Development and Adoption of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: An NGO’s Perspective

Volume 3 Number 8 - June 2002

Peter S. Wyse Jackson

At the XVI International Botanical Congress held in St Louis, Missouri in August 1999, the President of the Congress, Peter H. Raven reviewed the current crisis for plant diversity worldwide. He called for the development of urgent new initiatives and actions to address the loss of tens of thousands of plants species worldwide this century. His call for action was taken up by the 5,000 botanists who attended the Congress and for the first time brought together a groundswell of concern about plants and their conservation. A resolution was passed urging the world community to recognise plant conservation as an outstanding global priority. Responding to this resolution, BGCI organised a two-day meeting in April, 2000 to consider the need for a new global initiative in support of plant conservation. This meeting was held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, organised under the guidance of David Bramwell (Director, Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain), Peter H. Raven (Director, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A) and Cristián Samper (Director General, Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá, Colombia and Peter Wyse Jackson (Secretary General, BGCI).

The meeting included sixteen participants representing the institutions mentioned above, as well as, inter alia, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, U.K., IUCN – the World Conservation Union, the International Centre for Nature Conservation, New Zealand, the National Museums of Kenya, the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, the National Botanical Research Institute of India, DIVERSITAS, the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA), the National Botanical Garden of Cuba, the National Programme for Biodiversity Conservation and Genetic Resources of Brazil (see Annex 1 for list of participants).

Sponsors of the Gran Canaria meeting included the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Colombia and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (U.K. and BGCI Canarias office).

The results of this meeting were published by BGCI as ‘The Gran Canaria Declaration’ in which the group resolved that a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and an associated programme for its implementation should be developed urgently, within the framework of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The aim of this programme was to halt the current and continuing unacceptable loss of plant diversity by supporting and facilitating appropriate plant conservation initiatives at all levels. Publication of the Declaration was made possible by a grant from HSBC Holdings plc. The Declaration has subsequently been very widely distributed as a statement of concern and principles for action.

The Declaration was submitted to the 5th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP5), held in Nairobi, Kenya 15-26th May, 2000 by Brazil and Colombia (Information document UNEP/CBD/COP/5/IMF/32 dated 15th May 2000) and an item was introduced to the COP agenda to consider this matter. A range of representatives of national delegations and international organisations were active in discussing the issue with delegations and providing information on the importance of plant conservation and this initiative. A side event was sponsored by BGCI, chaired by Cristián Samper and organised with the assistance of Peter Wyse Jackson, Fiona Dennis (BGCI) and Stella Simiyu (National Museums of Kenya). At COP5 the following decision (UNEP/CBD/COP/5/L.9/Rev.1 dated 25 May 2000) was then adopted:

A copy of The Gran Canaria Declaration was also distributed to every delegate at the World Botanic Gardens Congress in Asheville, North Carolina in June and endorsed by the Congress. (This Congress was organised jointly by the North Carolina Arboretum, AABGA, the Center for Plant Conservation and BGCI). The conclusions of the Asheville Congress included the following:

Congress delegates welcomed and endorsed the Gran Canaria Declaration as a general framework for the development of a global plant conservation strategy and acknowledged the important decision made by the Convention on Biological Diversity at its 5th Conference of the Parties in Nairobi in May, 2000, to consider the development of such a strategy.

The Congress agreed that botanic gardens could and must play a central role in the achievement of such a global strategy for plant conservation, in which their work can be placed within the framework of the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation.

The Congress resolved to forward the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation to the Convention on Biological Diversity as a contribution by the botanic gardens of the world towards this strategy.

Following the Congress, the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation (which was also adopted by the Congress as an international framework for botanic garden conservation policies) was forwarded to the CBD Secretariat as a framework policy for the contributions of the international botanic garden community towards the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

The Gran Canaria Declaration was also endorsed by the Plant Conservation Committee of the IUCN – The World Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission (IUCN-SSC) at its meeting chaired by Dr David Given (New Zealand) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. in June, 2000. Subsequently, the Second IUCN World Conservation Congress met from 4-11 October 2000 in Amman, Jordan where one of the 104 resolutions adopted was on the conservation of plants. This resolution endorsed The Gran Canaria Declaration on the need for a Global Programme for Plant Conservation; the resolution (CGR2.PRG003) urges the CBD COP6 (Netherlands, 2002) to consider the establishment of a strategy for plant conservation.

