Notification 2013-084

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to inform Parties that a regional capacity-building workshop for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia to address invasive alien species and to achieve Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 will be held on 9 – 12 December 2013 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The workshop is organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of the Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with the generous financial support of the Government of Japan. This workshop will consider how to develop or update national strategies and action plans for invasive alien species as part of the updated National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans taking into account decisions of the Conference of the Parties and other elements of the international regulatory framework relevant to invasive alien species. Please note that the workshop will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation into Russian. I therefore invite your Government to nominate one representative to participate in this workshop. In submitting nominations, Parties are requested to note that the nominee should be in a position to assist the country in integrating the issue of invasive alien species into the updated Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, and to liaise with taxonomic institutions and the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) in this regard. Nominations 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 e-mail addresses, as well as a Curriculum Vitae. The nomination letter, along with the attached questionnaire duly completed, can either be scanned and e-mailed to the Secretariat at secretariat@cbd.int or sent by fax at +1 (514) 288-6588 no later than 25 October 2013. Subject to the availability of funds, the Secretariat will provide financial support for one participant from each country Party to the CBD eligible to receive financial support. Upon receipt of nominations, further information on travel and hotel arrangements will be duly communicated to nominated participants. I 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: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan