Biodiversity > Partners

UNDP's Biodiversity-Related Partnerships

Ayacara Foundation (www.ayacara.org)

The Ayacara Foundation (FAYA) has an MOU with UNDP and is a recipient of the 2002 UN Poverty Eradication Awards for its work on creating a sanctuary to protect the forest in the Ayacara Peninsula while helping indigenous communities pursue economic development in harmony with their habitat. Ayacara Foundation, has been implementing a model for sustainable human development in a poor, remote area in southern Chile . The model included establishing an Environmental High School , a research station and four community micro enterprises based on local ancient traditions, drawing on traditional boat- building knowledge and combining it with modern technologies to result in quality construction. In addition, a local eco-tourism venture and a company producing organic food have been established.

UNDP is working with the Ayacara Foundation to replicate its methods and approaches in other parts of the world.

Under the current terms of agreement that the foundation has with UNDP, FAYA will elaborate, design and formulate projects that include the perspective of Sustainable Human Development, the generation, exchange, capacity building and dissemination of sustainable development initiatives, that addresses environmental education, forest biodiversity and ecosystem protection, that strengthens local capacity that rescues cultural traditions, and that addresses other aspects or topics to which the parties agree. Initially FAYA will develop Parque Comau, Biota Maule and Parque Corcovado projects under the framework of this agreement.

Columbia University, The Earth Institute
(www.earth.columbia.edu )

UNDP works closely with Columbia University 's Earth Institute, a leading academic center for the integrated study of Earth, its environment, and society that through research training and global partnerships, mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world's poor. Current engagements with Columbia University 's Earth Institute include work on the Millennium Project and with Center for International Earth Science Information Network.

Conservation Finance Alliance (www.conservationfinance.org) 

The Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) was created to catalyze increased and sustainable public and private financing for biodiversity conservation to support the effective implementation of global commitments to conservation. UNDP Co-sponsors the effort along with other partners.

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (www.cgiar.org)

UNDP cosponsors the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) which was created in 1971 and is an association of public and private members supporting a system of 16 Future Harvest Centers that work in more than 100 countries to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment.

Conservation International (www.conservation.org)

Conservation International's mission is to conserve the Earth's living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. Conservation International is a partner in the Equator Initiative and other UNDP efforts.

Ecoagriculture Partnership (www.ecoagriculturepartners.org)

The Ecogariculture partnerships: aims to promote the profile and use of Ecoagriculture, currently defined as "sustainable and associated natural resource management that embraces and simultaneously enhances productivity, rural livelihoods, ecosystem services and biodiversity, by catalysing:

• Research and land-use innovation with farmers and conservationists
• Capacity building
• Education and public awareness
• Enabling policies
• Resource mobilization

Proposed Outcomes include: Raising the profile and adoption of land use systems that increase agricultural productivity, ecosystem services and biodiversity; Establishing criteria for project measurement and qualification; Identifying policy bottlenecks and recommend policy frameworks to facilitate the scaling up of Ecoagriculture use; and Mobilizing the necessary resources to support the implementation of such land management systems.

Forest Trends (www.forest-trends.org)

Forest Trends, is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization, created in 1999 by leaders from conservation organizations, forest product firms, research groups, multilateral development banks, private investment funds and foundations. Its mission is to conserve forests by promoting more diverse trade in the forest sector, moving beyond an exclusive focus on lumber and timber to a broader range of products and services. UNDP collaborates with Forest Trends on various forest related issues.

The Global Biodiversity Forum (www.gbf.ch)

The GBF was founded in 1993 by IUCN, WRI, UNEP, and ACTS and includes a number of other institutions as its convenors. It is an open and independent mechanism to encourage analysis, dialogue and partnership on key ecological, economic, social and institutional issues related to biodiversity. It contributes to the further development and implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention, the Framework Convention, the Convention to Combat Desertification, and other biodiversity-related conventions at the local, national, regional and international levels. UNDP sponsors various sessions of this mechanism that are most relevant to the work programme of the biodiversity sub-practice.

Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries (www.megadiverse.com)

On 18 February 2002, the Governments of Bolivia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, The Philippines and Venezuela subscribed to the Cancun Declaration which defined a common agenda for sustainable development and created the "Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries" (LMMC) as a mechanism for consultation and cooperation to promote their interests and priorities related to the conservation, sustainable use of their biological and other resources, especially with regard to the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biodiversity. The Group set the following objectives:

• Achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss in member States;
• Ensure that the goods, services and benefits arising from the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources are utilized for the development of countries of origin and local people, as well as humanity in general:
• Improve food safety, address health issues, eradicate poverty and preserve cultural integrity through conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;
• Promote an international regime to effectively safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biodiversity and its components;
• Strengthen the conservation and development of traditional knowledge through public policies and funding for indigenous and local communities;
• Develop further scientific and technical cooperation in order to add value to the goods and services generated from biodiversity and ecosystems;
• Ensure bio safety and promote the application and development of conventional and new biotechnologies to serve the needs of sustainable development, in a safe and responsible way.

