scholarly journals An overview of recent progress in the implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation - a global perspective

Rodriguésia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1489-1511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Sharrock ◽  
Robert Hoft ◽  
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
National Level ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
Garden Community

Abstract The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) with its 16 outcome-orientated targets aimed at achieving a series of measurable goals was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its sixth meeting (COP-6) in 2002. In 2010, at COP-10, these targets were updated, taking into account progress at the time. To date, a number of countries have developed national responses to contribute to the GSPC, including several mega-diverse countries and other plant rich countries and regions. Additionally, a number of global initiatives have been established to promote the implementation of the GSPC. This paper provides an overview of progress at the global level towards the GSPC targets, highlighting actions that have taken place at a supra-national level, as well as providing examples of good practice in national implementation. The GSPC has been widely adopted, particularly by the botanic garden community, and while unlikely to achieve its ultimate goal of halting the loss of plant diversity by 2020, has achieved many successes, not least in allowing and facilitating many individuals and organisations from the botanical community to engage with the CBD and to contribute to the achievement of its objectives, targets and priorities.

Recent Developments

2004 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon C. Lovett
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
International Botanical ◽  
International Botanical Congress ◽  
The Status ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Essential Resource

At the 1999 International Botanical Congress held in St Louis, Missouri, the President of the Congress, Dr Peter Raven, presented a keynote address emphasizing the importance of plants to human existence and underlined concerns that the Earth is undergoing a human-induced extinction crisis. One of the resolutions of the congress was to establish a new co-ordinating body associated with the United Nations to monitor the status of plants throughout the world and take steps to conserve them. The resolutions were followed up with a meeting in Gran Canaria on 3–4 April, 2000 when leading botanists met to formulate a declaration which could be taken forward to the fifth Conference of the Parties (CoP5) to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nairobi in May 2000. CoP5 recognized that plant diversity is a common concern of humankind and an essential resource for the planet, with as many as two-thirds of the world's plant species in danger of extinction, and proposed that at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP6) the establishment of a global strategy for plant conservation should be considered. A strategy with 16 targets was presented and adopted at the CoP6 meeting held in The Hague in April 2002. These targets differ from the normal approach adopted in the Convention on Biological Diversity of using general principles that can be interpreted by national policy, in that they are quantified.

scholarly journals Implementing Target 10 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland

2013 ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Noeleen Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Early Introduction ◽  
Carpobrotus Edulis ◽  
Chemical Treatments

The importance of managing invasive non-native species (INNS), be it through eradication or limitation, is set out in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which states that parties to the Convention should ‘prevent, control or eradicate alien species’ (IUCN, 2000). Unfortunately there is some evidence that botanic gardens have been implicated in being responsible for the early introduction of many environmental weeds listed by IUCN as among the worst invasive species (Hulme, 2011). Stronger global networking between botanic gardens to tackle the problem of INNS has been suggested by Hulme. Botanic gardens have a remit to meet Target 10 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) and the European Strategy for Plant Conservation (ESPC) Targets 10.1 and 10.2. The National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, in conjunction with University College Dublin and Mayo and Fingal County Councils, with grant funding from the Heritage Council, has monitored populations then researched and implemented effective control methods of two escaped garden plants: Hottentot fig (Carpobrotus edulis (L.) N.E. Br.) and giant rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria (Molina) Mirb.) in EU protected habitats and in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Ireland. Chemical treatments were trialled and tested in the field for both species, and successful regeneration of native vegetation in formerly invaded areas has been observed since treatments began in 2009.

REFLORA: A Virtual Way to Share Information about Brazilian Plants

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Zappi ◽  
Rafaela Campostrini Forzza ◽  
E. Nic Lughadha
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Brazilian Flora

