IUCN agrees first global policy on synthetic biology

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Practical Guide to Responsible Sourcing of Goods and Services outlines standard procurement steps to appropriate RBA tools and resources, to help give buyers confidence the products that they procure from RBA members are made in socially and environmentally responsible ways.

Connectivity conservation is essential for managing healthy ecosystems, conserving biodiversity and adapting to climate change across all biomes and spatial scales. Well-connected ecosystems support a diversity of ecological functions such as migration, hydrology, nutrient cycling, pollination, seed dispersal, food security, climate resilience and disease resistance. These Guidelines are based on the best available science and practice for maintaining, enhancing and restoring ecological connectivity among and between protected areas, other effective areas based conservation measures (OECMs) and other intact ecosystems. For the first time, this publication introduces a common definition and recommends formal recognition of ecological corridors to serve as critical building blocks of ecological networks in conjunction with protected areas and OECMs. Furthermore, these Guidelines also include 25 case studies that demonstrate current approaches to conserving ecological connectivity and ecological networks for different ecosystems and species, and at different spatial and temporal scales.

Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is a fundraising and grant-giving nature conservation charity.

Three types of WFN grant enable grassroots conservationists to scale up their work and make a global impact. Whitley Awards provide £40,000 in project funding over one year as well as profile and training. Follow-on grants enable previous winners to expand effective projects, respond to changing needs, and collaborate with other conservationists, with grants worth up to £100,000 over two years. In 2020 WFN introduced a new strand of Continuation Funding for nature-based solutions that will help secure a sustainable future for wildlife, ecosystems and people. The Whitley Gold Award is worth £100,000.

The RLI monitors trends in extinction risk over time and is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It tracks the conservation status of major species groups, and has been applied so far to birds, mammals, cycads, amphibians, corals. The data can be disaggregated by region, or country.

How to use

For details of the RLI process and to see results: https://www.iucnredlist.org/assessment/red-list-index

BIOFIN was initiated ten years ago at CBD COP 11 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the European Commission in response to the urgent global need to divert more finance from all possible sources towards global and national biodiversity goals. BIOFIN demonstrates how nature-positive economies can work for people and the planet. Now present in 40 countries, BIOFIN is working with governments, civil-society, vulnerable communities, and the private sector to catalyse investments in nature protect and promote biodiversity. The BIOFIN Report: How Can Biodiversity Finance Plans Support NBSAPs? assists countries to develop, update, and implement national Biodiversity Finance Plans (BFPs) in support of their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

BIOFIN does not provide funds directly. However, BIOFIN has partnered with several other organisations to set up the Finance Resources for Biodiversity (FIRE) platform to collate funding sources for all types of biodiversity projects, including for species. Over 300 funding opportunities for biodiversity conservation, both public and private, are listed. FIRE functions as a one-stop-shop, where a project leader can find a multitude of different opportunities matching specific criteria (country, range of funding, type of entity, etc.). Sources can be sorted using filters. Within the “ecosystems” filter there is an option to select Wildlife / Endangered Species.

How to use

Information on BIOFIN can be accessed at: https://www.biofin.org/

The BIOFIN brochure can be downloaded at: https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/biofin-brochure-0

The Report: How Can Biodiversity Finance Plans Support NBSAPs? can be downloaded at: https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/how-can-biodiversity-finance-plans-support-nbsaps

The FIRE platform can be accessed at: https://fire.biofin.org/

To obtain information on funding resources for species use the link:  https://fire.biofin.org/?ecosystems=Wildlife++Endangered+Species&name=

KBAs are sites that ‘contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems’. KBAs are identified on the basis of species or ecosystems, according to five criteria and 11 subcriteria, all supported by quantitative thresholds. The KBA Global Standard details the criteria and subcriteria. KBA sites must meet one of the criteria and be clearly delineated. Proposed sites are independently reviewed and once accepted are included in the World Database of KBAs.

