Monday, September 19, 2011

The Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention joins forces for the implementation of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Montreal, 19 September 2011- Demonstrating the continued and growing collaboration on the biodiversity and water agendas, Anada Tiéga, Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, paid a visit to the seat of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal. His visit follows the very successful meeting of the Biodiversity Liaison Group (BLG) in Château de Bossey, Switzerland, on 4 September 2011.

During his visit, Mr Tiéga, addressed CBD staff and commented on the interrelationship between biodiversity, water and wetland issues. He also met with the staff of all the relevant divisions of the Secretariat to finalize the new work programme between the two conventions to be submitted to the respective conferences of the parties to be held in 2012. The new work programme will also support the implementation of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity.

“Without water, you cannot have biodiversity. If you do not protect biodiversity, however, water will be of poor quality,” he said. “We now know that protecting our water supply is not only linked to protecting wetlands, but is also inextricably linked to forest policies and protection. Working together we can ensure protection and therefore sustainable development.”

Mr. Tiéga congratulated the Convention on Biological Diversity on its groundbreaking work on cities and biodiversity and indicated that Ramsar was looking forward to following this approach in its own work and finding ways to also build linkages with local authorities.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said: “More than ever the synergy among the biodiversity-related convention is required to meet the unprecedented challenges to translate the Aichi Biodiversity Targets into reality. This is the spirit and letter of the new work programme between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention.”

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