1. The Secretariat hopes that each government representative will prepare some information on experiences and activities related to the NBSAP (or equivalent policy document). Participants are asked to review progress made in implementation, based on the framework provided by their own NBSAP. Progress should be considered in terms of concrete outcomes. Obstacles may also be identified. Given the short time available for the presentation, participants may wish to choose some examples to illustrate implementation. These might include case studies of activities that contribute to the achievement of the 2010 Biodiversity Target. Participants are requested to bring to the Workshop two hard copies as well as electronic versions of their country's national biodiversity strategy and action plan, and of their fourth national reports (or drafts thereof).

2. For the upcoming Second Capacity Development Workshop for the European region on implementing NBSAPs and biodiversity mainstreaming, to be held in Vilm, Germany, from 13 to 17 June 2009, Government representatives are requested to present a brief overview of the main features of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan in their country, its implementation, and biodiversity mainstreaming. Participants are encouraged to use the guidance from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity available here, particularly the "Proposed voluntary guidelines to Parties for review of national biodiversity strategies and action plans", annexed to decision VIII/8, as tools in preparing for the Workshop. Each presentation should be brief (no more than 10 minutes in length) and focused on the following issues:

(a) The main features of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan (or equivalent policy document), highlighting elements that make it strategic. There is no need to provide general background information about the country and its biodiversity.

(b) The main improvements and changes made if the national biodiversity strategy and action plan has been revised or updated.

(c) The status of implementation of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan. Participants are asked to review progress made in implementation, based on the framework provided by their own national biodiversity strategy and action plan. Progress should be considered in terms of concrete outcomes. Obstacles may also be identified. Given the short time available for the presentation, participants may wish to choose some examples to illustrate implementation. These might include case studies of activities that contribute to the achievement of the 2010 Biodiversity Target. Such cases of progress towards the achievement of the 2010 Biodiversity Target should demonstrate significant reductions in the loss of biodiversity (or a specific component) within a defined scale. The case study will be most useful if it contains lessons that are more widely applicable. Note that, in essence, this will comprise the main points from Chapter 2 of the Fourth National Report. The following information should be provided:

• full description of the reduction in biodiversity loss
• measures taken to achieve the change
• relevant external factors that may have influenced the rate of biodiversity loss or likely to do so in the future
• measures in place or planned to ensure that the reduction is sustained; and conclusions and lessons learned
  

Besides being included in the presentations, such case studies might be prepared as part of NBSAP posters, or separately, or incorporated into the fourth national reports.

(d) How biodiversity considerations have been taken into account within other national policies, programmes and planning processes, including:

(i) Other economic sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism, mining and oil exploration, trade and industry;

(ii) National strategies for sustainable development, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and national programmes to combat desertification;

(iii) Planning process at national, provincial and local levels.

The presentation should highlight the role of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan in such biodiversity mainstreaming, as well as the use of other tools, such as strategic environmental assessment, integrated planning processes, etc. It should be noted that, in essence, this will comprise the main points from Chapter 3 of the Fourth National Report.

(e) The use of communication, education and public awareness activities in the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and the further needs and challenges in this regard.

3. Participants will then discuss the national experiences presented, and, working in plenary and in small groups, will exchange lessons learned in the development and implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and biodiversity mainstreaming, focusing on:

(a) Case studies of good practice, including examples of progress towards the 2010 Biodiversity Target;

(b) Elements of national biodiversity strategies and action plans that makes them strategically successful (referring to the strategy);

(c) Examples of where the national biodiversity strategy and action plan has made a difference (referring to the implementation of the action plan);

(d) Tools and methodologies for national biodiversity strategies and action plans developed by the various countries;

(e) Obstacles encountered in the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and means to address them;

(f) Reviews undertaken of the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and assessment of the effectiveness of the strategy.

4. In addition, it would be extremely useful if the Secretariat could be sent any useful documents (electronic files, web addresses) prepared at the national levels in relation to the NBSAP and its implementation. The Secretariat will be drawing on these national examples and experiences throughout the workshop, and will incorporate information on approaches and best practices into the Clearing-House Mechanism. This might include:

• information on tools and guidelines for NBSAP implementation and mainstreaming biodiversity concerns
• tools, reviews or progress reports generated at the national level on the NBSAP for purposes of monitoring and evaluation
• communication strategies for the NBSAP
• experiences in sub-national implementation of biodiversity strategies and action plans
• case studies illustrating how biodiversity has been integrated, or mainstreamed, into economic sectors and national development strategies, plans, and policies mechanisms for involving stakeholders
• examples of implementing environmental policies for poverty alleviation
• national assessments of the vulnerability of biodiversity to the impacts of climate change
• national or local climate change adaptation or mitigation plans which integrate biodiversity conservation and sustainable use

5. Participants are also encouraged to develop a poster on their NBSAP and the linkage to the 2010 Biodiversity Target. These posters will offer a further opportunity to share national experiences at the workshop on implementing the Convention through NBSAPs. An online poster generation tool has been developed by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) that enables users to easily create posters from their own computer. Guidelines for developing posters using the online tool are available here. Posters presented at the second meeting of the Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention (July 2007) and the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (May 2008) can be viewed here.