Guidelines

The purpose of these guidelines is to assist in the identification of services, documents, datasets and events (see Definitions below) appropriate for reference within the UK Clearing-House Mechanism (UK CHM).

Considerations

1. The fundamental consideration relates to the primary purpose of the UK CHM which is to assist other Parties to the CBD and, in particular, those which are developing countries, to implement the Convention in their territory. The services, documents, datasets and events included, therefore, should be those likely to provide another party with this assistance. Entries to the UK CHM may be thought of as mini advertisements for the assistance available to developing-country Parties from UK organisations.

2. The process of the Convention itself (notably the Conference of the Parties, its subsidiary body, and the work of the Secretariat) has identified areas which it considers appropriate to be addressed through the CHM. However, the process has been somewhat ad hoc in its consideration of issues, and its outcomes to date, while informative, do not provide a sound basis for the development of selection criteria for information made available via the CHM.

3. The Convention itself, however, though very broad, and encompassing a wide range of issues, does form a starting point for the development of an initial checklist.

Initial checklist

4. The following initial checklist attached is based on the Convention but is qualified by the consideration referred to in paragraph 1 above and may be used as a starting point for further development. On the checklist, entries could refer to services, documents, datasets or events which are available from the organisations concerned.

Definitions

Service: knowledge, skills or capacity for delivery from one organisation to another, for example a training course, a consultancy, a piece of research.

Document: methodologies, experiences, case studies, reports, books, publications and other information prepared in document format.

Dataset: a collection of data and accompanying documentation relating to a specific theme.

Event: a meeting, seminar, workshop, conference or other forum for exchange of ideas and learning.

CHECKLIST FOR ENTRIES ON UK CHM

General measures for conservation and sustainable use (Article 6)

  • Experience in developing national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
  • Experience in integrating sustainable management into area planning, in particular:
    1. coastal zone management;
    2. river catchment management and the sustainable utilisation of freshwater resources;
    3. sustainable utilisation of forests; and
    4. sustainable agriculture (in particular low input, or extensive, agricultural systems, and multi-purpose agricultural ecosystems).

Identification and monitoring (Article 7)

  • Experience in cost-effective methods of evaluating and monitoring biodiversity in natural and man-made ecosystems (including coastal and marine, forest, inland water and agricultural ecosystems).
  • Information on, or experience in, important impacts on natural and man-made ecosystems relevant to non-UK countries.
  • Information on, or experience in, techniques and management approaches for reducing or eliminating important impacts while permitting the sustainable utilisation of natural/biodiversity resources.
  • Information on, or experience in, taxonomy, particularly of species indicative of high biodiversity.

In-situ conservation (Article 8)

  • Experience in selecting, establishing and managing protected areas for biodiversity of relevance to non-UK countries (including protected areas for marine ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems and forest ecosystems), and of protecting agricultural ecosystems while allowing agricultural use.
  • Experience in maintaining natural and man-made ecosystems outside protected areas, to sustain their biodiversity while enabling the sustainable utilisation of natural resources.
  • Experience in restoring degraded ecosystems.
  • Experience in successful legal, administrative or other mechanisms for preventing and controlling the release and spread of non-native organisms or genetically modified organisms.

Ex-situ conservation (Article 9)

  • Experience in establishing and maintaining the ex-situ conservation of genetic resources including plants, animals and micro-organisms.
  • Experience in identifying or creating suitable conditions for the release into natural habitats of genetic resources held in in-situ collections.

Sustainable use of components of biological diversity (Article 10)

  • Experience in successful mechanisms for the sustainable utilisation of wildlife populations.

Incentive measures (Article 11)

  • Experience in incentive measures which have proved successful for the sustainable utilisation of biodiversity resources.

Research and training (Article 12)

  • Experience in provision of research opportunities or delivery of training courses relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Public education and awareness (Article 13)

  • Experience in measures and approaches which have been successful in raising public awareness of, and local involvement in, the sustainable utilisation of natural and man-made ecosystems and the use of biodiversity resources, especially that of relevance to non-UK countries.

Impact assessment and minimising adverse impacts (Article 14)

  • Experience with successful mechanisms for impact assessment and risk control in relation to human utilisation of natural and semi-natural ecosystems.

Access to genetic resources (Article 15)

  • Significant UK collections and repositories of genetic resources of plants, animals and micro-organisms, including information on the terms and conditions of access to these, and to information about these resources, in particular with respect to countries of origin.

Access to and transfer of technology (Article 16)

  • Experience in successful transfer of technologies of potential value to non-UK countries and particularly to developing countries, relevant to any of the foregoing.

Exchange of information (Article 17)

  • Experience in facilitating access to information on the conservation or sustainable use of biodiversity, including mechanisms for data sharing.

Technical and scientific cooperation (Article 18)

  • Experience in facilitating technical and scientific cooperation between the UK and other countries, notably developing countries, relevant to the conservation or sustainable use of biodiversity.

Handling of biotechnology and distribution of its benefits (Article 19)

  • Experience in effective legislative, administrative or policy measures for the safe handling of biotechnology.

Financial resources (Article 20)

  • Availability of grants and other mechanisms of financial provision and support, available from UK organisations, for helping parties to implement the Convention.