Bonn, 7 December 2012 - The regional workshop for Africa on integration of CMS and CITES objectives into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) took place in Harare, Zimbabwe between 26 to 28 November. With the support of the governments of Germany, Sweden and Japan and organized by UNEP Division of Environment Law and Conventions and Regional Office for Africa (ROA). Members of staff of UNEP, CBD and CMS, together with African focal points identified and prioritized the key areas of synergies among biodiversity-related MEAs in integrating countries’ international obligations into revised NBSAPs. The participants developed common best practice guidelines with tangible targets to improve policy, legal and administrative coordination of biodiversity-related MEAs in the NBSAP process at national level.

Francisco Rilla from the CMS Secretariat presented the new concept for the CMS Strategic Plan for Migratory Species for the period 2015-2023 emphasizing the need to reinforce the integration of migratory species into revisions of NBSAPs. There was already guidance within the CMS on this issue but it was important to emphasize the urgency of the matter given that in many countries the NBSAPs were currently being revised in light of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and any further delay would make it difficult to integrate migratory issues at a later stage. CMS should already engage actively in the UN Decade on Biodiversity and benefit from the relevant Aichi Biodiversity Targets, in particular Target 20 on resource mobilization which was for biodiversity in general, including migratory species.

The workshop was a great success and helped to identify ways to strengthen the integration of NBSAPs that encompass the objectives of the biodiversity-related MEAs, into national development plans and programmes.

More information can be obtained from CMS Information and Capacity Building Office, Francisco Rilla (frilla[at]cms.int)