Countdown 2010 Partners Assembly
11 June 2007, Brussels, Belgium. Where do we stand today with the 2010 biodiversity target? Where do we want to be in 2010? And how do we get there? Eighty partners of Countdown 2010 today proposed strategies and actions to move towards the 2010 biodiversity target and called upon governments to report on their achievements so far.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, summarized the challenge as follows: “We still have a lot of work to significantly reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels and the time is ticking. But the target can be achieved through local actions and global programmes. Most important is the engagement of all in the spirit of collaboration, including governments, local authorities, local and indigenous communities, scientific institutions, NGOs, the private sector, women, and youth. We owe future generations a healthy environment. There is no time for delay.”
Signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Convention and Countdown 2010, Tamas Marghescu, IUCN Regional Director for Europe, added: “Everyone has a responsibility to save biodiversity, from the very local to the global level. With this agreement we’re building a strong alliance for the 2010 biodiversity target.”
Ladislav Miko, Director at the European Commission, called upon all participants to contribute to the challenge of halting biodiversity loss: “We seem to be very good at producing ideas – now let’s get even better in making them a reality.”
The annual Countdown 2010 Partners Assembly also appointed a new Advisory Board to provide strategic guidance for the initiative. The fifteen advisors work for all sectors, from local biodiversity initiatives via national governments to international organisations.
The meeting was held in the Royal Belgian Museum of Natural Sciences, which joined Countdown 2010 with a strong commitment to upscale its communications on biodiversity conservation and further strengthening its role as a national focal point for the biodiversity convention.
