The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme announced a partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Through the partnership, SPREP will serve as the host of the Regional Observatory for Protected Areas and Biodiversity in the Pacific Islands region.
10 September 2014: The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme has announced a partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). Through the partnership, SPREP will serve as the host of the Regional Observatory for Protected Areas and Biodiversity in the Pacific Islands region.
The BIOPAMA progamme, which is funded by the European Union (EU), aims to improve biodiversity conservation by promoting the use of the best available science and knowledge to manage marine and terrestrial biodiversity and address threats to biodiversity in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The programme also works to build conservation capacity, particularly on decision-making and policy.
The Regional Observatory for Protected Areas and Biodiversity will serve as a regional hub to support more effective biodiversity conservation and protected areas management in the Pacific. It will also support decision-making, facilitate networking and coordinate policy and technical support to regional organization and national agencies.
SPREP is already implementing activities related to the BIOPAMA aims, through its Pacific Environmental Information Network, monitoring and reporting on Multilateral Environmental Agreements and the development of the Pacific Islands Protected Areas Portal. In addition, SPREP is one of the key partners in the Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands Region 2014-2020, which was launched at the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
David Sheppard, SPREP Director General, said this partnership will assist SPREP with its ongoing work while also generating additional funding and technical resources to address biodiversity conservation and protected area management. He explained,”SPREP’s strategic plan incorporates within all four of its strategic priorities the need to strengthen knowledge management, monitoring and reporting on key environmental and performance indicators.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) implement BIOPAMA’s protected areas component. [SPREP Press Release] [BIOPAMA Press Release]