1 February 2013: Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister for Environment and Forests of India and President of the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the CBD, have sent a letter to parties inviting them to become a “Biodiversity Champion” by pledging support for biodiversity at national, regional or global levels for one or more of the Aichi targets.

Launched at CBD COP 11, the Hyderabad Call for Biodiversity Champions aims to highlight parties’ commitment to biodiversity and encourage all stakeholders to commit resources towards biodiversity in the spirit of Decision XI/4 (review of implementation of the strategy for resource mobilization, including the establishment of targets).

India became the first “Biodiversity Champion” during the COP 11 High-level Segment, when its Prime Minister announced the earmarking of US$ 50 million towards strengthening institutional mechanisms, enhancing technical and human capabilities for biodiversity conservation in India, and promoting similar capacity building in other developing countries during India’s COP Presidency. [Letter by CBD Executive Secretary and COP 11 President] [The Hyderabad Call for Biodiversity Champions Website] [CBD COP 11 Decisions]