made additional decisions, such as implementing the Strategy for Resource Mobilizations, effectively banning geo-engineering, urging governments to be cautious in releasing synthetic life into the environment, and establishing ways to increase cooperation at future meetings.⁴ Though the United States helped write the first draft of the Convention, it is the only major country and one of only 3 countries total (alongside Andorra and the Holy See) that have not ratified it, leading many delegates to urge the nation to do so quickly.⁷ 

Considering the unmet 2010 biodiversity targets, the new goals’ ability to produce significant progress remains to be seen. The targets are completely voluntary and are implemented in the form of member countries’ national biodiversity plans, both of which mean there is no guarantee that actions will be completed or even initiated and how true to the Convention they will be.⁵

Another source of doubt over the potential success of the 2020 targets is inadequate funding, which has been cited as one of the reasons for the unmet 2010 targets and could create difficulties for members to be successful with their new initiatives. While Japan, the host country of the meeting, pledged $2 billion toward the new policies, few other parties have shown the same dedication.

Previous conservation work and the making of future conservation goals have not been in vain, however. A large, international, multi-organizational study presented at COP 10 reports that without past conservation efforts, biodiversity would have eroded by an additional 20%.⁸ Additionally, many COP 10 participants and observers have said that the tone of the meeting and its resulting decisions reflect a sense of urgency to not allow history to repeat itself in the form of unmet targets in 2020.⁵

—Lindsay Stafford

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