Help

Decision COP XIII/5

CBD/COP/DEC/XIII/5

Ecosystem restoration: short-term action plan

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling Article 8(f) and decisions XI/16 and XII/19

Aware that Parties have identified ecosystem restoration needs in their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and in other national, regional and global strategies and/or plans, and that a number of ecosystem restoration activities are under way with support from various organizations and Governments, and noting that many degraded ecosystems are still in need of restoration,

Welcoming the progress made in the implementation of the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, supported by the Korea Forest Service of the Republic of Korea,

Underlining that ecosystem restoration, when effectively implemented and coherent with other related policies, helps to achieve not only many of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, but also several Sustainable Development Goals, ecosystem-based adaptation and combating desertification, mitigating the effects of drought and supporting mitigation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, land degradation neutrality under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the wise use of wetlands under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the four Global Objectives on Forests of the United Nations Forum on Forests, commitments under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the Bonn Challenge of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration and the objectives of many other initiatives,

Noting that restoration needs to be carried out in ways that balance social, economic and environmental objectives, and that the engagement of all relevant stakeholders, such as land owners, and indigenous peoples and local communities, is crucial at all stages of the restoration process especially as regards the participation of women, recognizing that women are powerful agents of change and their leadership is critical in community revitalization and renewable natural resource management,

Recalling the urgency to enhance efforts to achieve targets related to restoration by 2020,

Noting the deliverable 3(b)(i): thematic assessment on land degradation and restoration currently being undertaken by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services due to be completed in 2018,

1. Adopts the short-term action plan on ecosystem restoration, as contained in the annex to the present decision, as a flexible framework and adaptable to national circumstances and legislation for immediate action towards achieving Aichi Biodiversity Targets 5, 12, 14 and 15, and Targets 4 and 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, and other internationally agreed goals and targets, and in particular targets identified in national biodiversity strategies and action plans or other relevant strategies and plans;

2. Urges Parties and encourages other Governments and relevant organizations, as well as indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant stakeholders to promote, support and take actions on ecosystem restoration inter alia by making use, as appropriate, of the short-term action plan on ecosystem restoration as a flexible framework according to national circumstances;

3. Encourages Parties, when developing and implementing ecosystem restoration action plans and when updating national biodiversity strategies and action plans, to take into account existing goals and commitments on restoration, including those promoted under other relevant processes, and to include them in their national biodiversity strategies and action plans;

4. Invites Parties in a position to do so and other donors, such as international finance agencies, including the Global Environment Facility and regional development banks, to provide support for ecosystem restoration activities, as well as monitoring processes integrated as appropriate into programmes and initiatives for sustainable development, food, water and energy security, job creation, climate change mitigation, adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and poverty eradication;

5. Encourages Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations and stakeholders, to consider ecosystem restoration in reef, coastal and marine ecosystems as well as urban environments, in the action plans, where relevant, to ensure that marine environments are sustained;

6. Invites Parties to provide, on a voluntary basis, information on their activities and results from the implementation of the action plan, and requests the Executive Secretary to compile the submissions and make them available through the clearing-house mechanism;

7. Encourages relevant organizations and indigenous peoples and local communities to promote the implementation of ecosystem restoration, which is crucial for reaching the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and enhancing the provision of ecosystem services and to support Parties in their efforts to implement the short-term action plans on ecosystem restoration;

8. Invites Parties and relevant organizations to give due consideration to community-based initiatives on ecosystem restoration in the context of the Convention’s Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity;

9. Requests the Executive Secretary to communicate the present decision to the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services so that it can be taken into account in the preparation of the deliverable 3(b)(i): thematic assessment on Land Degradation and Restoration;

10. Encourages Parties to facilitate the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the implementation of national biodiversity-related activities on ecosystem conservation and restoration;

11. Also requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, to support the efforts of Parties in making use of the short-term action plan on ecosystem restoration by:

(a) Enabling capacity-building and supporting the use of tools in collaboration with relevant partners and initiatives, including by implementing the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative in collaboration with the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other initiatives covering other non-forest ecosystems;

(b) Updating the information on guidance, tools and initiatives relating to ecosystem restoration and making it available through the clearing-house mechanism.