Rationale: Updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) will be reviewed at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2014. The priority areas of capacity-building in taxonomy should be clearly indicated in the updated NBSAPs, based on the needs of users at all levels of society, as appropriate, before the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties. This serves to articulate the needs of users for capacity-building in taxonomy that will be addressed in other actions, particularly in actions 3, 4 and 9. Action 1 explicitly addresses Aichi Biodiversity Target 17. Questionnaires for taxonomic needs and capacity assessments to be used for this purpose are accessible at http://www.cbd.int/gti/needs.shtml. An information document on standard format for taxonomic needs and capacity assessments for use by Parties (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/15/INF/4) and other useful information to conduct the assessment are also available. The review will contribute in particular to achieve goal 2 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - identify gaps and prioritize capacity-building needs.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI:

Planned activity 1: Country-based taxonomic needs assessments and identification of priorities.

Outcome-oriented deliverables in decision IX/22: outputs 1.1.1 and 1.1.2.

Output of the action: Integration of the GTI in reviewed regional, subregional and national biodiversity strategies and action plans.

Rationale: This action promotes engagement of the relevant ministries and institutions in further actions between 2015 and 2020 at the national level. It enables the exchange of experiences made on linkages between the Global Taxonomy Initiative and relevant strategies, plans and programmes. It is envisaged that these workshops will facilitate the effective integration of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy into updated NBSAPs through collaboration of the relevant government sectors, inter alia, environment, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, science and education. Socio-economic, landscape management and development sectors may be invited to this process depending on the identified needs in action 1, as appropriate. This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 17 and 19. The workshops will help to achieve goals 1 and 2 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - appreciate the value of taxonomic information and identify gaps and prioritize capacity-building needs.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: All planned activities in the five operational objectives.

Output of the action: Engaging academics and the relevant governmental sectors to implement the GTI Capacity-building Strategy.

Rationale: The GTI Capacity-building Strategy requires well-trained professionals in taxonomy. It is necessary for professional taxonomists complementary to the scientific dissemination for popularizing taxonomic knowledge to make a case for taxonomy and related biodiversity sciences in the context of the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. This action facilitates the sharing of information on the best practices and experiences between professional taxonomists and stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Convention. It also facilitates the development of recommended syllabus content to increase public awareness of the taxonomic information necessary to implement the Convention, while also increasing the appeal of taxonomy as a subject to students and staff working on specimen collections, and parataxonomists among others. Taxonomic needs in developing countries to address food security and other emerging issues under the Convention need to be highlighted at these workshops. This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1 and 19. The workshops and training will contribute to achieving goals 3, 4 and 5 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - generate, maintain share, and utilize the taxonomic information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: All planned activities in the five operational objectives.

Output of the action: Trained taxonomists engaged in supporting the implementation of the Convention, through the training of, and job opportunities for professional taxonomists to facilitate capacity-building in taxonomy and facilitate their contribution to communication, education and public awareness activities in line with the implementation of the Convention and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Awareness among taxonomic experts and stakeholders regarding taxonomic needs and requirements related to access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization.

Rationale: The existing and newly produced identification tools will assist Parties in the inventorying of biodiversity, early detection of invasive alien species, and the implementation of other programmes of the Convention which require taxonomic identification. It is important to develop international technical standards and protocols for the characterization, inventory and monitoring of biodiversity for domesticated genetic resources and production environments, as appropriate. This action is especially important at the infra-specific level of taxa for some organisms where there are different sub-species, varieties, strains and biotypes that may, for example, have different levels of invasiveness, impacts in different ecosystems, or different responses or reactions to biocontrol agents. Taxonomic tools would preferably be made open-access in accordance with international standards and licence agreements for the relevant technologies. This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16. This action contributes to achieving goals 3 and 4 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - generate, maintain and share taxonomic information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: Planned activities 10-16 covering all thematic programmes, access and benefit-sharing, Article 8(j), invasive alien species and protected areas contained in decision VIII/3.

Output of the action: Species identification capacity necessary to support the implementation of the programmes of work under the Convention, including, inter alia, (i) prioritization and management of protected areas; (ii) agriculture and aquaculture relevant to food security; (iii) invasive alien species control and management; (iv) species inventories and monitoring.

Rationale: In 2015, the Conference of the Parties will conduct a mid-term review of the progress on implementation of the Strategic Plan. It should include a review of the capacities to identify and monitor biodiversity which may be undertaken at the national level and/or in collaboration with regional networks. This might entail the compilation of lists of specialists, institutions and funding sources, and promoting incentives for training young taxonomists to ensure that taxonomic knowledge, skills and taxonomic collections are successfully maintained. This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 17, 19 and 20. It contributes to achieve goals 3 and 4 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - generate, maintain and share taxonomic information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI:

Planned activity 5: Global and regional capacity-building to support access to and generation of taxonomic information, strengthening of existing networks for regional cooperation in taxonomy.

Planned activity 15: Invasive alien species.

