Notification 2015-109

Dear Madam/Sir, In notification 2015-079, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) invited Parties and relevant organizations to send nominations of experts pursuant to decisions XII/16 and XII/17 of the Conference of the Parties, requesting the Executive Secretary to report to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) prior to the thirteenth meeting of the COP, on a number of matters related to invasive alien species. Thanks to the financial support from the Governments of Sweden and Germany, an expert meeting is being convened to specifically address: (i) Exploration of ways and means to address the risks associated with trade in wildlife introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food (paragraph 4 of decision XII/16); (ii) Methods of alerting suppliers and potential buyers to the risk posed by invasive alien species sold via e-commerce (paragraph 9 (d) of decision XII/17); (iii) Synthesis on information from Parties, scientific institutions, and other relevant organizations, on experiences in the use of biological control agents against invasive alien species, in particular the release in the wild of alien species for this purpose (paragraph 9 (g) of decision XII/17); and (iv) Development of decision-support tools for assessing and evaluating the social, economic and ecological consequences of invasive alien species; cost-benefit analyses for eradication, management and control measures; and tools for examining the impacts of climate change and land-use change on biological invasions (paragraph 9 (c) of decision XII/17). I am pleased to share with you the list of selected experts for the Expert Meeting on alien species in wildlife trade, experiences in the use of biological control agents and development of decision support tools for management of invasive alien species, as contained in the Annex to this notification. The selection was based on expertise, regional and gender balance and taking into account the modus operandi for SBSTTA and relevant guidance in decisions XII/16 and XII/17. The Expert Meeting will be held at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada from 28 to 30 October 2015. Experts eligible to receive financial support will be contacted by the Secretariat in due course. Nominated experts who were not selected for the Expert meeting are invited to send any relevant material that they wish to share with the meeting to secretariat@cbd.int. They are also encouraged to participate in the peer review of the meeting report. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, relevant organizations