More photos from CEPF book launch

Japan's Minister of the Environment Ryu Matsumoto and France's Secretary of State for Ecology Chantal Jouanno speaking at the CEPF 10th anniversary book launch.

Harrison Ford, government leaders join CEPF anniversary book launch

Dozens of conservationists as well as government, business and NGO organizations made an unmitigated show of support for biological diversity—and, perhaps, a well-known actor—by attending the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund’s 10^th anniversary book launch Tuesday night in Nagoya.

The reception debuting CEPF’s book, “Investing in Life,” drew more than 100 attendees, thanks in large part to a speaker lineup that included Minister of the Environment for Japan Ryu Matsumoto; France’s Secretary of State for Ecology Chantal Jouanno; and for closing remarks, actor Harrison Ford. The event also drew a number of journalists, with a steady beat of camera shutters keeping time throughout the evening.

The fund was established in 2000 to provide grants for nongovernmental and private sector organizations to help protect biodiversity hotspots, Earth’s most biologically rich yet threatened areas.

Kicking off the event was Conservation International (CI) Chairman and CEO Peter Seligmann. CI is one the founding donor partners for CEPF, and the fund was in fact the idea of Mr. Seligmann.

“We are obviously dealing with a global biodiversity crisis and it can be overwhelming when you think about the scale of the challenges that we all face. So every once in a while it’s good to step back and think about what has actually been achieved and accomplished, and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is worth celebrating,” Mr. Seligmann said.

As one of the six donor partners behind CEPF, the Government of Japan has been a long-time supporter of biodiversity conservation. Minister Matsumoto, in his remarks at the reception, reconfirmed that commitment and encouraged other nations to join the partnership.

“The CEPF is a unique partnership where international NGOs, governments and multinational institutions meet. It has also demonstrated over the past decade that biodiversity conservation is compatible with the well-being of mankind and sustainable development,” the minister said.

Minister Matsumoto noted Japan’s status as a biodiversity hotspot, and said the loss of biodiversity is a serious concern for the Japanese people. “Japan is proud to be the first nation to become partner to the CEPF from its inception,” he said, “and hopes to set an example for other nations considering the CEPF.”

Immediately following Minister Matsumoto at the podium was Harrison Ford, who is vice chair of the board of directors for Conservation International. A longtime advocate for environmental conservation, Mr. Ford spoke about the importance of immediate action to protect our natural resources.

“I see opportunities to preserve the natural world slipping away, and I want to be involved in correcting the balance between the pressure of human population and the potential benefits to humanity of a healthy biodiversity. We are the problem; we are the solution,” he said. “Nature doesn’t need people; people need nature. So we’ve got to protect this most important resource. We’ve got to recognize our opportunity, we’ve got to recognize our responsibility and we have to take action now.”

In addition to the government of Japan and Conservation International, CEPF’s donor partners include l'Agence Française de Développement, the Global Environment Facility, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. Additional speakers representing the donor partners were:

- Vice Minister, Japan’s Ministry of Finance, Rintaro Tamaki

- World Bank Vice President of Sustainable Development Inger Andersen

- Global Environment Facility’s Natural Resources Team Leader Gustavo Fonseca

- MacArthur Foundation Director of Conservation and Sustainable Development (and former CEPF executive director) Jørgen Thomsen

Protected Area Success in Madagascar

Editor's note: Honestly, Emily wrote this post days ago, and it has taken me this long to get it on the blog. Things have been crazy busy. But we'll try to do better. And by "we," I mean Emily. :)

CEPF has been working in Madagascar since its inception in 2000 and has entered a second five-year investment period, the consolidation phase, to fortify objectives and gains that were made in the initial five years of investment.

This consolidation strategy aims to fill the gaps between current and future investments, define the mechanisms by which these investments will be coordinated, and ensure that the local civil society has the capacity to manage the conservation of biodiversity effectively.

One mechanism used to implement the consolidation strategy is continuation of the “node” program being implemented through a grant from CEPF to Conservation International (CI). The node program is essentially a small grants program that provides communities in and around protected areas with the means to implement activities that contribute to improved livelihoods and to biodiversity conservation though mobilizing a large number of community-level actors.