Output of the action: Information for the Conference of the Parties as a contribution to the mid-term review of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Human capacity for species identification enhanced.

Rationale: To follow-up on capacity and infrastructure requirements reviewed in action 5 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy, Parties, other Governments and the financial sector, including donors, need to enhance the infrastructure for taxonomic capacity-building, including developing mechanisms for the digitization of existing reference and other collections and information. This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 17, 19 and 20. This action further contributes to achieving goals 3 and 4 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - generate, maintain and share the taxonomic information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: Planned activity 7: Develop a coordinated global taxonomic information system in accordance with international standards and licence agreements for the relevant technologies.

Output of the action: Information infrastructure to meet the needs of taxonomy.

Rationale: Maintaining reference collections, reference tools, and voucher specimens is of paramount importance for the identification and monitoring of biodiversity and the effective implementation of the Convention. This action seeks to ensure the capacity of institutions with collections of biological specimens and living genetic resources to: (i) offer identification services; (ii) conduct training; and (iii) engage in international collaboration in taxonomic research. This action addresses the taxonomic impediment stated in the Darwin Declaration¹ and Aichi Biodiversity Targets 17, 19 and 20. This action further contributes to achieving goals 3 and 4 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - generate, maintain and share taxonomic information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: Planned activity 7: Develop a coordinated global taxonomy information system in accordance with international standards and licence agreements for the relevant technologies.

Output of the action: Enhanced human resources, institutional infrastructure and biological collections, including ex situ microbial preservation facilities that serve as research tools.

Rationale: In 2020, the Conference of the Parties will review the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and assess progress in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, based, inter alia, on the sixth national reports (decision X/9). One of the ultimate goals of the use of taxonomic information is to enhance resolution and increase confidence of models of the status of biodiversity with various scenarios of environmental pressures, such as climate change and underlying drivers of change. To fulfil this objective, the use of taxonomic and associated information on ecosystems, including genetic data, must be reflected in the sixth national report by Parties. This action may also reveal missing information for the period beyond 2020. This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 19. This action contributes to achieving goals 3, 4 and 5 of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - generate maintain, share and utilize taxonomic information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: Planned activity 7: Develop a coordinated global taxonomy information system.

Output of the action: Increased capacity of Parties to make science-based decisions utilizing information on the status of biodiversity and potential loss/restoration of species, habitat or ecosystems under the given policy-relevant scenarios.

Rationale: This is a catalytic action of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy, which intends to accelerate the generation of taxonomic information needed by Parties to make scientifically informed decisions on conservation and management of biodiversity. In addition, it supports the engagement of local stakeholders in biodiversity inventories. Taxonomic knowledge will be widely shared. This action enhances the involvement of taxonomists and other citizens to support conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and increase taxonomic capacity beyond 2020. Projects may also include inventory, characterization and monitoring of the genetics of domesticated species in their production environments, such as on farm, in forests, and in aquaculture facilities, as well as wildlife, as appropriate, by 2019. Microbial diversity should be included where possible. Species inventories could be initiated as a priority in areas where basic species occurrence information is already available and accessible, with a view to supporting the development of national action plans and promoting conservation, sustainable use and access and benefit-sharing at the national level.

This action addresses Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 19 and contributes to achieving all five goals of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy - to appreciate, identify and prioritize, generate, maintain and utilize the taxonomic knowledge and information.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI:

Planned activity 4: Public awareness and education.

Planned activity 6: Strengthening of existing networks for regional cooperation in taxonomy.

Planned activity 14: Access and benefit-sharing.

All of the planned activities under operational objective 4.

Output of the action: Increased capacity to generate and share taxonomic information. Engagement of stakeholders in inventories. Enhancement of citizen science. Contribution to communication education and public awareness for biodiversity.

Rationale: This action seeks to ensure long-term capacity-building activities at all levels. At its meeting in 2020, the Conference of the Parties will conduct a review of the implementation of the Convention and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. At that time, capacity-building achievements in taxonomy should be assessed in parallel with progress on the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Using the proposed indicators for taxonomy,² progress on Target 19 and other relevant targets can be assessed by countries partaking in national and/or regional taxonomy initiatives, as well as the progress reported by Parties and other Governments. Some possible additional indicators are: (i) process indicators: number of trained people, number of people utilizing their taxonomic skills after the training, and number of workshops organized; (ii) output indicators: number of training materials produced, number of taxonomic tools, and number of outcome-oriented deliverables of the programme of work achieved; and (iii) results/progress indicators: increase in the number of taxonomic studies published (globally, per region), the number of institutions with strengthened infrastructure and the number of job opportunities for taxonomists increased. This action addresses all Aichi Biodiversity Targets, particularly 1 and 19. The review of the GTI Capacity-Building Strategy will provide substantive information to be considered in the formulation of strategies beyond 2020.

Relevant activities in the programme of work on the GTI: Planned activity 5 but also relevant to all other planned activities of the programme of work.

Output of the action: Review of implementation of the GTI Capacity-building Strategy. Information for Parties to develop the Strategy beyond 2020.