Notification 2011-141

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to inform you that, thanks to the financial support provided by Japan and other donors, a regional capacity-building workshop for the updating and revision of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) for Pacific countries will be held in Nadi, Fiji, from 3 to 7 October 2011. The workshop is organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). This workshop is part of a series of regional and sub-regional capacity-building workshops being organized in 2011 and 2012. The purpose of the workshop is to strengthen national capacities for the development, implementation, review, updating and communication of NBSAPs; to help facilitate national implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020; and to translate the Post-2010 Strategic Plan into national targets and commitments (decision X/2, paragraph 17). The workshop will also provide an introduction to other COP-10 outcomes. Further information is available at: http://www.cbd.int/nbsap/workshops2.shtml. In addition to the above and in line with the request of the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting to support countries, the workshop will include a focus on: (i) making use of the findings of the study on the Economics of Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity (TEEB); (ii) integrating the values of biodiversity into relevant national and local policies, programmes and planning processes; (iii) identifying, eliminating, phasing out, or reforming, with a view to minimize or avoid negative impacts from, existing harmful incentives for sectors that can potentially affect biodiversity; and (iv) promoting the design and implementation, in all key economic sectors, of positive incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Please be advised that, in pursuance of paragraph 7 (b) of decision X/31 and in collaboration with SPREP, SCBD is also organizing a sub-regional capacity building workshop for implementing the Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) in parallel with this NBSAP workshop. These workshops will, as far as practical, be integrated but it is envisaged that specifics that relate only to each workshop will run in parallel. A separate notification will be issued for the PoWPA workshop and is available at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=WSCBPA-PAC-01 Please note that both workshops will be held in English. In light of the above, I am pleased to invite you to nominate two representatives of your Government to participate in this workshop. The nomination should be in the form of an official letter addressed to the CBD Executive Secretary signed by yourself, or a senior government official, and should contain the nominee’s name and full contact information, including email addresses. This letter can either be scanned and emailed to secretariat@cbd.int or faxed to the Secretariat at + 1 514 288 6588, no later than 20 August 2011. In submitting nominations, Parties are requested to note that one participant should be responsible for the development, updating and/or implementation of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan, and be in a position to translate the capacity gained into concrete actions in support of national implementation. The other participant should be from planning or financing ministries and should be in a position to support the national development, updating and/or implementation of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan through the mainstreaming of biodiversity into national development and poverty reduction strategies and plans as well as into relevant sectors. Upon receipt of nominations, further information on travel and hotel arrangements will be duly communicated. We look forward to receiving your early nominations.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points of the following countries: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.