19 January 2012: Held from 17-19 January 2012, in Montpellier, France, the “Mediterranean Regional Workshop for Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans: Coordinating Local and National Action in the Mediterranean Basin” was co-organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the City of Montpellier, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and the Japan Fund for Biodiversity.

Government and local authority representatives from 18 countries of the Mediterranean region focused on reviewing their national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) and fostering cooperation at the regional level in line with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. They also discussed local biodiversity strategies and action plans and defined the elements and plan for a Mediterranean network of cities engaged in biodiversity management, and identified challenges facing biodiversity and its management in the Mediterranean region; and addressed the identification of national and regional targets.

Monique Barbut, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which supported the workshop, highlighted the need to “change our understanding of the relationship between cities and the natural environment,” saying the Mediterranean region requires a green economy perspective and models that consider tourism, fisheries and agriculture, as well as biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The workshop outcomes will be presented at a meeting on urban policy and biodiversity, to be convened from 24-25 January 2012 by the City of Paris in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat. They will also be submitted to the Second Summit on Cities and Biodiversity, to be held from 15-16 October 2012, in Hyderabad, India. [CBD Communiqué] [Meeting Documents] [GEF Press Release]