Meeting on Connectivity Kicks Off in Bonn

The conservation needs of migratory species can be best represented in the future global biodiversity framework through the concept of connectivity. © Jim Zuckerman

Bonn, 11 November 2019 – An informal meeting on the concept of connectivity is currently underway at the UN Premises in Bonn, Germany. The one-day meeting is being co-hosted by the CMS Secretariat and the IUCN Beyond the Aichi Targets Task Force and is being attended by representatives from governments, Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a number of key experts on the topic.

The aim of the meeting is to foster ongoing efforts to elevate the importance of ecological connectivity for conservation, with a particular focus on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and other relevant processes.

The meeting will review and further refine the concept and terminology of connectivity and consider options for reflecting it in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

“If we want to incorporate the concept of connectivity into the post-2020 process, we need a better shared sense of what we are getting at. I hope this meeting in Bonn will contribute to building momentum around the topic and help us come up with a common strategy as to how it could be included as a key concept in the post 2020 biodiversity framework” said Amy Fraenkel, Acting Executive Secretary of CMS at the opening of the meeting.

The meeting will also discuss collaborative efforts and communication approaches that could support the promotion and inclusion of the topic of connectivity in other relevant fora and processes (e.g., MEA processes, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the IUCN World Conservation Congress). Options for possible country-level implementation of connectivity related-measures will also be identified over the course of the meeting.