Notification 2012-082

Dear Madam/Sir, In adopting the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2010), the Conference of the Parties (COP) in its decision X/2 requested countries to revise/update their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) in line with the framework of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the associated Aichi Biodiversity Targets. To facilitate the process of NBSAP revision, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with the generous support of the Government of Japan, has been organizing a series of regional and sub-regional workshops for revising and updating NBSAPs. Further information on these workshops can be found at: http://www.cbd.int/nbsap/workshops2.html. In addition, the Conference of the Parties in its decision X/2 urged Parties to monitor and review the implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans in accordance with the Strategic Plan and their national targets making use of the set of indicators developed for the Strategic Plan as a flexible framework. To further support this process and to facilitate the identification of appropriate national targets and indicators and their integration into revised/updated NBSAPs, I am pleased to inform you that, thanks to the continuing financial support provided by Japan and other donors, a follow-up regional workshop for the Middle East and North Africa will be held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, from 27 to 30 August 2012. The workshop will be organized by the CBD Secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme - Regional Office of West Asia (UNEP-ROWA), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, the League of Arab States, and the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership. The purpose of the workshop is to address various issues that countries in the region may have encountered or will encounter while updating their NBSAPs, with a special focus on target setting, stakeholder engagement and the development of country-specific plans for mobilizing financial resources for the implementation of NBSAPs. Further information is available at: http://www.cbd.int/nbsap/workshops2.shtml. The workshop will also focus on the use of biodiversity indicators to monitor biodiversity at national and regional levels in the context of monitoring progress towards the global Aichi Biodiversity Targets. This session of the workshop will be facilitated by UNEP-WCMC for the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership. In light of the above, I am pleased to invite you to nominate two representatives of your Government to participate in this workshop. The nomination should be in the form of an official letter addressed to the CBD Executive Secretary signed by the CBD National Focal Point, or a senior government official, and should contain the nominee’s name and full contact information, including email addresses. This letter can either be scanned and emailed to secretariat@cbd.int or faxed to the Secretariat at +1 514 288 6588, or to Awatif.Buchiri@unep.org at UNEP-ROWA no later than 30 June 2012. Since the workshop will take place just after the holy month of Ramadan and it will be difficult to process visas/tickets and contact you during this period, we strongly recommend you to adhere to this deadline in order facilitate your participation. Parties are requested to use the following criteria while submitting their nominations: the country representatives should be directly involved in the development, implementation and updating of NBSAPs and fully aware about their country targets, plans and activities related to the global Aichi Biodiversity Targets and NBSAP-related capacity building; and after the workshop, the representatives should be in a position to translate the information provided by the workshop in a practical manner for updating and implementation of NBSAPs. In line with Articles 6(a) and 6(b) of the Convention, it would be highly desirable for one nominated representative to be directly involved in the revision of the NBSAP and the other to be directly involved in the mainstreaming, or integration, of the NBSAP into the broader development or economic sectors. Upon receipt of nominations, further information on travel and hotel arrangements will be duly communicated. We look forward to receiving your early nominations. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points of the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen