Notification 2011-116

Dear Madam/Sir, We are pleased to inform you that a regional capacity building workshop for the updating and revision of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) for South America will be held in Quito, Ecuador from 13 to 15 July 2011, back-to-back with a Workshop on the Amazon Regional Biodiversity Strategy from 11 to 12 July 2011 in the same venue. The workshops are organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the Permanent Secretariat of ACTO, in cooperation with the Government of Ecuador. The CBD workshop is organized with the generous support of the Government of Japan, and the ACTO workshop with the generous support of the Governments of Germany and the Netherlands. The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10), held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan from 18 to 29 October 2010, adopted a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011- 2020, which contains five strategic goals and twenty headline targets also known as the Aichi Targets. While adopting this strategy for the next decade, the COP urged Parties to develop national and regional targets, using the Strategic Plan as a flexible framework, as well as to review, and as appropriate update and revise, their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, in line with the Strategic Plan. The purpose of these back-to back workshops is to strengthen national and regional capacities for the development, implementation, reviewing, updating and communication of biodiversity strategies; to help facilitate national and regional implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020; and translate the post-2010 strategic plan into national and regional targets and commitments (decision X/2 (17)). In light of the above, we are pleased to invite you to nominate three representatives of your Government who will participate in these workshops. These nominations should be in the form of an official signed letter by you or a senior government official and should contain their name and full contact information, including email addresses. This letter can either be scanned and emailed to secretariat@cbd.int or faxed to the SCBD at + 1 514 288 6588, no later than 22 June 2011. In submitting nominations, Parties are requested to note that: (a) One of the representatives should be responsible for the development and/or implementation of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan. (b) One representative should be the official focal point for ACTO (c) The third person should be from the finance, economic or development planning ministry and be in a position to share significant experiences in mainstreaming biodiversity into national development plans. All nominees should be in a position to translate the capacity gained into concrete actions in support on national implementation. Please also kindly note that the workshop will be held in Spanish and English. The CBD and ACTO Secretariats will support the participation of three representatives from each eligible country, with direct, economy-class round-trip tickets and daily subsistence allowances for the duration of the workshop to be provided in accordance with relevant UN rules. Documents for this workshop will be made available in due course. We look forward to receiving your early nominations, and I thank you in advance for your support and cooperation. Please, Sir/Madame, accept the assurances of our highest consideration.

To: CBD Primary National Focal Points of the following countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, Relevant organizations.