Notification 2008-066

Dear Madam/Sir, In accordance with goal 3 of the strategic plan of the clearing-house mechanism aiming at developing a network or Parties and partners, and further to the recommendation of the Clearing-House Mechanism Informal Advisory Committee (CHM-IAC), I am pleased to inform you that the Internet domain name chm-cbd.net has been acquired by the Secretariat to promote the national and partner websites of the clearing-house mechanism network. Therefore, I invite all Parties with a National CHM website to join this network by creating a website address (URL) under this domain as described in the procedure annexed to this notification. I draw your attention to the fact that this new URL can seamlessly co-exist with the current URL of the National CHM. In addition, to enhance the CHM network identity, I would like to recommend that all National CHM websites display the CHM logo. The CHM logo package and corresponding instructions are available on the CBD website at www.cbd.int/chm/logo. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to inform those of you attending the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP 9) that the CBD Secretariat is co-organizing with several Parties a side event entitled "The Clearing-House Mechanism: Latest Development and Cooperation". Any COP 9 participant interested in the clearing-house mechanism is welcome to attend this side event to be held on Wednesday 21 May at 1:15 pm. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration. Annex - Procedure to join the Internet domain name chm-cbd.net Note: this procedure is intended for webmasters of National CHM websites. It requires technical knowledge of web server configuration. Joining the chm-cbd.net domain is a process involving collaboration between the webmaster of the National CHM website and the CHM team of the CBD Secretariat. The step-by-step procedure is described below: 1. Each country selects its 2-character ISO country code for its website address (URL) under the chm-cbd.net domain, as follows: [country-code].chm-cbd.net (e.g. ca.chm-cbd.net for Canada or br.chm-cbd.net for Brazil) 2. The webmaster configures the web server hosting the National CHM website to accept this new URL in addition to the existing one. This step depends on the web server technology and may require configuration of the host header option. 3. The webmaster sends the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the National CHM website to the CBD Secretariat's CHM team at chm@cbd.int. 4. The CHM team binds this new URL with its IP address in the Domain Name System (DNS) configuration of the chm-cbd.net domain. 5. The CHM team checks that the new URL is operational. If needed, further technical support can be obtained from the CHM team at chm@cbd.int.

Executive Secretary

To: CHM National Focal Points