MEASURES TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT THE CBD PROGRAMMES OF WORK AND ACHIEVE THE 2010
Bonn is home to 16 UN institutions under the Leitmotiv “UN in Bonn: working towards sustainable development worldwide”, and of a dense network of development agencies, science, CSR-oriented economy, media and non-governmental organisations. The city has hosted several conferences of the parties and international conventions with regard to sustainable development. Out of its special role as a platform for international cooperation, Bonn is supporting and promoting the issues of its UN-agencies and conferences from the local to the global level. Local action and global interaction are the keywords to the Bonn approach.
On the local level, nature protection and sensitive spatial planning have been implemented for long. Since the late 1970s, the framework has been established in a number of concepts, adopted resolutions and developed relevant programmes. Several examples:
- Providing lasting protection for trees within Bonn (1977/2000)
- Stream-development plan (1988)
- Meadows programme (1993)
- A concept for ecological care and establishment of green areas (1998)
- Management of the Stadtwald municipal forest in keeping with criteria for semi-natural forest management (1999)
- Promoting the city's Biological Station (2001)
- Environmental education ("Haus der Natur" since 1989,
- "Ökotermine"/"eco-dates" (since 2002),
- Promotion of relevant external organizations via eco-sponsoring (since 1994)
- Rejection of genetic engineering, and promotion of organic farming (2006)
- Use and promotion of regional products (2007)
In Germany and Europe, the conflict in balancing urban development needs with those of landscape conservation, is submitted to a rather elaborated legal framework demanding approval of projects and compensations. Besides spatial planning, awareness raising and promoting agro-biodiversity are main targets in Bonn.
On the threshold of the next COP9, Bonn launched a campaign aiming at a broader public awareness. Special target groups are children, students and teachers.
Recently the first
Bonn's Biodiversity Report has been released, being part of an international project
“Local Action for Biodiversity”(LAB) launched by
ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability). LAB is collecting facts and figures of 20 cities worldwide, fostering experience exchange and establishing a Gold Standard on Biodiversity with tools, mechanisms and action plans. This project includes a 10-year-strategy which has just been drafted.
Bonn is aware of the inter linkages between biodiversity and other main fields of sustainability, namely climate change, poverty and peace/human security. So it integrates and streamlines both its local strategies (e.g. climate action programme) and its global input (widened responsibility of World Mayors Council on Climate Change).
Bonn participates in global networks and initiatives bundling the contribution of local governments to the global debate. Bonn is chair of WMCCC, member of the Steering Group of Cities acting as catalysts from Curitiba to Bonn and then to Nagoya and part of the international taskforce with CBD, UNEP, IUCN, ICLEI and others. All these actors and processes are moving towards COP 9. They will be connected in a parallel
Mayors Conference leading to a “Bonn Call for Action” and an interaction with COP9.
City dwellers are under a special obligation to maintain biodiversity, not only in the sense of nature conservation, but also to protect it as a valuable resource and to act responsible in using natural resources. Awareness raising and participation of citizens is thus very important to Bonn. A large number of publications informs people about projects and policies and claims their personal awareness and contribution to sustainability goals. Some examples are the Environmental Report (2002), the Climate Report (2004) and the Sustainability Report (2005) Wasser- und Bodenschutzbericht (2007)- and of course the Biodiversity Report in draft-status now.
Another project involves finding, safeguarding, promoting and publicizing old regional fruit and vegetable varieties, in the interest of preserving species and varietal diversity among crops. It is presented in a brochure called "Bonner Beste und Poppelsdorfer Schwarze", which are a tomato and a regional black cherry tree.
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