The third Intergovernmental “Biodiversity in Europe” Conference and the eighth Meeting of the Council of the Pan European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS) took place from 19-21 January 2004, in Madrid, Spain.

The meeting served as Europe’s regional preparatory meeting for the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-7) to be held from 9-20 February 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The meeting focused on priority issues for CBD COP-7 and highlighted the effects of climate change to the current decline of biodiversity. Delegates stressed the need to establish a network of protected areas and identified as a key priority the need to halt biological and landscape diversity loss at all levels in Europe by 2010. This 2010 target was endorsed as part of the ‘Kyiv Resolution on Biodiversity’ at the fifth ‘Environment for Europe’ Ministerial Conference held in Kyiv in May 2003. More information on this meeting is available at: PEBLDS Clearing-House: http://www.strategyguide.org/madrconf.html and ENS daily news, 22 January 2004: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2004/2004-01-22-02.asp