In less than a month, about 10,000 participants, including representatives from country parties, observer countries, international organizations and other interested parties will meet in Cancun for the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 13). Participants will negotiate agreements and commitments to catalyze the … [Read more...] about Making Biodiversity Mainstream: Countdown to the COP 13
Ecosystems and Biodiversity
How Transportation Affects Nature and Vice Versa
We often ask ourselves, what do ecosystem services have to do with transportation? At the IDB, when we hear that the Environment, Rural Development, Disaster Risk Management Division (RND) has a program to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services into productive sector and infrastructure (BIO Program), we might well ask: “Is this another futile initiative?” That’s why I … [Read more...] about How Transportation Affects Nature and Vice Versa
Water Is Life: How To Preserve This Valuable Resource
The Argentinean province of San Juan is a land of deserts and mountains, surrounded by the high peaks of the Andes, the birthplace of the rivers that crisscross the region. This arid province, where rainfall is scarce--hardly reaching an annual average of 3.9 inches (or 100 millimeters)--depends upon snowmelt from the Andes for its water supply; this, in turn, depends upon … [Read more...] about Water Is Life: How To Preserve This Valuable Resource
Agroforestry & Sustainable Land Management in Haiti
Land conversion of forests to agriculture and pastureland is a major threat to biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deforestation and slash-and-burn practices also strip the soil of its nutrients and of its capability to retain water. This results in soil erosion and watershed degradation, which in turn ultimately puts agricultural productivity and ecological … [Read more...] about Agroforestry & Sustainable Land Management in Haiti
Throwing corals a lifeline
Recently I was in Jamaica attending the Coral Lifeline workshop organized by the Centre of Marine Sciences from the University of the West Indies – I learned a lot including that coral reefs are critical!: These tropical rain forests of the marine world support 25% of fish species but cover only 0.2% of the world surface. Reef fish are economically important and sustain … [Read more...] about Throwing corals a lifeline