The Heads of State and Government of the Group met on 3 September 2002 in Johannesburg , South Africa on the occasion of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and produced a "Declaration on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use". They expressed their full support for the consolidation of the LMMC Group and the achievement of the objectives of the Cancun Declaration.

The 15 Member States represent over 70% of the planet's wealth of plant and animal species, around 45% of the world's population and the richest cultural diversity. This gives the Group great opportunities for development, but also an important responsibility for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

One of the main intentions declared by the LMMC Group at the WSSD in Johannesburg was:

".to pursue the possibility of creating an operational Fund to develop the Group's capacities to achieve its objectives, and to call upon the international community and the international funding agencies to contribute to such a fund's creation.".

For this reason, the Chairman of the LMMC Group, H.E. Mr. Lichtinger, Minister of Environment of Mexico, requested from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) a proposal to administer a Fund in support of the Group's objectives.

A Trust Fund management proposal, which was endorsed by the members of the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, and to be operated within the Environment TTF was presented at the July 2003 meeting of the LMMC Group in Malaysia and final signing is expected in April 2005 (BDP & BRSP cooperation).

Harvard/SwissRe/UNDP

This innovative public-private partnership will investigate the risks posed by climate change and loss of biodiversity that can contribute to natural disasters, the spread of diseases and other health hazards that often hit poor communities hardest. The initiative, which was launched in September 2003, at a conference organized by the partners at United Nations headquarters in New York , will work through four working groups to assess four areas: heat waves and air pollution, emerging infectious diseases, extreme weather events and impacts on ecosystems. The partnership responds to concerns by developing countries about the need for assistance in analyzing and mitigating the impact of these risks on poor communities. UNDP's experience indicates that better risk management could help extend disaster-related insurance to countries where it is not available.

Founded in 1863, Swiss Re is a leading reinsurer and the world's largest life and health reinsurer. The company is global, operating from 70 offices in 30 countries. Swiss Re has three business groups: Property & Casualty, Life & Health and Financial Services. Swiss Re offers a wide range of traditional reinsurance products and related services, which are complemented by insurance-based corporate finance solutions and supplementary services. Swiss Re is rated "AA" by Standard & Poor's, "Aa1" by Moody's and "A++" by A.M. Best. (www.swissre.com)

The Center for Health and the Global Environment was founded in 1996 at Harvard Medical School to expand environmental education at medical schools and to further investigate and promote awareness of the human health consequences of global environmental change. While the Center is involved in a number of projects that address this area of inquiry, main ongoing, core projects include the Center's course, research, media outreach and secondary education/general public programs.
(www.med.harvard.edu/chge)

Harvard - Biodiversity: Its Importance to Human Health

In addition to the public-private partnership of UNDP/Harvard/SwissRe described above, UNDP currently works in partnership with Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment, on a comprehensive analytical work that aims to establish the links between biodiversity loss, health impacts and the MDGs (thus far explored through a series of workshops: "Biodiversity After Johannesburg: The Critical Role of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services in Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals" held at the Zoological Society of London in March 2003; "2010- Global Biodiversity Challenge" held also in London in May 2003; and a 58 th Session of the General Assembly Side Event on "Biodiversity, Human Health and the Millennium Development Goals" held in New York in October 2003 and culminating in a publication of an Interim Executive Summary entitled " Biodiversity: Its Importance to Human Health", accessible on line at www.med.harvard.edu/chge/Biodiversity.screen.pdf

As well, with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, the biodiversity sub-practice through the Equator Initiative participates in the " Harvard University Research Project on Science and Technology for Sustainability".

This research endeavour forms part of a larger effort to develop Case Studies in Science and Technology for Sustainability and falls under the auspices of the Sustainability Science Project and the Initiative on Science and Technology for Sustainability (ISTS). Using examples from the work of the Equator Initiative, Harvard researchers are examining local knowledge systems and the ways in science and technology are being harnessed to effectively advance sustainability. They are also analyzing institutional arrangements and enabling contexts for local biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. (http://sustainabilityscience.org)

IUCN - The World Conservation Union (www.iucn.org)

The World Conservation Union was founded in 1948 and brings together 78 states, 112 government agencies, 735 NGOs, 35 affiliates, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. Within the framework of global conventions IUCN has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN has approximately 1000 staff, most of whom are located in its 42 regional and country offices while 100 work at its Headquarters Gland, Switzerland . UNDP has an MOU with IUCN and works very closely with IUCN on various initiatives, including the Equator Initiative, the Global Biodiversity Forum and the World Parks Congress.

The Katoomba Group(www.katoombagroup.org)

The Katoomba Group is dedicated to advancing markets for some of the ecosystem services provided by forests, such as watershed protection, biodiversity habitat, and carbon storage. Emphasizing strategic partnerships to help launch sustainably-produced forest products, the Katoomba Group focuses on building understanding about market-based instruments for environmental services and providing technical support to pilot projects. UNDP collaborates with the Katoomba Group on the Ecosystem Market Place Initiative among others.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) (www.millenniumassessment.org)

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is an international work program designed to meet the needs of decision makers and the public for scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and options for responding to those changes. The MA was launched by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001 and it will help to meet assessment needs of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the Convention on Migratory Species, as well as needs of other users in the private sector and civil society.

