Meio Ambiente

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity / United Nations Environment Programme

The new look and feel of the website of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will be launched on 22 May 2010 to mark the annual celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity.

This new design is an important milestone in the ongoing process of maintaining a high-quality CBD website in the rapidly-changing world of Internet communications.

In announcing the changes, CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf said, "This initiative aligns the website of the CBD with the most modern trends in web design and offers a clean, user-friendly and accessible layout for the rich content on our site. The design gives us flexibility in announcing key initiatives, events and other information." He added, "With the increasing contributions and commitments of our partners, we are delighted to have a platform that allows us to improve the dissemination of information from the dynamic community of biodiversity stakeholders."

The improvements of the website have been made possible thanks to support from the Government of Japan. This support already enabled the creation of a website dedicated to the International Year of Biodiversity (www.cbd.int/2010), as well as a presence on the Facebook social network (www.facebook.com/iyb2010) with more than 30,000 fans.

Further enhancements are planned as resources become available. Priority areas include online services for knowledge-sharing and collaboration in the context of communication, education and public awareness, and in accordance with decision IX/30 on the clearing-house mechanism.

Making the CBD website available in all six United Nations languages is also a priority, yet quite a challenging goal. To cope with this issue, the CBD Secretariat is gradually integrating modern translation systems into its web infrastructure, in order to optimize the impact of donor contributions, particularly from the Governments of Spain and Japan, and from the "Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie".

Last year more than 1.2 million visitors accessed the CBD website and more are expected to do so in 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity. This website will also be a key communication tool during major upcoming meetings, such as the High Level Event of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 22 September 2010 with the participation of Heads of States and Governments, as well as the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit to be held in Japan in October 2010 (www.cdb.int/cop10).

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and entering into force in December 1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources. With 193 Parties, the Convention has near universal participation among countries. The Convention seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders including indigenous and local communities, youth, NGOs, women and the business community. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, a supplementary treaty to the Convention, seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. To date, 156 countries and the European Community are party to the Protocol. The Secretariat of the Convention and its Cartagena Protocol is located in Montreal.

The Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) of the Convention on Biological Diversity

The Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) is the information exchange platform of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Created in accordance with Article 18(3), it has evolved into a global network of websites with the CBD website as its central node. This website and its CHM online services have been playing an increasing role in sharing information among the biodiversity community and in raising public awareness on biodiversity issues.

For more information visit: www.cbd.int/chm