Implementation of the NBSAP

In 2010, Venezuela adopted a new National Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity (2010-2020). The new Strategy was formulated with the participation of a wide variety of sectors within society (academic, Government employees, enthusiasts and community-based organizations), in several workshops that took place over a period of 18 months. Overall, over 1600 people participated nationwide, promoting debate and enriching the analytical process through offering different points of view. During the workshops, the problems associated with the loss of biological diversity were identified and their causes and consequences analyzed. The causes identified were then grouped into one of three categories: proximate, intermediate and structural. The next stage consisted of collectively constructing strategies for the conservation of biological diversity. Using the analysis of the problems and the current status of biodiversity as starting points, seven strategic lines were formulated in terms of the technical elements required to confront the loss of biological diversity, and seven crosscutting themes identified as the political and social elements necessary to guarantee biological conservation together with social commitment. This collective construction ensured that participants were involved in the entire process of preparing the Strategy, generating awareness of the urgency of the issues while contributing to the transformation of the country’s situation via the transformation of individuals and vice versa. The National Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity contains the fundamental guidelines that will govern actions taken during the 2010-2020 period. It is composed of seven strategic lines, with a general objective and several specific objectives, which contain general actions that constitute the basis on which the Action Plans are built. Venezuela's first NBSAP was adopted in 2001.