Decision COP VII/11
UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/VII/11
Ecosystem approach
1.Notes that there has been significant experience in implementing the ecosystem approach by some Parties operating under the Convention, as well as experience in implementation of similar approaches to management under other national, regional and international processes, but that additional efforts are needed to ensure effective implementation of the approach by all Parties and other Governments. The scale of application of the ecosystem approach should be decided within countries according to their needs and circumstances;
2.Agrees that the priority at this time should be on facilitating the implementation of the ecosystem approach as the primary framework for addressing the three objectives of the Convention in a balanced way, and that a potential revision of the principles of the ecosystem approach should take place only at a later stage, when the application of the ecosystem approach has been more fully tested;
3.Welcomes the implementation guidelines and annotations to rationale as outlined in annex I to the present decision and calls on parties and other governments to implement the ecosystem approach, keeping in mind that in applying the ecosystem approach, all principles need to be considered, with appropriate weight given to each, in accordance with local conditions, and keeping in mind also that the implementation of the ecosystem approach and all principles need to be considered as voluntary instruments and should be adapted to local conditions and implemented in accordance with national legislation;
7.Notes that sustainable forest management, as developed within the framework established by the Rio Forest Principles, can be considered as a means of applying the ecosystem approach to forests (see annex II to the present decision). Further, there is potential for the tools developed under sustainable forest management to be used to help implement the ecosystem approach. These tools include inter alia the criteria and indicators developed under various regional and international processes, national forest programmes, “model forests” and certification schemes (as relating to decision VI/22 on forest biodiversity). There is substantial potential for mutual learning among those implementing both the ecosystem approach and sustainable forest management;
8.Notes that, in addition to sustainable forest management, some existing approaches, which are also relevant to other environmental conventions, including “ecosystem based management”, “integrated river-basin management”, “integrated marine and coastal area management”, and “responsible fisheries approaches”, may be consistent with the application of the Convention’s ecosystem approach, and support its implementation in various sectors or biomes. Implementation of the ecosystem approach in various sectors can be promoted by building upon the approaches and tools developed specifically for such sectors;
9.Requests the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with Parties and relevant international and regional organizations, to facilitate the undertaking of the following activities, and report on progress made to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice prior to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties:
(a)Undertake an analysis of the range of existing tools and approaches, that are consistent with the Convention’s ecosystem approach, but operate on different levels and belong to a variety of sectors/communities, and are applied in programmes of work of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in order to learn from their experiences and build upon their approaches, and identify any gaps in the coverage of such tools;
(b)Where needed, facilitate development of new tools and techniques to enable the implementation of the ecosystem approach, and in collaboration with appropriate regional and international organization develop tools specific to each sector and biome;
(c)Continue collection of case-studies at national, sub-regional, regional and international level on the implementation of the ecosystem approach, and develop, in cooperation with the clearing-house mechanism, a database of case-studies, searchable by biome/ecoregion and sector;
(d)Make the above widely available to Parties through the development of a web-based “sourcebook” for the ecosystem approach, accessible through the clearing-house mechanism. This sourcebook should be non-prescriptive and allow adaptation to differing regional, national and local needs. It should be prepared in a language that is brief, non-technical and simple, ensuring its accessibility to practitioners working to implement the ecosystem approach on the ground. A supporting summary explanation of the ecosystem approach will also be prepared. It should be developed in collaboration with other relevant organizations, peer-reviewed and field tested as appropriate, and made available through the clearing-house mechanism, in hard copy and on CD-Rom, and periodically revised;
10.Recommends that Parties and other Governments, facilitate the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities and other stakeholders and continue or start implementation of the ecosystem approach, including the implementation guidelines and annotations to the rationale as outlined in annex I to the present decision, and:
11.Requests that the Executive Secretary collaborate with the Coordinator and Head of the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat and members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests in order to further integrate the concepts of ecosystem approach and sustainable forest management, in particular with respect to:
12.Requests the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with Parties and relevant international and regional organisations, to assess the implementation of the ecosystem approach in light of the experiences gained from the activities under paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 above for the consideration of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice prior to the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
14.Invites the Executive Secretary, Parties and international organizations to initiate and facilitate as appropriate capacity-building, technology transfer, and awareness raising to assist implementation of the ecosystem approach. In addition, urges Parties to create an enabling environment for the implementation of the ecosystem approach, including through development of appropriate institutional frameworks.
- Body
- Conference of the Parties (COP)
- Meeting
- COP-079 - 20 February, 2004Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Decision document
- VII/11Ecosystem approach
- Related documents
- UNEP/CBD/COP/11/INF/1
- Related decisions / recommendations