This site uses cookies, as explained in our terms of use. If you consent, please close this message and continue to use this site.
Biodiversity officials and reporters train on use of digital platform ahead of UN global biodiversity summit
2 mins Read
Kathmandu, 18 September – National biodiversity experts and officials from Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Cambodia have gathered in Kathmandu to explore new ways to monitor and report on the state of nature in their countries.
The meeting comes as countries grapple with the additional reporting burden that has accompanied the proliferation in nature-related agreements and targets over the last decades, as the pressure to halt and reverse precipitous declines in nature around the world mounts.
At the event, joint organizers the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), gave key regional stakeholders the opportunity to test new tools and approaches to streamline, improve the accuracy and reduce the burden of reporting.
The new, pro-bono, private and secure national data reporting tool (DaRT), developed by UNEP and funded by the government of Switzerland and the European Union, can organize, store, and share the data needed for all current conventions and targets. The organizers have also sought to increase knowledge of reporting methods, with a focus on cross-ministerial and interdisciplinary cooperation.
Hari Bahadur KC, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Government of Nepal, strongly endorsed the initiative saying: “This will help us organise and share information for the various conventions and in systematic development of institutional knowledge for data generation and reporting.”
Diane Klaimi, UNEP’s DaRT team leader, said: “Our hope is that DaRT will significantly alleviate the burden of reporting many governments face in this critical decade for nature, and ultimately ensure more government resources continue to flow to the crucial national and local policies and strategies to halt and reverse nature loss.”
The National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) aligned with the global biodiversity goals is a key document nations are expected to deliver at next month’s 16th UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of Parties. DaRT can facilitate the integration of other important global biodiversity related multilateral environmental agreements, running from the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Convention on Migratory Species, to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the World Heritage Convention.
W.K. Rathnadeera, Senior Programme Officer of SACEP, said: “SACEP welcomes this innovative tool, which we believe has the potential to significantly reduce the human and financial resources our member countries spend on reporting.”
For media inquiries, please contact:
Neraz Tuladhar (Raz), Media Officer Email: media@icimod.org
Share
Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.
Kathmandu, 15 May 2023: Forest fires across Nepal dramatically rose by 76.5% between January and April 2023 – when compared ...
State of the Cryosphere Report shows that 2°C of warming will lead to catastrophic loss of Earth’s ice sheets, ...
Key findings: Moraine instability: An unstable section of the lateral moraine had been moving at velocity exceeding 15 meters ...
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) ...
South Asia faces the challenge of tackling persistent poverty at a time of rapid and large-scale changes in social, environmental, ...
‘Managing Himalayan forest ecosystems on a transboundary scale is critical for mitigating the impact of climate change for sustaining ecosystem ...
Speaking at the Reconciling Human-Wildlife Interface in the Kangchenjunga Landscape: Regional Dialogue for Action event organized by West Bengal Forest ...
After four days of invigorating discussion on resilience issues in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Nepal’s Ministry of Population and the ...