A Tunisian delegation will travel to Marseille, France, September 3 to 11, to take part in the World Conservation Congress to be organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The event takes place ahead of the 15th round of international negotiations on biodiversity “COP 15,” which will initially take place online in October 2021 and later in China in 2022.
The Tunisian delegation consists of representatives of the Environment and Agriculture Ministries, the World Wildlife Fund North Africa-Tunisia Office, and representatives of national NGOs. It participates in this Congress alongside 36 African delegations.
For Tunisia, it is an opportunity to discuss, with the representatives of 16 member countries of the “BIODEV30” initiative, a pilot project financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), coordinated by Expertise France and implemented by the World Wide Fund (WWF), during two years (2020-2022).
The delegation will present the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2018-2030, which develops 5 national priorities divided into 15 strategic objectives, 40 target objectives and 48 actions to be implemented by 2030.
These objectives include reducing the loss of biodiversity components at the level of ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, and sustainable use of biodiversity.
They also include reducing the main pressures on biodiversity from human pressures, invasive alien species, climate change, pollution, conserving ecosystems and their biodiversity, innovation, and sharing fairly and equitably the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
A new road map for biodiversity
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the extent to which human health and well-being depend on a healthy relationship with nature.
Participants will work together to come up with a new road map that could help governments take urgent action to halt the accelerating decline of global biodiversity.
It will be possible to attend the event in-person in Marseille or to follow it remotely.
IUCN’s 1400+ government, civil society and indigenous peoples’ Member organizations vote on major issues and action that guide humanity’s relationship with the planet for the decades ahead.
IUCN’s inclusive membership gives the Congress a powerful mandate as it is not solely government or non-government, but both.
Over 1,000 participants are expected and more than 160 countries will be represented at the Congress, where Scientists, policy experts, business leaders and professionals from around the globe share their experience, innovation and latest research.
A Forum is planned for the event with more than 600 sessions, addressing economic, social, scientific and technical issues ranging from wildlife to oceans, from protected areas to sustainable business and from climate change to human rights.
IUCN members made more than 120 decisions on major conservation issues, building on the momentum, knowledge and commitments generated at the event, which helped deliver the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted shortly before the Congress.
Tunisia is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992), which provides a framework for efforts to reduce the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
In 2010, the Parties to the Convention adopted the “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020” and developed the Aichi Biodiversity Targets to catalyze action to preserve our ecosystems.
