Notification 2014-135

Dear Madam/Sir, Decision XII/29, paragraph 3, “Takes note of the documents (UNEP/CBD/COP/12/25/Add.3 and UNEP/CBD/COP/12/INF/24) prepared by the Executive Secretary on a proposed pilot voluntary peer-review process for the national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, to develop a methodology for a voluntary peer-review process and to report to the Subsidiary Body on Implementation for its consideration”. In this connection, the Secretariat is establishing a small voluntary working group, and for this purpose, I would like to invite your Government to be part of this group and in that case, to nominate one technical expert to be part of this group, which will work together between now and the first meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation, to be held in mid-2016, to develop and test this methodology prior to preparing the final proposed methodology for consideration by the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention. The Secretariat intends to establish the working group by the end of 2014. Therefore, the nomination letter should be sent to secretariat@cbd.int, copied to david.duthie@cbd.int, as soon as possible and no later than Friday, 12 December 2014. The letter should indicate full contact details of the nominee who potentially, will also act as a coordinator of testing of the voluntary peer-review methodology in your country. The nominee should have experience in working on biodiversity management and implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, either within or in partnership with your national government. Experience in project monitoring and/or evaluation will also be taken into consideration. A full curriculum vitae should be submitted along with the nomination. The Secretariat will also take into consideration the criteria laid out in document UNEP/CBD/COP/12/INF/24, developed by the informal group that has already contributed to the Voluntary Peer-Review methodology (see annex attached) in the selection process. The composition of the working group will be communicated in due time. The Secretariat plans to hold a virtual or actual inception meeting of the working group in early 2015 to develop a work plan for the group up until the first meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation, to be held in mid-2016. Please note that the main working language of the group will be English. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration. Annex Criteria to guide participation in Voluntary Peer-Review Working Group (a) Regional balance; (b) Fifth National Report submitted; © Revised NBSAP adopted as a policy document at the highest possible level; or advanced draft of a revised NBSAP, or policy equivalent; (d) Willing to both contribute to reviews and/or be reviewed; € Able to contribute to costs, either in-kind or via Voluntary Fund; and (f) Evidence of high-level government support for the voluntary peer-review process.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points