Montreal, 22 May 2014 – On the International Day for Biological Diversity,
celebrated under the theme of Island Biodiversity, islands
are taking action to effectively conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable livelihoods. These actions,
or “Bright Spots,” point the way towards sustainable development for island ecosystems and beyond.
In a major gesture to mark
the day, four Parties to the Convention, including Samoa, deposited their instruments of ratification
to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing at the United Nations Headquarters.
With the ratifications of
Denmark, the European Union, Namibia and Samoa, the total number of ratifications to the Protocol
to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) stands at 37. The Nagoya Protocol will enter into
force on the 90th day after the date of deposit of the 50th instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession. While the European Union will be a Party to the Protocol, its
approval of the Protocol does not
count towards the 50 instruments required for entry into force, therefore 14
more ratifications are required.
Samoa’s ratification is
particularly timely given this year’s theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity. Samoa will also
host the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States in September 2014.
“As we celebrate island
biodiversity today, we recognize the tremendous efforts made by islanders to build a future of life in
harmony with nature,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary
of the CBD. “These concrete
actions not only support the implementation of the programme of work for island biodiversity, they
also provide valuable lessons for integrating biodiversity into sustainable development that can be
applied around the world.”
“On this day, we also welcome
the ratifications of the Nagoya Protocol by Denmark, the European Union, Namibia and Samoa that bring
us closer to achievement of Aichi Biodiversity Target 16 that by 2015 the Nagoya Protocol is in force
and operational. Their actions take us closer to entry into force before the twelfth meeting of the
Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the Convention that will take place in
the Republic of Korea in October
2014. I encourage all Parties that have yet to do so to take the necessary steps to ratify the Protocol”
he said.
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