Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requests that each contracting Party report on measures that it has taken to implement the provisions of the convention and their effectiveness in meeting the convention's objectives:
  • the conservation of biological diversity;
  • the sustainable use of its components, and
  • the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources.
 The Conference of the Parties (COP) of CBD establishes the format and interval of reports and their scientific and technical contents.

National reports are prepared by Parties through a consultative process involving relevant stakeholders, and/or by drawing upon information developed through other consultative processes. Parties are also invited to prepare and submit voluntary, thematic reports on one or more specific items for in-depth consideration at the COP ordinary meetings. The topics of the reports concern the implementation of the articles of the Convention and related COP decisions addressed to the Parties.

The first national report (1997) focused on implementation of general measures for conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The second national report (submitted in 2001 for discussion at COP 6 in April 2002) provided assessments on CBD's thematic programmes and cross-cutting issues, and it includes information on forest biological diversity. The third national report shall be submitted by Parties by 2005 for discussion at COP 8 in 2006.

An analysis of the results of the Second National Report is available online.
The Thematic National Reports Analyzer for a variety of cross-cutting issues, including the biological diversity of forest ecosystems is also available.

Go to: CBD home page

Forest-related reporting under CBD

While several of the articles of the CBD have relation to forest biological diversity, those with the most direct relevance to sustainable forest use and conservation are:

in-situ conservation (8);
traditional knowledge (8j);
ex-situ conservation (9); and
sustainable use of biological diversity (10).

Although forest-related information has been collected in previous national reports, an assessment of the implementation of the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity, adopted by COP 6 in 2002 (Decision VI/22) will be reported through the third national report which Parties were requested to submit by year 2005, and also through a comprehensive thematic report which Parties were invited to submit for COP 7 in 2004. In particular, the thematic report will ask questions about which of the priority actions identified in the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity were a success in their implementation, as well as those that faced both challenges and impediments to its implementation.
Although both report types will differ in length and level of detail, they include questions on each of the three programme elements:

  • Conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing;
  • Institutional and socio-economic enabling environment;
  • Monitoring and assessment.

The voluntary reports on the implementation of CBD programme of work on forest biological diversity were submited between 2003 and 2004 to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity on a voluntary basis, pursuant to a request made in paragraph 27 of decision VI/22 on forest biological diversity in which the Conference of the Parties (COP) agreed to call a voluntary thematic national report in relation to the implementation of the forest work programme (adopted in 2002) to elicit information on:

  1. Priority actions that Parties have identified under the programme of work;
  2. Successes in implementing the programme of work; and
  3. Challenges and impediments to implementing these priority actions and, as appropriate, the programme of work.

Links

Elements, goals, objectives, and activities of the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity adopted at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties

Guidelines for thematic reports

Guidelines for national reporting (third national report)

National reports

Articles of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Review article on forest-related reporting under the Convention on Biological Diversity

CBD National Reporting page


Last updated: August 2007