List of Reports | Notifications | Guidelines

Introduction

The objective of national reporting, as specified in Article 26 of the Convention, is to provide information on measures taken for the implementation of the Convention and the effectiveness of these measures. The reporting process is therefore not intended to elicit information on the status and trends of biological diversity as such in the country concerned, except in so far as such information is relevant to the account of the implementation measures.

An effective system of national reporting can assist the Conference of the Parties to:

• Consider the lessons learned by Parties in the implementation of the Convention
• Identify gaps in capacity for policy research and analysis at the national, regional and global levels, including technical and financial requirements
• Formulate appropriate requests and guidance to Parties and to its subsidiary bodies, the Secretariat, the financial mechanism, and other organizations with expertise relevant to the implementation of the Convention.

The national reporting process is therefore key to enabling the Conference of the Parties to assess the overall status of implementation of the Convention.

The process of reporting will also assist the individual country to monitor the status of implementation of the commitments it has taken on as a Contracting Party. It can assist the country to identify those commitments that are being successfully met, those that have not been implemented, and constraints to implementation.

Public availability of national reports assists relevant actors (for example, intergovernmental agencies, specialist non-governmental organizations and scientific bodies) to formulate focused strategies and programmes to assist Parties, individually or collectively, with implementation. It similarly enables individual Parties or groups of Parties to identify common issues to be addressed, thus facilitating the development of cost-effective and mutually supportive regional initiatives for implementation.

First National Reports

At its second meeting (Jakarta, November 1995), the Conference of the Parties decided that the first national reports should 'focus in so far as possible on the measures taken for the implementation of Article 6 of the Convention, as well as the information available in national country studies on biological diversity' (decision II/17). At its third meeting (Buenos Aires, November 1996), the Conference of the Parties decided that the first national reports should be submitted no later than 1 January 1998 (decision III/9).

At its fourth meeting (Bratislava, May 1998), the Conference of the Parties considered a synthesis of the information contained in the 86 reports received prior to that meeting. In decision IV/14, it asked SBSTTA to provide advice on the intervals and form of future national reports, including the nature of the information needed from Parties in order to assess the status of implementation of the Convention, recommendations on improving the reporting process, and identification of ways and means to facilitate national implementation.

Second National Reports

At its fifth meeting, SBSTTA considered guidelines for future national reporting that had been developed by the Secretariat through a pilot project, carried out with the collaboration of a number of Parties, to identify a methodology for assessing the state of implementation of the Convention. This involved (i) identifying the obligations on Parties deriving from the provisions of the Convention and the decisions of the Conference of the Parties and (ii) formulating these as questions designed to elicit responses that would reveal the level of implementation, relative priorities, constraints encountered and issues not yet addressed.

The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties endorsed this format as a guide for future national reporting and as a means by which the status of national implementation can be measured (decision V/19). Parties were requested to submit their second national reports by 15 May 2001 for consideration at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (April 2002). National reports will be called for on a four-yearly basis and will be considered at alternate meetings of the Conference of the Parties.

Third National Reports

At its sixth meeting, the Conference of the Parties considered a full assessment of information contained in second national reports received by the end of January 2002, and requested the Executive Secretary to prepare a draft format for the third national reports for the consideration of the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting (decision VI/25). Building on the methodology and format used for the second national reports, the format for the third national reports will, among other things, include questions on strategic objectives and goals established under the Strategic Plan, focus on allowing the Parties to provide information on the experience of implementing their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and facilitate the identification of obstacles and impediments to implementation.

The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties considered an analysis of information contained in the second national reports that were received by the end of October 2003. The meeting also endorsed the format for the third national report, as amended, with respect to the questionnaire on forest biological diversity and requested the Executive Secretary to further develop the format by considering the views expressed during the meeting and the data required from Parties to assess the implementation of the Strategic Plan and the 2010 target. The revised format for the third national report should reach Parties no later than July 2004 and be completed and submitted to the Executive Secretary by 15 May 2005 for the consideration of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2006 (decision VII/25).

Thematic National Reports

Parties are also invited to submit thematic reports on the issues to be considered in depth at meetings of the Conference of the Parties. In the case of the sixth meeting (COP-6), the issues were alien species, forest ecosystems and access and benefit-sharing. The deadlines were, respectively, 30 September 2000, 15 May 2001 and 30 December 2000.

At its sixth meeting, the Conference of the Parties considered a synthesis of information contained in the three thematic reports on alien species, forest ecosystems and access and benefit-sharing. By decision VI/25, the Parties were invited to submit three thematic reports on mountain ecosystems, protected areas and transfer of technology and technology cooperation. The respective deadlines for submission were 30 October 2002, 30 March 2003 and 30 March 2003.

Guidelines

Click here to download the formats for the second and third national reports, as well as the formats for the thematic and voluntary reports (available in all UN languages). A recently published Guide for Countries Preparing Third National Reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity is also available.

Financial Support

The financial mechanism of the Convention, operated by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has supported biodiversity enabling activities in over 140 developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition. These have received support for the preparation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) and the preparation of first and second national reports.

At its fifth meeting, the Conference of the Parties recommended that Parties prepare their reports through consultative processes involving all relevant stakeholders and requested that the GEF provide support for this. See the GEF’s Revised Guidelines for Additional Funding of Biodiversity Enabling Activities (Expedited Procedures).

At its sixth meeting, the Conference of the Parties requested the GEF to explore funding modalities for facilitating the preparation of future national reports and thematic reports from Parties, taking into account the comments made by Parties on their experience in accessing relevant funds during the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as well as the recommendations included in the second Overall Performance Study of the GEF and the second review of the effectiveness of the financial mechanism (Decision VI/17).

The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties invited the GEF to provide the financial support necessary for the preparation of the third national report (decision VII/20). In this regard, a joint letter issued to Parties by the CBD and GEF secretariats in January 2005 advised of the availability of funds and stated that Parties should contact, through their GEF Focal Point, the implementing agency involved with national biodiversity enabling activities to obtain confirmation on their eligibility for support.

Harmonizing National Reporting

Preparing separate reports on implementation of different, but related, international treaties can represent a burden on countries - particularly on countries with limited resources. In the case of reporting to the five global biodiversity-related treaties (CBD, Convention on Wetlands, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on Migratory Species, and World Heritage Convention), the secretariats are investigating whether there is scope for harmonizing reporting procedures by making use of common formats and datasets. A feasibility study was conducted and a number of pilot studies to test approaches to streamlining and harmonizing are underway. The results will be reported back to the governing bodies of these conventions, including to the Conference of the Parties to the CBD.

At its sixth meeting, the Conference of the Parties welcomed the work of the United Nations Environment Programme on the harmonization of environmental reporting and encouraged its continuation. Meanwhile the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties recognized the need to ensure that this does not affect the ability of the Conference of the Parties to adjust national reporting procedures under the Convention in order to better meet the needs of the Parties.