At the CBD side event, “Tripling the Protected Area System of Madagascar: A Success Story,” held by the Ministry of the Environment and Forests of Madagascar held last week, Leon Rajaobelina, regional vice president of Conservation International’s Africa & Madagascar Field Division, presented the work and successes taking place in Madagascar despite the challenges brought by recent political strife.

Mr. Rajaobelina mentioned the Node program being implemented through the CEPF grant to CI as one of the crucial implementing mechanisms in achieving effective management of protected areas, especially in relation to climate change. Madagascar still has a long way to go in effectively managing and establishing protected areas, as pointed out by a few members of the side event audience, but the node program is one of several encouraging and effective steps being taken that engages communities.

Additional photos from the Satoyama Initiative launch

A couple of additional photos from the Satoyama Initiative launch on Tuesday: at top, Yoko Watanabe, program manager and senior biodiversity specialist for the Global Environment Facility, one of CEPF’s donor partners; and a photo of representatives of 50 Satoyama Initiative partner organizations.

Satoyama Initiative: Society in harmony with nature

One important and sometimes overlooked component of biodiversity conservation are environments where humans are using land to support themselves – through activities such as farming or harvesting products from forests, rivers or seas – while maintaining healthy ecosystems that support an abundance of life.

Such areas are the focus of the Satoyama Initiative, officially launched Tuesday at the CBD gathering. Dozens of organizations from around the globe joined the Japanese government in celebrating this partnership dedicated to maintenance and rebuilding of human-influenced natural environments.

The vision of the Satoyama Initiative is to realize societies in harmony with nature – human communities where the maintenance and development of socio-economic activities align with natural processes. Many conservation organizations and initiatives are already supporting projects that nurture this kind of relationship between socio-economic activity and ecosystems, including CEPF and many, many of its partners around the globe. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies jointly launched the initiative to develop an international effort to promote such practices.

The partnership will be conducting activities such as collecting and providing data, case studies and lessons learned; encouraging research on topics such as how to integrate results into policy and decision-making; enhancing the capabilities of people involved in maintaining or rebuilding such production landscapes; and encouraging and expanding networks among those interested in the initiative’s goals and activities.

The launch event included remarks from Shoichi Kondo, senior vice-minister for Japan’s Ministry of Environment (who is scheduled to be a featured speaker at the CEPF presentation on Oct. 25), and Yoko Watanabe, program manager and senior biodiversity specialist for the Global Environment Facility, one of CEPF’s donor partners. The Government of Japan is also one of CEPF’s donor partners.

For more information on the Satoyama Initiative, visit http://satoyama-initiative.org

CEPF and the CBD

From its start 10 years ago, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) has celebrated and invested in the world’s biodiversity. The concurrence of our 10^th anniversary with the International Year of Biodiversity and the 10^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has made this a year especially exciting and full of potential for new opportunities.

One of those opportunities is happening now: CEPF is on the ground in Nagoya, Japan, this week and next for the CBD meeting. Staff and grantee representatives, as well as CEPF donor partners, are here to demonstrate CEPF’s support for the Convention and the targets the parties will set for the next 10 years in the global fight against biodiversity loss. I am one of those staff members fortunate enough to be here at this important moment for conservation and the future of life on this planet, as 192 nations determine what their targets will be for slowing biodiversity loss, and address how those targets will be achieved.

My colleague Emily Rudge and I, part of CEPF’s communications team, arrived here over the weekend to set up and man the CEPF booth at the event’s Interactive Fair for Biodiversity, and also help with a couple of major events for CEPF here: a presentation for Oct. 25 on the fund’s contributions to the 2010 targets for slowing biodiversity loss; and a reception on Oct. 26 to debut our 10^th anniversary book, “Investing in Life: CEPF at 10”.

We’ll be posting to this blog this week and next to share news and some of the flavor of the CBD gathering and CEPF happenings here.

More soon!

Welcome to CEPF's first blog spot in celebration of our 10th anniversary and for the purposes of reporting on the events that will be taking place at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan.