World and General

Art. 9 (a) • Adopt measures for the ex-situ conservation of components of biological diversity, preferably in the country of origin of such components.

Art. 9 (b)

• Establish and maintain facilities for ex-situ conservation of and research on plants, animals and micro-organisms, preferably in the country of origin of genetic resources.

Art. 9 (e)

• Cooperate in providing financial and other support for ex-situ conservation outlined in subparagraphs (a) to (d) above and in the establishment and maintenance of ex-situ conservation facilities in developing countries.

Art.12 (a) • Establish and maintain programmes for scientific and technical education and training in measures for the identification, conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and its components and provide support for such education and training for the specific needs of developing countries.

Art.15.2 • Endeavour to create conditions to facilitate access to genetic resources for environmentally sound uses by other Contracting Parties and not to impose restrictions that run counter to the objectives of this Convention.

Art.15.6 • Endeavour to develop and carry out scientific research based on genetic resources provided by other Contracting Parties with the full participation of, and where possible in, such Contracting Parties.

Art.16.1 • Provide and/or facilitate access for and transfer . . . of technologies that are relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or make use of genetic resources and do not cause significant damage to the environment.

Art.16.2 • Access to and transfer of technology . . . to developing countries shall be provided and/or facilitated under fair and most favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms where mutually agreed

Art.15.7 • Take legislative, administrative or policy measures, as appropriate, . . . with the aim of sharing in a fair and equitable way the results of research and development and the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilisation of genetic resources with the Contracting Party providing such resources. Such sharing to be upon mutually agreed terms

Art.16.3 • Access to and transfer of technology using genetic resources to countries providing the genetic resources

Art.17.1 • Facilitate the exchange of information, from all publicly available sources, relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account the special needs of developing countries

Art.17.2 • Such exchange of information shall include exchange of results of technical, scientific and socio-economic research, as well as information on training and surveying programmes, specialized knowledge, indigenous and traditional knowledge as such and in combination with the technologies referred to in Article 16, paragraph 1. It shall also, where feasible, include repatriation of information.

Art.18.2 • Promote technical and scientific Cupertino with other Contracting Parties, in particular developing countries . . . Special attention should be given to the development and strengthening of national capabilities, by means of human resources development and institution building.

Art.19.1 • Effective participation by providers of genetic resources, especially developing countries, in biotechnological research on the genetic resources they provide.

Art 19.2 • Priority access on a fair and equitable basis by countries (especially developing countries) providing genetic resources to the results and benefits arising from biotechnologies based on them. Such access to be on mutually agreed terms.

Taxonomy and implementation of the CBD

The CBD – Articles and Initiatives Importance of Taxonomy for successful implementation

Develop National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (Article 6) Accurate and up-to-date national taxonomic information vital.

Identification and monitoring (Article 7) Need to identify and monitor components of plant diversity to ensure conservation and sustainable use

In situ conservation (Article 8) Need to identify components of ecosystems and protected areas/identify appropriate in situ conservation areas

Ex situ conservation (Article 9) Need to establish and maintain facilities for ex situ conservation, preferably in the country of origin of genetic resources.

Sustainable use (Article 10) Need to identify resources to develop protocols for sustainable use add something about adverse threats?

Research & training (Article 12(a)) Need for training in identification, conservation & sustainable use of biological diversity and to promote and encourage research which contributes to this

Public education and awareness (Article 13)

Promoting understanding of the importance of biological diversity

Access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing (Articles 15 and 19; Decision VI/24) Need national inventories to facilitate access to and use of genetic resources, to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits. Elements of an access and benefit sharing regime set out in the Bonn Guidelines rely on accurate identification of genetic resources

Technology transfer, information exchange, scientific and technical cooperation (Articles 16, 17, 18) Need for taxonomic expertise, data and capacity at the national level

Global Taxonomy Initiative (Decision VI/8) Formally recognises taxonomic impediment and suggests objectives and a programme of work

Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (Decision VI/9) Need to understand and document plant diversity. Targets 1 and 2 on global checklist of all known plant species and conservation assessments

Alien species that threaten ecosystems, habitats or species (Decision VI/23) Guiding Principles emphasise need to identify and monitor invasive species

Traditional knowledge (Article 8(j)) Need to identify resources and monitor use/ links between western and traditional classification systems/ involve local and indigenous people in taxonomic identification

Thematic work programmes (forests, inland waters, dry and subhumid lands, agricultural, marine and coastal, mountain) Need for taxonomic expertise and infrastructure in all these areas

Ecosystem approach Millennium Ecosystem Assessment needs taxonomic information to report on patterns of ecosystem diversity

Useful general reference

The CBD for Botanists. An introduction to the Convention on Biological Diversity for people working with botanical collections. Williams, C, Davis, K & Cheyne, P. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 20003

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Useful Texts

New and innovative developments in taxonomy have taken place mainly in respect to molecular methods and databasing and new approaches towards elucidating and understanding the phylogenetic relationships. However classical taxonomic approach is the required background for molecular taxonomy, otherwise the results of the latter become and ambiguous unreliable.

Most European taxonomic research and infrastructure is currently financed nationally, but funds are in short supply, and almost everywhere fewer and fewer staff are burdened with more and more administrative work to the detriment of basic taxonomic research. Although on the European level there are number of running initiatives that facilitate access to the largest herbaria and data sources, e.g. may be add some of them there are number of taxonomic institutions, particularly in the ACC countries, that are in crisis both in terms of funds and staff.

Why to support taxonomy?

1. Taxonomy and systematics are the backbone for biodiversity research, conservation and sustainable use as they define and provide the overview of the units of biodiversity - the species.

Taxonomy provides the basic elements for research and conservation of biodiversity. The results of taxonomic research are likely to improve the public good, and to improve policy and decision making. It will also promise potential benefits to the environment, to society and in some cases, to the economy.

Taxonomy offers researchers in any field of biological science the tools to communicate about organisms. These tools consist of standardised rules and procedures that ensure internal consistency in scientific naming of organisms, and can be applied with confidence to any group of organisms wherever it is found on earth (International Codes of Bacteriological, Botanical, Zoological Nomenclature, nomenclatural codes for viruses, cultivated plants,).

Taxonomy requires a long-term commitment by researchers and decision makers. When compared to other disciplines, a relatively long and intense training is needed to become a knowledgeable expert in the taxonomy of any group. Similarly, the establishment of a useful and valuable taxonomic infrastructure is mostly a process, which takes many years. Therefore the discontinuation of taxonomic traditions, as witnessed today, results in hard to revert losses of knowledge.

Taxonomy is unlikely to be financed by private foundations or commercial companies. For all these reasons, taxonomic research needs public funding.

2. Taxonomy is a research field, which is at the cross-roads between science and society. There are strong traditions in some countries (UK, Germany, the Netherlands) for amateurs in taxonomy of certain popular organism groups, e.g. orchids, butterflies, etc. However strong support by professional taxonomists is needed to underpin the scientific value of their work. There is a clear link between the traditions in taxonomy in a specific country and the level of public awareness and support for protection and sustainable use of biodiversity at local and regional scale.

3. Taxonomy in the ACC countries needs specific support because:

The economy of many ACC countries is still in transition. Most of the taxonomic research and major biological collections are concentrated in the universities and academy of sciences that are mainly state institutions with very low budget. Therefore the salaries for researchers, even compared to local standards are very low; the equipment is rather old and there is a lack of incentives for young scientists to choose the academic career and enter the field of taxonomy.

Underdeveloped research infrastructure for taxonomy and systematics in the ACC countries can be an obstacle for these countries to adequately participate in the future ERA.

The importance of taxonomy for the investigation, protection, and sustainable use of biodiversity has been recognized on the international, and European level:

1. Governments, through the Convention on Biological Diversity, have acknowledged the existence of a "taxonomic impediment" to the sound management of biodiversity and a Global Taxonomic Initiative (GTI) has been established to deal with the knowledge gaps in the taxonomic system (including those associated with genetic systems), the shortage of trained taxonomists and curators, and the impact these deficiencies have on our ability to conserve, use and share the benefits of our biological diversity.

2. EU Biodiversity Strategy: Theme 3: apply modern taxonomy to build scientific tools for policy on conservation and sustainable use, aiming inter alia, to fulfil gaps in taxonomy knowledge

3. European Commission: Concern for the importance of taxonomic research and its support has been expressed in the Communication from the Commission: The European Research Area: providing new momentum; Action Plan for Biodiversity Research in Europe, etc. Special attention has been given to:

inventory: knowledge on taxonomy and systematics of many groups must be improved with the primary goal to identify and list the European species that are under threat of global extinction

genetic variation: work on the genetics of populations and species for conservation and to understand ecosystem structure, function and resilience

the CBD ecosystem approach requires substantial research to make it effective as a policy and management tool and to clarify how biological diversity affects the ecosystem approach and vice versa.

classification of habitats and ecosystems: research is needed to extend, refine and exploit the existing classifications, preferably based on taxonomically sound clusters of species composition and distribution in the habitats and to adapt them better to the practical needs of users

soils: research is needed to understand how soil biodiversity responds to stress, the role of soil biodiversity in ecosystem function, resilience and recovery

What should be done:

1. Biodiversity research projects should, wherever possible and reasonable, include work packages on taxonomy and systematics, as part of the Community contribution to the Global Taxonomy Initiative. Work to develop taxonomy or systematics should be carried out in conjunction with projects that touch on other biodiversity issues

2. Special efforts are needed to support research on the inventory and taxonomy of poorly known groups of organisms (incl. micro-organisms) in Europe and to understand their often crucial role in ecosystem functioning. Classical taxonomic approaches (morphological studies, embryology, karyology, chemotaxonomy) must be combined with modern molecular ones in the study of taxonomically complicated groups.

3. Networking of taxonomic data (e.g. Euro+Med Plant Base, Fauna Europaea, Species 2000) should be fostered and clear terms of access and use of the results of these projects should be formulated.

4. Open up existing actions (e.g., Marie Curie Action) to proposals dealing with taxonomic issues. The access to the biological collections should be provided and improved. Their maintenance, enrichment and even rehabilitation should also be supported with special reference to the ACC countries.

Europe

Countries