Memorandum signed at COP10 in Nagoya
A new agreement between iBOL and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat commits the two organizations to identify and exploit opportunities for collaboration in areas of mutual interest.
At a ceremony held during the 10th Conference of Parties to the CBD in Nagoya (CBD COP10), iBOL Board Chair Christian Burks (at right in the picture) and CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf (left) signed a Memorandum of Understanding that establishes a formal framework of cooperation designed to further common goals.
These include promoting and facilitating capacity building in species identification and discovery, scientific cooperation and technology development to provide the relevant processes of the CBD with biodiversity information and supporting the CBD processes with respect to biodiversity targets, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, monitoring, indicators and assessments, and invasive alien species.
“The International Barcode of Life Project will make important contributions to the overarching goal of the Convention on Biological Diversity – to stop and reverse the loss of biodiversity,” said Dr. Djoghlaf. “iBOL is a unique project with tremendous potential to help countries as they develop and implement their national biodiversity strategies.”
The signing ceremony was held during a packed iBOL Side Event at the COP entitled “Making every species count: DNA barcoding and the CBD”.