Other endorsements for the Gran Canaria Declaration included resolutions of the 16th AETFAT (Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa) Congress which was held at Belgium's National Botanic Garden at Meise, Brussels at the end of August 2000 and the Brazilian National Botanical Congress meeting also held that year.

COP5 requested the Executive Secretary of the CBD to solicit the views of Parties to the Convention and to liaise with relevant organisations to gather information on plant conservation to better enable SBSTTA to make recommendations on a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. In March 2001, the CBD Executive Secretary convened a 1st Informal Consultation with a range of international organisations to consider issues related to the development of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (see Annex 2 for list of participants). This meeting was held on 11th March in Montreal, Canada, immediately proceeding a meeting of the 6th Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-6) which met also in Montreal from 12-16 March. The Informal Consultation held on 11th March was opened by Hamdallah Zedan, CBD Executive Secretary. He expressed the hope that the meeting would help to resolve how a Global Plant Conservation Strategy could complement and enhance on-going activities of the Convention and seek to determine not only what would be the precise elements of such a strategy but also how it could be co-ordinated. He suggested that if a Global Strategy could be created containing meaningful targets and indicators that this would be a very real achievement. Cristián Samper (Chairman SBSTTA) commented on the considerable value of bringing together the range of organisations and institutions represented at the meeting to co-operate closely towards the creation of a draft strategy over the coming months. He stressed that the development of the strategy was not intended to duplicate any existing initiatives in plant conservation, further that it should complement such initiatives (and be integrated closely with the CBD's current work programme). It should also provide a broad framework to help ensure that such initiatives act in harmony, identify gaps where new initiatives are required and what existing resources are available. David Cooper (CBD Secretariat) chaired the informal consultation. The meeting considered submissions by a range organisations and a number of existing instruments, plans and programmes to identify elements for incorporation into a draft strategy and to highlight areas where sectoral co-operation could be enhanced by means of such a strategy. These included CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the FAO Global Plan of Action for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, the Global Invasive Species Programme, the Plants Programme of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation and others such as the work of the International Association of Botanic Gardens and a proposal from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

It was agreed that there was a need for the development of a special strategy for plant conservation due to the fundamental importance of plants as the basis of most ecosystems, the services and products they provide and the current crisis in the loss of plants worldwide. It was further agreed that the elements of a strategy outlined in the Gran Canaria Declaration and subsequently developed in a paper submitted for the Informal Consultation by Cristián Samper, Kerry ten Kate and Peter Wyse Jackson, provided a useful basis on which to determine the scope of the strategy. These elements included:

Integrated in situ and ex situ conservation
Research, monitoring and management of information
Social and economic benefit of plant diversity
Education and public awareness
Capacity building
A mechanism or process to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of the strategy.

Participants noted their special concern that measurable and quantifiable targets be agreed for inclusion in the possible strategy. They considered that targets should be set for plant conservation action at several levels, regional and global and for capacity building.

Following the meeting in Montreal, the Executive Secretary convened a second informal consultation to develop a first draft strategy to be used as a basis for further consultations prior to the seventh meeting of SBSTTA (Montreal, Canada, November, 2001). Accordingly on 17th and 18th May, a 2nd Informal Consultation was held at the Royal Society in London, organised by BGCI (on behalf of the Gran Canaria group) and the CBD Secretariat. That meeting was opened by Lord May, President of the Royal Society and attended by representatives from sixteen countries and international organisations and agencies including BGCI, CITES, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), IABG, IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute), IUCN, Planta Europa, UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), UNEP-WCMC (UNEP- World Conservation Monitoring Centre), UNESCO and WWF. The meeting was co-chaired by David Cooper (CBD Secretariat), Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI) and Braulio Dias (Brazil Environment Ministry). Much of the work undertaken during the consultation consisted of identifying and agreeing goals and priority targets for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. The 2nd Informal Consultation was sponsored by the CBD Secretariat, BGCI, British Airways plc. and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (see Annex 3 for list of participants).