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. Please check back later for the full article. Brazilian flora, the richest in the world, has long been the subject of scholarly study. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, plant samples collected in Brazil were sent to European herbaria, where botanists documented the little-known flora and its potential uses. From the twentieth century onward, Brazil created research centers to house its biological collections, facilitating study by Brazilian professionals of their native biodiversity. However, many early specimens deposited in European collections have yet to be examined by taxonomists. In the early twenty-first century, cost-effective digitization techniques enabled large-scale repatriation of herbarium data. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported herbaria worldwide to digitize their collections, especially type-specimens, through the African, Latin American, and Global Plants Initiatives. A party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Brazil responds to global challenges, such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which set sixteen targets for understanding and conserving plant diversity. In 2008, Brazil’s Environment Ministry tasked the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden (JBRJ) to coordinate a compilation of the Brazilian List of Plants, Algae, and Fungi (Brazilian List) by 2010, to meet GSPC Target 1. JBRJ tapped the expertise of more than 500 Brazilian and foreign taxonomists to develop and maintain a dynamic list that rapidly became the reference for Brazil's flora. In 2011, Brazil’s Science and Technology Ministry, recognizing the need to link knowledge from digitized plant specimens and the Brazilian List, funded the amalgamation of the Brazilian List with a new Virtual Herbarium dubbed “REFLORA.” Founded as a partnership among JBRJ, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), and the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew, UK), REFLORA includes two components: (1) digitization of herbarium specimens and maintenance and update of the Brazilian List, and (2) capacity-building, including visits by Brazilian researchers to European collections to improve specimen identification and foster baseline research that directly impacts plant conservation. Both the Brazilian List and the Virtual Herbarium are interactive platforms incorporating feedback from scientists involved in the project. Changes to these databases appear immediately, making current taxonomic views regarding a specimen or a plant name available online worldwide. Their success has stimulated Brazilian zoologists to prepare a similar list, while the botanical community is already responding to GSPC’s 2020 target to build a digital World Flora. The Brazilian Flora project will be founded on the platforms and scientific community created by the Brazilian List.

scholarly journals How to regulate access and benefit-sharing: Stakeholder insights on provider country legislation

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ays Sirakaya
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Regulatory Mechanisms ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Nagoya Protocol ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Rich Countries

The over-arching aim of the access and benefit-sharing (ABS) of genetic resources under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol is to enable fair distribution of benefits between the users (such as universities and biotech companies) and providers (such as biodiversity-rich countries) so as to both open the doors for innovation and create incentives for biodiversity conservation. Access to genetic resources is crucial not only for research related to conservation of genetic resources, but essential to many different research disciplines in general. Therefore, access to genetic resources in general as well as benefit-sharing from that access is a key element of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 Target 6 of the and in order to secure research as well as environmental sustainability and resource availability. ABS is a rapidly developing and evolving field that is shaped by the implementation of the Parties. This means that the national implementation of the Parties determines how ABS goals are realised and how ABS principles find form within regulatory mechanisms. These principles are found in international legal documents such as the CBD as well as the Nagoya Protocol. Additionally, decisions and guidelines drafted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity shape these principles that are then to be fulfilled by the Parties when drafting their ABS laws by means of implementing these principles into their national legal systems. This article reviews a portion of these national ABS laws, implemented by provider countries throughout the world with the aim of describing the different types of regulatory mechanisms provider countries use. This descriptive approach is then followed by an empirical comparative analysis through semi-structured stakeholder interviews in order to identify the most beneficial regulatory mechanisms according to ABS experts that belong in four different stakeholder groups (provider countries, academic users, industrial users and collections).

scholarly journals Production and international trade: challenges for achieving targets 6 and 11 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in Brazil

Rodriguésia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1577-1585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Rubio Scarano ◽  
José Maria Cardoso da Silva
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Absolute Number ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Planted Forests ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Rural Production

Abstract Target 6 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity states that by 2020 at least 75% of production lands in each sector will be managed sustainably, consistent with the conservation of plant diversity. Target 11 stipulates that by 2020 no species of the wild flora will be threatened by international trade. Both targets, therefore, are related to production, consumption and trade, which must be sustainable if the targets are to be achieved. Here we examine Brazil's progress in achieving these two targets. We focus on the three economic sectors of agriculture, cattle raising and forestry, which are historically responsible for most of the native-ecosystem conversion in the country and in South America. Brazil has set a number of innovative policies for moving these sectors towards a sustainable path. However, the country needs to put these policies into action to generate tangible results. The results of all efforts so far are mixed. Whereas ecosystem conversion due to the expansion of rural production and the volume of illegal international logging trade have been reduced significantly, the absolute number of hectares of native ecosystems converted into cropland, pastureland or planted forests remains high, especially in Amazonia and the Cerrado. In addition, the number of species threatened by illegal timber exploration remains high mainly in Amazonia and the Atlantic forest.

scholarly journals Developing a World Flora Online - a 2020 challenge to the world's botanists from the international community

Rodriguésia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 939-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wyse Jackson ◽  
James S. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Online Portal ◽  
Flora Of China ◽  
The World ◽  
Digital Formats

Abstract The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted as its first target in 2010 the preparation of "An online flora of all known plants" by 2020. This target was subsequently adopted by a broadly-based international consortium of botanical institutions that have committed themselves to undertaking this ambitious project. The preparation of a world flora will be the first modern and large-scale and comprehensive attempt to produce a comprehensive overview and baseline of knowledge on the world's plant diversity. This article outlines previous historic efforts to document the world's known flora. It also describes the ways in which the World Flora Online Consortium was created, how it is organized and its plans to compile diverse datasets available in digital formats into a single online portal available and open to all. Such data are being combined from geographical floristic accounts, such as the Flora of China, the Flora of North America and many other regional and national projects, together with relevant monographic treatments.

Achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Goals for Plant Conservation

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 341 (6150) ◽  
pp. 1100-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. N. Joppa ◽  
P. Visconti ◽  
C. N. Jenkins ◽  
S. L. Pimm
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates

Identifying which areas capture how many species is the first question in conservation planning. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aspires to formal protection of at least 17% of the terrestrial world and, through the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, 60% of plant species. Are these targets of protecting area and species compatible? We show that 67% of plant species live entirely within regions that comprise 17% of the land surface. Moreover, these regions include most terrestrial vertebrates with small geographical ranges. However, the connections between the CBD targets of protecting area and species are complex. Achieving both targets will be difficult because regions with the most plant species have only slightly more land protected than do those with fewer.

scholarly journals Linking biodiversity, diet and health in policy and practice

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Johns ◽  
Pablo B. Eyzaguirre
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Adequate Food

Simplification of human diets associated with increased accessibility of inexpensive agricultural commodities and erosion of agrobiodiversity leads to nutrient deficiencies and excess energy consumption. Non-communicable diseases are growing causes of death and disability worldwide. Successful food systems in transition effectively draw on locally-available foods, food variety and traditional food cultures. In practice this process involves empirical research, public policy, promotion and applied action in support of multi-sectoral, community-based strategies linking rural producers and urban consumers, subsistence and market economies, and traditional and modern food systems. Implementation of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute's Global Nutrition Strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa offers a useful case study. Relevant policy platforms, in which biodiversity conservation and nutrition are and should be linked, include the Millennium Development Goals, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, Right to Adequate Food and UN Human Rights Commission's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The largely unexplored health benefits of cultivated and wild plants include micronutrient intake and functions related to energy density, glycaemic control, oxidative stress and immuno-stimulation. Research on the properties of neglected and underutilized species and local varieties deserves higher priority. In tests of the hypothesis that biodiversity is essential for dietary diversity and health, quantitative indicators of dietary and biological diversity can be combined with nutrition and health outcomes at the population level. That traditional systems once lost are hard to recreate underlines the imperative for timely documentation, compilation and dissemination of eroding knowledge of biodiversity and the use of food culture for promoting positive behaviours.

Land degradation neutrality under the SDGs: National and international implementation of the land degradation neutral world target

elni Review ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 2-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisatbeth Dooley ◽  
Ennid Roberts ◽  
Staphanie Wunder
Keyword(s):  
Land Degradation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
Preceding Discussion ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Year Of Soils ◽  
International Conventions

On World Soil Day, December 5, 2013, the UN General Assembly announced that 2015 marked the ‘International Year of Soils’. This announcement aimed to promote the protection of soil and increase awareness and understanding of its importance. It seems that soil is now, after decades defined by a lack of attention and awareness, finally receiving a greater degree of the much-needed consideration. Examples of this development include the establishment of the Global Soil Partnership (2012), the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (2013), the ‘Economics of Land Degradation’ publication (2013) and the annual organisation of the Global Soil Week (as of 2012). This article explores how the current momentum in international soil policy can be used to promote sustainable land use and reduce land degradation, particularly through the SDG process and using UN Conventions. It puts a special emphasis on the opportunities and challenges of the concept of “land degradation neutrality”. Firstly, this article addresses the background on the pressing issue of land degradation. Secondly, it deals with the adopted SDGs and the inclusion of a target for land degradation neutrality. Thirdly, national implementation of the SDGs are addressed including the need for countries to analyse their legislation and policies to determine whether they support land degradation neutrality. International conventions may direct more action toward and potentially increase the consistency and effectiveness of measures to accomplish the SDG targets, posing another avenue which could contribute to the achievement of land degradation neutrality. Particular emphasis is given to the UNCCD and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as the theoretically most appropriate conventions which may further the accomplishment of land degradation neutrality by adoption of stronger land-related obligations. Based on the preceding discussion, the paper concludes with issues, concerns and suggestions for the future to strive for land degradation neutrality.

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