Providing international financial resources for global biodiversity conservation

There is increasing evidence that there is a real need to introduce stronger global coordination and governance structures to protect the global commons, and finance global environmental action.

Increased resources, technical assistance and other resources are needed to support groups and countries which are not in a position to do so, to make the necessary investment in the conservation of biodiversity. Policy, institutional, community and individual reforms at national and local levels are needed to improve the conditions under which increased resources can be effective and thereby raise public awareness of biodiversity issues.

Developing countries and economies in transition offer a wide spectrum of habitats and ecosystems, of which forests, grasslands and marine/coastal ecosystems are generally the most significant. Various kinds of human activities in developing countries are harming biodiversity in terms of habitat loss and degradation. The underlying causes are numerous, and centrally poverty. Many developing countries suffer from vulnerability to natural disasters and the resultant habitat destruction.

In all developed and some developing countries, 20 to 45 per cent of GDP is transferred to the central government as taxes and other revenue, representing a significant effort to meet the collective needs of society for security and welfare. In comparison, global contributions to the United Nations and other international organizations are minimal, even though the need for global political, social and environmental security is growing. As a greater proportion of wealth creation by the private sector is globalized and escapes national taxation, the base of economic activity supporting national environmental and social action, as a proportion of total activity, will shrink. The lack of international sources of funds for environmental protection is one reason why global environmental stewardship is falling so far behind development.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognises in Article 20 the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities of the Convention parties and the role of development co-operation. In this context development aid co-operation is an important instrument to support third countries in their efforts to achieve conservation and sustainable development of biodiversity. In particular, capacity building schemes are important to enable third countries to develop expertise for the development and use of technologies, including indigenous and traditional technologies, for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. It will be equally important to explore ways to repatriate taxonomic information housed in collections abroad.

The Initiative for Social Action and Renewal's (ISAR) Cooperative Agreement with USAID supports the growth of the NGO movement in the Newly Independent States (NIS) and facilitates joint environmental activities between environmentalists there and in the U.S. ISAR has been working directly with NIS environmentalists since 1991. Since 1993, ISAR's program has included seed grants and technical assistance to indigenous NGOs, as well as partnership grants to support joint US-NIS NGO activities. The principal objectives of ISAR's program are to promote environmental protection, increase public awareness and discussion of environmental issues and promote citizen participation and democratic values in the region. Understanding that environmental protection cannot take place in isolation from economic development, the program supports initiatives that promote alternative energy approaches, sound natural resource management, and other issues that demonstrate the importance of sustainable economic development.