Status and trends of mountain biological diversity
1.Notes with appreciation the progress made by the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) of DIVERSITAS in developing, in cooperation with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, a thematic mountain portal to make available geo-referenced databases and allow searches for primary biodiversity data in a mountainspecific context and invites the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment and other relevant organizations to regularly update the thematic portal and make the information widely available in various formats;
2.Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities to collect and update information periodically,
inter alia, for use in the thematic portal to monitor the changes and disseminate information on:
(a)Mountain biological diversity including on sites of biological, ecological and socio economic importance, in particular the mountain biosphere reserves, on ecosystem services, on endangered and endemic species, and on genetic resources, including, in particular, genetic resources for food and agriculture;
(b)Related traditional knowledge and cultural dimensions of mountain biological diversity;
(c)Direct and indirect drivers of change in mountain biological diversity, including, in particular, climate change and land-use change as well as tourism and sporting activities;
(d)Trends in use, including the intensity of harvesting of high value species, in particular native and endemic ones, and consequent changes in populations, habitats and ecosystem properties;
Programme element 1: Direct actions for conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing
3.Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities to:
(a)Enhance the effectiveness of management in existing mountain protected areas;
(b)Establish effectively and appropriately managed protected areas in line with the programme of work on protected areas to safeguard the highest priority key biodiversity areas in mountain ecosystems;
(c)Establish, inter alia, conservation corridors and connectivity, where appropriate and possible and taking into account in particular, endemic species, while avoiding the spread of invasive alien species, and transboundary mountain protected area systems, taking into account the need to integrate protected areas into wider landscapes;
4.Invites Parties and other Governments to consider the development and implementation of national and regional targets, as well as the development of the related indicators for assessing progress towards these targets, within their respective national biodiversity strategies and action plans, taking into account the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which addresses the direct drivers of biodiversity loss, including mountain biological diversity, in an effort to reduce the pressures on biodiversity from habitat change, overexploitation, pollution, invasive alien species and climate change, and to safeguard and restore mountain biological diversity and related ecosystem services, given their potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation;
5.Encourages Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities, to address climate-change and adaptation and mitigation issues for mountain biological diversity, taking into account
decision X/33 on the in-depth review of work on biodiversity and climate change by:
(a)Developing and implementing measures for the in situ conservation of mountain biological diversity and its components, as appropriate, and ex situ conservation of genetic resources and species currently and potentially under threat from climate change;
(b)Undertaking measures, where appropriate, to reduce deforestation and restore degraded mountain forest ecosystems, conserve carbon in the mountain soil, including in peatlands and other wetlands, in order to enhance the role of mountains in providing important ecosystem services such as natural carbon and water regulation;
(c)Developing, strengthening and implementing policies favourable to: the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner, reducing the impact of climate change on mountain biological diversity and related traditional knowledge, enhancing resilience, and addressing unsustainable agriculture practices;
(d)Supporting and coordinating research and monitoring networks on the impacts of global change in mountain regions, through observation of natural processes, ecosystem services and biological diversity;
(e)Undertaking environmental and strategic assessments of renewable energy planning, as a part of mitigation strategies in mountain areas and to reduce their impacts on mountain biological diversity;
6.Invites relevant organizations and initiatives such as, among many others, the mountains biome programme of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas to assist countries in their programmes and projects relating to climate change;
7.Encourages Parties to promote the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner and the improvement of agricultural, ranching and forestry practices compatible with the conservation and sustainable use of mountain resources;
Programme element 2: Means of implementation for conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing
8.Invites Parties and other Governments with mountain systems within their jurisdiction to consider the adoption of a long-term vision and ecosystem approaches to the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner by developing specific actions, timetables and capacity-building needs for the implementation of the programme of work on mountain biological diversity and where appropriate integrating them with revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans in line with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, as well as with overall sustainable development strategies in mountain regions;
9.Encourages Parties to use existing, or establish new, national committees and multi stakeholder institutional arrangements and mechanisms at national and regional levels to enhance intersectoral coordination and collaboration for sustainable mountain development as called for in paragraph 15 of General Assembly resolution
62/196 of 19 December 2007 and linking them to the implementation of the programme of work on mountain biological diversity;
10.Encourages Parties, where possible and appropriate, to develop and implement regional collaboration strategies and action plans for the conservation of mountain biological diversity including on animals that could cause conflict with humans in particular large predators, with assistance, including effective funding, from international and regional organizations, as needed and when requested and agreed by all Parties concerned in such collaboration;
11.Encourages Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to develop upland lowland interactions, with the aim of strengthening the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner and of strengthening provision of ecosystem services and thus contributing to ensuring the well-being of people;
12.Invites the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Consorcio para el Desarrollo de la Ecoregion Andina (CONDESAN), the Alpine and Carpathian Conventions, and the Andean High Plateau Initiative and other relevant initiatives to strengthen their involvement in formulating regional strategies, to work closely with countries when receiving requests from countries and to help in the implementation of the programme of work on mountain biological diversity;
13.Invites the Mountain Partnership, the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) and other initiatives to promote enhanced implementation of the programme of work on mountain biological diversity in close collaboration with Parties and organizations, bearing in mind paragraph 23 of General Assembly resolution
64/205 of 21 December 2009;
14.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations in line with the objectives of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and other relevant initiatives to restore and enhance the conservation status of native mountain plant and animal genetic resources by providing economic and other incentives, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, for the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner;
Programme element 3: Supporting actions for conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing
15.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to develop and implement national, regional and global communication, educational and awareness raising programmes highlighting the economic, ecological and social benefits of the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner for strengthening provision of ecosystem services and thus contributing to ensuring the well-being of mountain dwellers and also lowland communities;
16.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to develop and implement mountain-to-mountain cooperation programmes for the exchange of best practices, expertise, information sharing and appropriate technologies;
17.Urges Parties and encourages other Governments and relevant organizations, with the collaboration of the scientific community, relevant intergovernmental organizations and mountain communities, to study the effects of climate change as well as the effects of adaptation and mitigation measures on mountain environments and biological diversity, in order to elaborate sustainable adaptation and mitigation strategies;
18.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to develop research programmes for the implementation of all three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mountain ecosystems in a balanced manner;
19.Requests the Executive Secretary to:
(a)Enhance collaboration and partnership with organizations, initiatives, regional conventions to support the Parties in their implementation of the programme of work on mountain biological diversity and related decisions; and
(b)Disseminate information, best practices, tools and resources relating to mountain biological diversity through the clearing-house mechanism and other means.
