SBSTTA 16: PoWIB Review

The Sixteenth Session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

 

A key technocrat meeting for biodiversity termed ‘SBSTTA 16’ was recently held in Montreal, Canada during April 30 - May 05, 2012.  The meeting was attended by over 400 representatives from governments, NGOs, indigenous communities, business and academia.

One of the key areas discussed at the meeting was island biodiversity. Island biodiversity, like Trinidad and Tobago's, are exceptionally rich reservoirs of biodiversity, but are also environmentally fragile and economically vulnerable. In order to protect and conserve this abundance, the CBD developed a Programme of Work on Island Biodiversity (PoWIB) in 2006, which aims to halt biodiversity loss and in turn, enhance the well-being of islanders.

While discussing the issues and draft recommendations of the report on the implementation review of the PoWIB, several concerns were raised including insufficient references to the technological and technical assistance issues of small island developing states (SIDS).

In order to resolve the contentious issues, a 'Friends of the Chair' group was convened in which a revised draft recommendations document was prepared by the Co-Chair of Working Group II for consideration. This meeting was co-chaired by Dr Floyd Homer, the delegate for Trinidad and Tobago. The draft document was accepted by the Group after some revisions to the document and later approved during the plenary session on May 03, 2012.

For a full summary of the issues discussed and decisions taken at SBSTTA 16, please click here.

Dr Homer during his participation in Working Group II which considered capacity building for the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI), new and emerging issues and island biodiversity.