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!