KBAs are normally identified by a KBA National Coordination Group (NCG). However, anyone with appropriate data may propose a site as a KBA, but they are they are encouraged to work with the NCG if one exists and consultation with relevant stakeholders at the local and national level is required and needs to be documented in the proposal. Where a KBA NCG has not yet been established, proposers submit a site proposal directly.

The Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership is composed of 13 leading international organizations including IUCN. It maintains a KBA Committee, Secretariat, a Technical Working Group, a KBA Consultative Forum, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. An independent KBA Standards and Appeals Committee has been established under the authority of the elected SSC and WCPA Chairs.

How to use

• To download the KBA Standard, criteria, and guidelines, and for further information: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/home
• To explore maps and site details on the World Database of KBAS: https://wdkba.keybiodiversityareas.org
• For guidance on the role of KBA National Coordination Groups and how to establish them: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/working-with-kbas/programme/national-coordination-groups

The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund The Fund was established in 2008 with an initial endowment of €25,000,000 to: Provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives; Recognize leaders in the field of species conservation; and Elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate. The Fund provides small grants to boots-on-the-ground, in-the-field species conservation projects for the world’s most threatened species.

The Fund is open to applications for funding support from all parts of the world for direct conservation projects focused on threatened plant, animal, and fungus species. Grants are awarded according to criteria set by the Species Fund, and are for a maximum of $25,000.

The OECD Environmental Policy Committee, through its unique database of Policy Instruments for the Environment (PINE), collects quantitative and qualitative information on policy instruments from more than 120 countries worldwide. This brochure presents statistics on the biodiversity-relevant economic instruments and the finance they mobilise, based on
currently available data. The brochure also includes information on payments for ecosystem services (PES) and on biodiversity offsets, two other types of economic instruments that provide incentives for biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use.

The RLI monitors trends in extinction risk over time and is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It tracks the conservation status of major species groups, and has been applied so far to birds, mammals, cycads, amphibians, corals. The data can be disaggregated by region, or country.

How to use

For details of the RLI process and to see results: https://www.iucnredlist.org/assessment/red-list-index

CLP is an international capacity building programme that supports young conservationists in to undertake applied biodiversity projects. Each year, CLP calls for project applications in low- and middle-income countries and some high-income islands in the Caribbean and Pacific. Funding is awarded to teams of early-career conservationists to conduct scientific research, promote pro-conservation attitudes, and deliver tangible results to conserve and manage biodiversity.

There are three grant levels. Starting with a Future Conservationist Award, teams are supported to undertake small-scale research and awareness-raising projects. Then through Follow-up and Leadership awards, teams can implement larger projects over a longer period of time and implement deliver practical solutions while learning more complex decision-making, communication, and leadership skills. As part of the award, winning teams can access expertise from within the partner organisations and via our global Alumni Network, which includes past award-winners.

Programme staff members are also available to advise on project implementation, including guidance required during the planning and team training stages. Each year CLP runs a two-week Conservation Management & Leadership Course for recent award winners. CLP is a partnership of three leading biodiversity conservation organisations, BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International, and Wildlife Conservation Society.

The decline of many species towards extinction has largely focused conservation efforts on ensuring that species remain extant. However, conservationists have long recognised the need to complement this by aiming to recover depleted populations throughout a species’ range and to restore species to ecosystems from which they have been extirpated. The main objectives of the IUCN Green Status of Species are: to provide a standardised framework for measuring species recovery; to recognise conservation achievements; to highlight species whose current conservation status is dependent on continued conservation actions; to forecast the expected conservation impact of planned conservation action; and to elevate levels of ambition for long-term species recovery. These objectives together encourage conservation towards species recovery, throughout a species’ range.

The IFC Performance Standards (PS) provide standardised guidance on identifying risks and impacts of major infrastructure and development projects. The standards are designed to help avoid, mitigate, and manage the risks and impacts of such projects in a sustainable way, including stakeholder engagement and disclosure obligations. Application of the IFC Performance Standards is required by many multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, for projects they are financing.

PS 6  covers Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources, PS 1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts, and PS 7 Indigenous Peoples.

The IFC Performance Standards are available in several languages.