Notification 2012-075

Dear Madam/Sir, In adopting the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in its decision X/2 requested countries to revise/update their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) in line the framework of the Strategic Plan. To facilitate this, the Secretariat organized, in 2011 and with the generous support of the Government of Japan, a series of regional and sub-regional workshops for revising and updating NBSAPs. Further information on these workshops can be found at: http://www.cbd.int/nbsap/workshops2.html In further support of this process and to facilitate the identification of national targets and their integration into revised/updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans, I am pleased to inform you that, thanks to the continuing financial support provided by the Government of Japan, a follow-up regional workshop for the Pacific region will be held in Rotorua, New Zealand from 6 to 9 August 2012. 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) and the Government of New Zealand. The purpose of the workshop is to address various issues that countries in the region may have encountered or will encounter while updating their NBSAPs, with a focus on target setting, stakeholder engagement and the development of country-specific plans for mobilizing financial resources for the implementation of NBSAPs. Further information is available at: http://www.cbd.int/nbsap/workshops2.shtml. Please note that the workshop 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 June 22, 2012. In submitting nominations, Parties are requested to note that one participant should be directly 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 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. We would like for this workshop to be as practical and useful as possible, for this reason please notify us, through the nomination process, if you would like a certain aspect of your country’s NBSAP to be discussed and used as an example during the workshop. Upon receipt of nominations, further information on travel and hotel arrangements will be duly communicated. We look forward to receiving your early nominations. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

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