JOIN USA shot in the arm for the 20-point Aichi Biodiversity targets set to be achieved by the year 2020, the Conference of Parties-11 will make a call here on ecosystem restoration on October 17.
The “Aichi Targets,” coined after Aichi, a prefecture in Japan, were actually adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its Nagoya conference. Certain targets were set so that the 193 CBD members take their goals seriously and draw up sound national biodiversity plans by 2012, the target year for implementation.
The 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2015 or 2020 are the key elements of the new Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which the 10th conference of the parties to CBD (COP 10) agreed in Nagoya.
This new plan will be the overarching framework on biodiversity, not only for biodiversity-related conventions, but also the entire United Nations system. The targets are organised under five strategic goals. Targets and goals comprise the aspirations for achievement at the global level and a flexible framework for the establishment of national or regional targets.
“Two years ago the world set the framework for action, since then we have seen significant progress around the world. This is encouraging but we know that we need to do more in order to realise the ambitions of the strategic plan and the Aichi targets. However, the environmental, social and economic benefits will be realised in the long term. Most of the time simply means spending existing resources in a different way,” said Executive Secretary of CBD, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, here on Saturday.
Sarat Gidda of the CBD secretariat, Montreal, said Aichi target number 11 aims at protecting 17 per cent of the terrestrial and 10 per cent of the ocean ecosystems, adding that only 5.3 per cent of the earth and 1.8 of sea ecosystems are protected in India.