6 June 2011: The World Heritage Centre of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Panasonic Corporation have announced a strategic partnership agreement to promote sustainable development through World Heritage conservation and environmental education for the next generation.
3 June 2011: The Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Three Rainforest Basins, namely the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong basins, took place in Brazzaville, Congo, from 27 May-3 June 2011, to establish new ways to increase technical cooperation on forest matters, and adopted a joint statement on tropical forests, climate and sustainable development.
This conference is held on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme. It is organized by UNESCO-MAB, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the German Commission for UNESCO. The conference will bring together high-level political and scientific representatives, both from climate and nature conservation politics, from administration, science and practice from all over the world, including several ministers. The conference will demonstrate how more than 560 UNESCO biosphere reserves in over 100 countries, beyond conserving biodiversity, can contribute to effective climate change mitigation and adaptation. UNESCO biosphere reserves as model regions for sustainable development make available extensive experiences, for example on sustainable land use, green economies, conservation of ecosystem-services, as well as research and education.
24 May 2011: A new report, titled "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management in the Iraqi Marshlands: Screening Study for Potential World Heritage Nomination," examines data and information on the marshlands of Iraq.
19 May 2011: The Executive Board of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has confirmed its call for UNESCO to develop a coherent Biodiversity Initiative encompassing all areas of competence and work of UNESCO – natural and social sciences, education, culture and communication. The Initiative will focus on the underlying drivers of biodiversity erosion and loss, and will encompass actions aimed at providing assistance to UNESCO member States underpinning the implementation of the UN system-wide Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.
The agenda for this session includes a presentation of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Draft Priorities and Implementation Strategies for 2012-2013 related to: prevention and reduction of the impacts of natural hazards; mitigation of and adaptation to climate change and variability; safeguarding the health of ocean ecosystems; World Heritage Sites; and management procedures and policies leading to the sustainability of coastal and ocean environment and resources. Participants will also discuss national programmes and priorities in Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa and Tanzania.
23 May 2011: The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) was celebrated around the world on 22 May 2011 under the theme of forest biodiversity, as a contribution to 2011 – International Year of Forests.
9 May 2011: In her opening statement to the 186th session of the Executive Board of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, outlined UNESCO's preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), its efforts to raise the profile of biodiversity conservation, and its support to efforts to address climate change.
11 May 2011: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a book, titled "Women's Knowledge: Traditional Medicine and Nature - The Islands of Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues," at the International Workshop on Bioprocessing, Policy and Practice: Conservation and Use of Medicinal Plants of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Indian Ocean and Madagascar, which took place from 20-22 April 2011, in Ebène, Mauritius.
This Committee identifies, on the basis of nominations submitted by States parties, cultural and natural properties of outstanding universal value that are to be protected under the Convention and to list those properties on the World Heritage List. Six of these countries stand to have properties inscribed on the World Heritage List for the first time during the forthcoming session: Barbados, Jamaica, Micronesia, Palau, Congo and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Natural properties scheduled for consideration at the time of publication are: Ningaloo Coast (Australia); Pendjari National Park (Benin, an extension of W National Park of Niger); Wudalianchi National Park (China); Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (Germany, an extension of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, Slovakia and Ukraine); Western Ghats (India); Harra Protected Area (Iran); Ogasawara Islands (Japan); Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley; (Kenya); Trinational Sangha (Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic); and the nomination under new criteria of the World Heritage property of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (Viet Nam). Three properties are proposed for both natural and cultural criteria as “mixed natural and cultural” sites. They are: Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica); Wadi Rum (Jordan); and Saloum Delta (Senegal).
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
|
| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