UNDP was centrally involved in launching the MEA with WRI, the World Bank and UNEP in 1999.

If the MA proves to be useful to its stakeholders, it is anticipated that an assessment process modeled on the MA will be repeated every 5-10 years and that ecosystem assessments will be regularly conducted at national or sub-national scales.

The MA focuses on ecosystem services (the benefits people obtain from ecosystems), how changes in ecosystem services have affected human well-being, how ecosystem changes may affect people in future decades, and response options that might be adopted at local, national, or global scales to improve ecosystem management and thereby contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation. The specific issues being addressed by the assessment have been defined through consultation with the MA users.

The MA will: Identify priorities for action; Provide tools for planning and management; Provide foresight concerning the consequences of decisions affecting ecosystems; Identify response options to achieve human development and sustainability goals; Help build individual and institutional capacity to undertake integrated ecosystem assessments and to act on their findings.

The MA synthesizes information from the scientific literature, datasets, and scientific models, and makes use of knowledge held by the private sector, practioners, local communities and indigenous peoples. All of the MA findings undergo rigorous peer review.

The Millennium Project (www.unmillenniumproject.org)

At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 world leaders placed development at the heart of the global agenda by adopting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women by 2015.

In support of these Goals, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, have launched the Millennium Project to recommend the best strategies for achieving the MDGs. Over a period of three years the Millennium Project will work to devise a recommended plan of implementation that will allow all developing countries to meet the MDGs and thereby substantially improve the human condition by 2015. While this is a bold ambition, it is both necessary and achievable.

The Millennium Project's research focuses on identifying the operational priorities, organizational means of implementation, and financing structures necessary to achieve the MDGs. Ten thematically-orientated Task Forces perform the bulk of the research. They are comprised of representatives from academia, the public and private sectors, civil society organizations, and UN agencies with the majority of participants coming from outside the UN system. The 15-20 members of each Task Force are all global leaders in their area, selected on the basis of their technical expertise and practical experience. The UNDP biodiversity sub-practice participates in the project in Task Force 6 on Environmental Sustainability.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (www.rspb.org.uk)

RSPB is committed to conserving wildlife and is playing a key role in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan which is part of our government's contribution to the Convention on Biological Diversity which was signed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. UNDP works with RSPB on biodiversity, protected areas and MDGs related issues.

The Nature Conservancy (www.tnc.org)

The Nature Conservancy is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve the Earth's diverse array of plants and animals by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Founded in 1951, the Conservancy has worked in a science-based and collaborative way with local communities, government agencies and private businesses to help protect more than 90 million acres in 30 countries. UNDP has an MOU with TNC and collaborates with TNC on the Equator Initiative.

UNEP-WCMC (www.unep-wcmc.org)

The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre was established in 2000 as the world biodiversity information and assessment centre of the United Nations Environment Programme. The Centre's roots go back to 1979 when IUCN established a Cambridge office to monitor endangered species. In 1988 the independent, non-profit World Conservation Monitoring Centre was founded jointly by IUCN, WWF and UNEP. Their financial support and guidance in the Centre's formative years is widely recognised and appreciated. The transition to UNEP in the year of the new millennium received the full support of IUCN and WWF, as well as the political and financial backing of the UK government. A high level Scientific Advisory Council is being established to guide the Centre's work, which is closely linked to the UNEP Programme on Environmental Information, Assessment & Early Warning.

UNDP collaborates with UNEP-WCMC on work to consolidate efforts and develop a clear set of indicators to measure progress towards reaching the internationally adopted WSSD Johannesburg Plan of Implementation target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss by 2010 and on work to improve the set of indicators for measuring progress towards the 2015 targets of MDG 7 on Ensuring Environmental Sustainability.

United Nations Foundation ( www.unfoundation.org )

UNDP works in partnership with UNF through the Equator Initiative. The UN Foundation was established by Mr. Ted Turner, who chose the United Nations as the vehicle for his global gift because the UN provides the machinery to help find solutions to international challenges, and to deal with pressing concerns facing people everywhere. The Foundation's mission is to support the goals and objectives of the United Nations and its Charter, in order to promote a more peaceful, prosperous and just world - with special emphasis on the UN's work on behalf of economic, social, environmental and humanitarian causes.

UNESCO (www.unesco.org)

UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization promotes international cooperation among its 190 Member States and six Associate Members in the fields of education, science, culture and communication. With UNDP's Biodiversity sub-practice area, its partnership is focused on World Heritage Sites through the Equator Initiative.

World Resources Institute (WRI) (www.wri.org)

WRI is an environment research and policy organization that creates solutions to protect the planet and improve people's lives. It collaborates with UNDP on mentoring eco-entrepreneurs and other areas related to balancing livelihoods and conservation.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (www.worldwildlife.org)

WWF is a global organization acting locally through a network of family offices. All these offices do all they can to halt the accelerating destruction of the natural world. UNDP has an official MOU with WWF and collaborates with WWF on strategic biodiversity related activities.

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