Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

[ ] 19 Protection of the environment is an article of faith for us. The hosting of COP–11 in Hyderabad in October 2012 was a reinforcement of India’s commitment for conserving our rich biodiversity for ourselves and for our future generations. Because one must care about a world one will not see. With a strong institutional, legal and policy framework on biodiversity, India has made sustained efforts for conserving its biodiversity heritage, recognizing its critical linkage with the livelihood security of millions of people. It was an honour to host the prestigious global event on biodiversity, which provided an opportunity for India to consolidate, scale-up and showcase her strengths on biodiversity and stimulate countrywide awareness. Positioning of the Science Express Biodiversity Special (SEBS), an innovative mobile exhibition mounted on a specially designed train travelling across India, as the Brand Ambassador of COP-11 was one of the highlights. Following its resounding success in creating large-scale awareness, SEBS was continued during India’s Presidency, showcasing the wide array of biodiversity in India and the conservation measures adopted thereof. With over six million visitors, Science Express became the largest, longest-running and most-visited mobile science exhibition in India. COP-11 was held at a time when the entire world was reeling under a severe economic downturn, and with a critical, unfinished agenda to be addressed, inherited from the previous COP relating to resource mobilization for biodiversity. As the COP President, India facilitated consensus building through strategic thinking, painstaking efforts and the spearheading of diplomatic parleys, which led to the adoption of the most important decision of COP–11, that of doubling the total biodiversity-related international financial resource flows to developing countries by 2015 and at least maintaining that level until 2020. Considering how crucial investment is for biodiversity, setting targets on biodiversity resource mobilization was a landmark achievement, more so in the face of financial downturn, testifying to India’s ingenuity and capacity to build bridges and its far-sighted strategic planning. Some other issues on which significant progress was made during COP–11 that triggered momentum in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 include: launching of new activities on ecosystem restoration backed by the Hyderabad Call for Concerted Action; progress in describing ecologically and biologically significant marine areas contributing to debates in the UN General Assembly on this issue; and mapping out more clearly how biodiversity contributes to poverty eradication and sustainable development.