Notification 2011-150

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to share with you the list of sponsored experts for the Africa Regional Consultation and Capacity Building Workshop on REDD-plus, including on relevant biodiversity safeguards, which will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 20 to 23 September 2011. The selection of experts was conducted in accordance with established procedures and with particular attention to relevant expertise, language skills, as well as geographic and gender balance. Additional experts will be selected from the full list of nominees if additional funds become available. Self-funded participants from Parties or relevant organizations, whose nominations were received by the Secretariat on or before 05 August 2011 on the basis of Notification No. 76474 (http://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2011/ntf-2011-119-for-en.pdf), are invited to participate, but due to space constraints, participation is limited to one delegate per organization. Furthermore, self-funded participants are requested to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements. A block-booking for sponsored participants has been made at the NH Lord Charles Hotel and self-funded participants might consider arranging accommodation in the same hotel. Please consult the Information Note for Participants for more details (http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/for/wscbredd-afr-01/other/wscbredd-afr-01-info-note-en.pdf). This workshop is the fourth in a series of four expert workshops on biodiversity aspects of REDD-plus and it is being convened by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in collaboration with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and with the generous financial support of the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the UN-REDD Programme (United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries). A provisional workshop agenda and supplementary documents are available at http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=WSCBREDD-AFR-01. All national experts invited to the workshop are kindly requested to prepare a presentation per country on the challenges and opportunities related to forest biodiversity and climate change, including biodiversity-related aspects of pilot and demonstration activities on REDD-plus in their countries. A template for the presentations will be circulated to participants shortly. Representatives of relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities will be contacted individually by the Secretariat regarding opportunities for participation and presentations during the workshop. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points, Africa, cc: National Focal Points of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Indigenous and Local Community Organizations; Members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests; other Relevant Organizations; SBSTTA Focal Points; CHM Focal Points; POWPA Focal Points