Notification 2005-040

Dear Madam/Sir, I refer to paragraph 4(a) of decision VII/16 of the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, which requested the Executive Secretary to continue work on phase one of the composite report on the status and trends regarding the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities in order to produce a revised version of it, taking into account the following elements, inter alia: "(a) the organization of regional workshops" Pursuant to this decision, I am pleased to inform you that the Secretariat, in collaboration with Call of the Earth-Llamado de la Tierra, the World Council of Churches-Pacific Office and the University of South Pacific, is organizing a regional meeting for the Pacific region, which will be held in Suva, Fiji at the University of South Pacific headquarters from 9-10 June 2005. The meeting will provide the opportunity to contribute to the preparation and substantive content of the report on the status and trends of traditional knowledge and of the factors that threaten such knowledge in the Pacific region. The regional meeting will be held back to back with the Regional Dialogue on Pacific Experiences and Perspectives on the Use and Ownership of Genes which is organized by Call of the Earth-Llamado de la Tierra and the World Council of Churches-Pacific Office, which will also take place at the University of South Pacific in Suva, Fiji from 6-8 June*, 2005. Thanks to a generous contribution from the Government of The Netherlands, the Secretariat will be in a position to support a number of participants from the Pacific region in the workshop, particularly representatives from indigenous and local communities of the Pacific region. Interested Parties and Governments are kindly invited to submit, no later than 22 April 2005, the names of indigenous and local community representatives who could participate in the workshop. The Secretariat will select participants among the nominations received on the basis of expertise, equitable geographic representation and gender balance.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points