Decision COP VIII/3

9. Urges Parties and other Governments that have not done so to:

(a) Establish national focal points for the Global Taxonomy Initiative so that they can contribute to implementation of the programme of work at national level;

(b) Undertake or complete or update, as a matter of priority, national taxonomic needs assessments, including related technical, technological and capacity needs, and establish priorities for taxonomic work that take into account country-specific circumstances. These assessments should take into account ongoing national biodiversity strategies and action plans as well as regional strategies and initiatives under development, with particular regard to user needs and priorities;

(c) Contribute, as appropriate, to regional and global taxonomic needs assessments;

(d) Contribute, where possible, to the implementation of the planned activities contained in the programme of work for the Global Taxonomy Initiative; 

10. Invites Parties, other Governments, and relevant organizations and institutions to:

(a) Use and support existing mechanisms for strengthening collaboration and communication among government agencies, the scientific community, research institutions, universities, collection holders, the private sector and stakeholders in order to improve the response to taxonomic needs for decision-making;  

(b) Promote taxonomy and taxonomic products and related research as a cornerstone for inventory and monitoring of biological diversity in the framework of the implementation of the Convention and to achieve its objectives;

(c) Develop and implement strategies to support the taxonomic research necessary to implement the Convention; 

(d) Collect and disseminate information on the availability of taxonomic resources with a view to maximising the use of relevant existing resources for the effective implementation of the Global Taxonomy Initiative;

(e) Develop and implement capacity-building activities related to the Global Taxonomy Initiative, such as training in the areas of identification of taxa, information exchange and database management, taking into account national and region-specific needs; 

(f) Mobilize financial and technical resources to assist developing countries, in particular least developed and small island developing States, and countries with economies in transition, including those with high levels of biodiversity, to build and maintain systems and significant institutional infrastructure in order to adequately obtain, collate and curate biological specimens as well as to facilitate information exchange, including repatriation of information, on their biodiversity; 

(g) Promote cooperation and networking at national, regional, sub regional and global levels in support of capacity-building activities related to the Global Taxonomy Initiative, in accordance with Articles 18 and 15 of the Convention, by, inter alia, making information available through the clearinghouse mechanism and other means;

(h) Provide, within the framework of the terms of reference contained in decision V/9, clear guidance to national focal points for the Global Taxonomy Initiative on duties and specific tasks to better communicate and promote the objectives of the Initiative, working in collaboration with other stakeholders and in accordance with country needs;

11. Requests the Executive Secretary to:

(a) Consult with relevant organizations and funding agencies regarding the global taxonomic needs assessment called for in planned activity 3 of the programme of work for Global Taxonomy Initiative, in order to consider, inter alia, the scope of the assessment, options for methodology, and potential implementing agencies, with a view to completing the assessment as soon as possible, taking into account users’ needs;

(b) Continue collaborating with relevant conventions, organizations and institutions, and to foster synergies between relevant processes and programmes, in order to make available taxonomic information, expertise and relevant technologies needed to achieve the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, noting in particular, taxonomic priorities at national, regional and global levels;

(c) Continue collaborating with existing initiatives, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System and Species 2000, to develop the Electronic Catalogue of Names of Known Organisms and the Catalogue of Life;

(d) Continue collaborating with existing initiatives, including those of BioNETINTERNATIONAL, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, IUCN, and CAB International, to develop the human capacities, tools and infrastructure needed to support implementation of the programme of work on the Global Taxonomy Initiative;

(e) Undertake, as part of the Global Initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness programme and in collaboration with relevant partners, activities demonstrating the importance of taxonomy for the general public, including information on products, lessons learned, and accomplishments of taxonomy-related projects, and activities encouraging public participation, recognizing the importance of volunteer naturalists and local and indigenous people as a source of expertise;

(f) Develop, in consultation with the Coordination Mechanism of the Global Taxonomy Initiative, other relevant consultative bodies, stakeholders and organizations, for each of the planned activities of the programme of work on the Global Taxonomy Initiative, specific taxonomic, outcomeoriented deliverables to be considered as additions under “(ii) Outputs” with a timeline for possible consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its ninth meeting;

(g) Report to the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties on progress made towards the target for the programme of work as specified in paragraph 7 above;

(h) Include the Global Taxonomy Initiative in the joint work plan between the secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Plant Protection Convention, with a view to exploring synergies in the work under the two conventions, with particular regard to invasive alien species;

(j) Complete and publish the Guide to the Global Taxonomy Initiative;