XII/3. Implications of the findings of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment on the work under the Convention
1. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice recommends that the Conference of the Parties:
(a) Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to promote and support, through various mechanisms, integrated national, regional and subglobal ecosystem assessments including, where appropriate, response scenarios that build on the framework and experiences of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment;
(b) Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations, stakeholders and indigenous and local communities to consider, when designing integrated local, national or subglobal assessments, as appropriate, to take into account:
(i) The engagement of stakeholders, including local and national decision makers, and indigenous and local communities in the assessment;
(ii) The conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and its principles, including the services provided by ecosystems, as a contribution to the Millennium Development Goals;
(iii) The relevance of including documented case studies contributed by indigenous and local communities, including those highlighting economic values as well as traditional non-market benefits of sustainable ecosystem management;
(iv) The particular value of assessments such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment for capacity development among participants and stakeholders;
(v) The usefulness of providing, whenever possible, free and open access to all past, present and future research results, assessments, maps and databases on biodiversity, in accordance with national and international legislation;
(vi) The relevance of supporting further elaboration of coherent standardized formats for the collection and integration of biodiversity data and information for future assessments and analyses.
(c) Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to:
(i) Take note of the need for further improvement of the availability and interoperability of biodiversity data and information; and
(ii) Support, contribute and promote synergy to the ongoing efforts to digitize data in a standardized format, make data and analytical tools widely available, and further develop analytical tools to use this data for policy and management purposes;
(d) Takes into account the framework, and experiences of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in preparing
(i) In-depth reviews of programmes of work under the Convention in accordance with the guidelines for review of programmes of work under the Convention contained in annex III to decision VIII/15, including an analysis of the extent to which these programmes of work address ecosystem services;
(ii) A revision of the Strategic Plan beyond 2010;
(e) Invites Parties and other Governments to make full use of the framework, experiences and findings of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment when they review, revise and implement their national biodiversity strategy and action plans, relevant development plans, and development cooperation strategies, as appropriate.
2. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice requests the Executive Secretary for consideration by the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to:
(a) Collect from Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations information required to undertake a detailed assessment of the use and impact of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment from the point of view of stakeholders, including national decision makers;
(b) Contribute to the preparation of a coherent international multi-agency strategy for follow-up to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, including by:
(i) Identifying ways to support national and subglobal assessment based on the conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, in particular by inviting the United Nations Environment Programme to convene a global workshop for practitioners on the preparation of national, regional and other subglobal biodiversity assessments;
(ii) Considering ways in which the financial mechanism of the Convention could assist in strengthening capacities and supporting implementation of national and subglobal biodiversity assessments;
(iii) Taking into consideration the three objectives of the Convention;
(iv) Developing and/or strengthening capacity to provide coherent, timely and relevant scientific advice on biodiversity and ecosystem services and their relationship to human well-being;
(v) Considering the need for, and timing of, another global assessment, taking into account the experiences from evaluations of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and other processes aimed at improving scientific expertise on biodiversity.
3. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice further requests the Executive Secretary to:
(a) Carry out, through the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention and in collaboration with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Global Biodiversity Indicators Partnership and other relevant partners, an inventory of existing interoperability mechanisms and their respective prospects for facilitating and promoting the exchange of data and information in support of the 2010 target as well as options for wider collaborative implementation of modern information exchange mechanisms through common methods, operational protocols, and formats;
(b) Participate in and promote relevant processes towards coherent and inclusive biodiversity observation systems with regards to data architecture, scales and standards, observatory network planning and strategic planning for implementation, such as the Global Earth Observation System of Systems;
(c) Bring to the attention of Parties and other Governments any guidance on best practice for integrated local, national or subglobal assessments;
(d) Promote and facilitate, through the Joint Liaison Group of the Rio Conventions, the Liaison Group of Biodiversity-related Conventions and other forums, standardized national, regional and subglobal ecosystem assessments as the basis for the harmonization of national reporting formats.
