Notification 2005-030

Dear Madam/Sir, I am writing to you in connection with paragraph 4(a) of decision VII/16 of the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, which requested the Executive Secretary to continue work on phase one of the composite report on the status and trends regarding the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities in order to produce a revised version of it, taking into account the following elements, inter alia: (a) the organization of regional workshops In support of this decision, I am pleased to inform you that the Secretariat, in collaboration with the Tebtebba Foundation and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation (AIPP), is in the process of organizing a regional meeting for the Asian region. The meeting will provide the opportunity to contribute to the preparation and substantive content of the report on the status and trends of traditional knowledge and of the factors that threaten such knowledge in the Asian region. Furthermore, consistent with paragraph 26 of the elements of the Plan of Action for the retention of traditional knowledge relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity contained in Annex E of decision VII/16, the Secretariat of the CBD will be a partner in an Asian Capacity-Building Workshop organized by the Tebtebba Foundation and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation (AIPP), targeted at indigenous women which will be held immediately prior to the regional Asian meeting. The Asia Capacity-Building Workshop will be held 25 – 27 April, after which the CBD Meeting on the Composite Report will immediately follow on 28 – 30 April. Both the capacity building workshop and the regional meeting will be held at the AIM Training Centre, Camp John Hay Compound, Baguio City, Philippines. Thanks to a generous contribution from the Government of The Netherlands, the Secretariat will be in a position to support a number of participants from the Asian region to the CBD Meeting on the Composite Report, particularly representatives from indigenous and local communities. Interested Parties and Governments are kindly invited to submit, no later than 01 April 2005, the names of indigenous and local community representatives who could participate in the Workshop. The Secretariat will select participants among the nominations received on the basis of expertise, equitable geographic representation and gender balance.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points