Decision COP IX/22

The Conference of the Parties,

Recognizing that activities under the Global Taxonomy Initiative should not be contrary to national legislation of the country of origin,

2. Also welcomes progress toward the establishment of a possible special fund for the GTI, and encourages BioNET-INTERNATIONAL and the Interim Steering Committee of the GTI Special Fund to continue seeking suitable funding sources so as to operationalize the Fund prior to 2010 taking into account the objectives of capacity-building, promotion of technology transfer and contributing to an accelerated accumulation of knowledge on species diversity in countries including those with high levels of biodiversity, through, inter alia, species inventories in areas designated as a priority by respective national Governments, and establish, as soon as possible, a trust fund through a steering committee reflecting regional balance, and report on progress to the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting;

3. Acknowledges the role and importance of natural history collections and taxonomic institutions for fulfilling the goals of the Convention and takes note of the discussion  of the Buffon Declaration at the international symposium held in Paris on 18-19 October 2007 (UNEP/CBD/COP/9/20/Add.2, annex I);

4. Noting that taxonomic capacity-building activities could go beyond 2010,

5. Emphasizes the need for capacity-building activities and mobilizing funds for them, including training in taxonomy, especially in developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and the small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition, in order to enable them to implement the planned activities to achieve and monitor progress towards the expected outputs;

6. Invites Parties, other Governments, international and funding organizations and other donors to provide adequate support for the development of a widely accessible checklist of known species stating the valid scientific names and their synonyms, and timely support to developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition, as well as countries with high levels of biodiversity, as appropriate,  for the implementation of the planned activities contained in the annex to the present decision, including related human, systemic and institutional capacity-building;

7. Requests the Executive Secretary to develop planned activities on island biodiversity and protected areas in consultation with the Coordination Mechanism of the Global Taxonomy Initiative to fully develop the programme of work of the Initiative, building on the activities identified in decision VIII/3;

8. Requests the Executive Secretary to include mobilization of resources for implementation of activities included in the programme of work on the Global Taxonomy Initiative as an item for discussion at possible future donor meetings that may be held as appropriate, on the margins of the meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and those of other subsidiary bodies prior to the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties.