Official report summarising proceedings of the Mayor’s Conference “Local Action for Biodiversity”
More than 140 mayors and senior local representatives from 34 countries came together in May 2008 in Bonn, on the occasion of the Mayors Conference “Local Action for Biodiversiy”, to discuss their local activities on biodiversity while national governments were negotiating further implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the 9th CBD Conference of the Parties (COP 9). The Mayors took their results to national ministers in the High-level Segment of the COP on 29 May 2008, and declared their readiness to share the global efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity.
The main conclusions and results from the conference (as summarised in the official conference report) were:
Biodiversity is more than the protection of endangered species. It serves as the basis
for life and sustains the ecosystems that provide indispensable services like fresh water, clean air and food to us every day. It is this social and economical dimension of biodiversity that makes the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity so relevant for cities.
Cities and local governments are highly affected by the loss of biodiversity and at the same time are the most important actors to implement policies towards sustainable biodiversity management.
Regardless of the level of development or regional background, biodiversity must be
integrated into the overall development strategies, especially into urban and social planning, green space management, procurement policies, municipal service provision and public information and awareness raising.
The local level has assumed the global dimension of “biodiversity”: The Bonn Call for Action (see page 53) summarises the main reasons why local governments act and their readiness to enter into a global partnership on “Cities and Bio-diversity”.
Cities and local governments are recognised as key actors within the global strategy and debate. For the first time in history, a Conference of the Parties to a Rio Convention has formally adopted a decision called “Cities, Local Authorities and Biodiversity” which states that local governments are implementing partners (see page 58).
Local Action has results to show: Many examples presented in the conference programme and in material compiled for the event demonstrate the already existing richness and variety of local biodiversity action, as well as success and results.
Further information:
To download the official Mayors’ Conference summary report, click here
For further information on the Mayors’ Conference, please click here