At the meeting the International Association of Botanic Gardens (IABG) also outlined plans for the organization of a symposium on the proposed strategy at its forthcoming conference in Córdoba, Spain in June, 2000. Development of targets for plant conservation in a European context was also planned to be undertaken at the forthcoming Planta Europa conference in June 2001. These conferences were subsequently held.

During the Córdoba Conference the proposed targets for inclusion in the Strategy were considered in meetings chaired by Margarita Clemente Muñoz (Jardín Botánico de Córdoba) and Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI). The conference was attended by Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary of the CBD. A report on these discussions was compiled by J.E. Hernandez Bermejo (Córdoba) and David Bramwell (Gran Canaria) and forward to the CBD Secretariat for consideration in the draft Strategy. The resolutions of the IABG Congress included the following: “The 12th General Assembly of the IABG fully endorses the development of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and empowers the new Executive Committee to present proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the targets proposed by the SBSTTA Secretariat and based on the discussions and conclusions of the 12th IABG Conference, as well as to participate in any other activities implementing the CBD and its involvement with Botanic Gardens.”

At the 3rd Planta Europa Conference, held in June 2001 in Pruhonice, the Czech Republic, a draft European Plant Conservation Strategy was prepared to include a series of outcome targets related to the proposed Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. The development of this strategy has been led by Planta Europa and the Council of Europe and was based on the results of a series of participatory workshops held during the Conference and on subsequent submissions and revisions.

Following these consultations convened by the Executive Secretary of the CBD, a first draft Strategy (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/7/10) was prepared by the CBD Secretariat, with contributions from a number of co-operating organisations and individuals, in September 2001 for review by the Convention’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) at its 7th meeting held in Montreal, Canada in November 2001. This paper outlined the background to the proposed Strategy including its origins and the consultations that had been held to help elaborate the initiative. It also reviewed a series of international initiatives that could contribute to the achievement of such a Strategy.

The proposal contained a series of 14 draft targets for inclusion in the Strategy to be achieved by 2010. The inclusion of such outcome-orientated targets would be a first for the CBD, and as such the Strategy was seen by many as a valuable pilot exercise towards the evaluation and eventual wider adoption of targets in other areas of the CBD’s work.

At SBSTTA the draft Strategy was debated comprehensively both during the working sessions of the conference as well as in the corridors. Many of the individuals, from organisations represented in the Gran Canaria group and present at the Informal Consultations, played an extremely active role in lobbying delegations and helping to negotiate the text of the proposed Strategy and its targets. Notable contributions in this regard included those of Jameson Seyani (Commonwealth Secretariat), Kerry ten Kate (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew) and representatives of IUCN (David Given and Wendy Strahm), Planta Europa (Jane Smart), BGCI (Peter Wyse Jackson), WWF (Alan Hamilton) and members of several national delegations. Negotiations on the text of the draft Strategy were co-ordinated for the CBD Secretariat by David Cooper (CBD Secretariat and FAO). A side event on the proposed Strategy was held, sponsored by Planta Europa and BGCI, chaired by Stella Simiyu (Kenya). Briefing documents outlining the viewpoints of several organisations on the development of the Strategy were prepared and circulated at SBSTTA, including by IUCN, Planta Europa and WWF.

During SBSTTA, many changes and improvements were made to the Strategy and the result was a Recommendation (entitled VII/8 Global strategy for plant conservation - see below) which was accepted on the final day of the meeting on Friday 16th November. The targets were revised to include an additional two.

The issue of the need for targets in many aspects of the work of the Convention was discussed quite extensively during SBSTTA. A paper on the needs for targets in the Convention was delivered as a plenary address by Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI) during the first day of the SBSTTA meeting.

The recommendation from SBSTTA recognised that further work on the Strategy was necessary before a decision on its adoption would be made at COP6 (in The Hague, April, 2002) involving both national CBD authorities and organisations involved in the Gran Canaria Group and others, to refine the targets and the basis on which they were been developed.

In January 2002 a series of draft background papers were prepared for consideration at a Technical Experts Meeting convened by the CBD Executive Secretary in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from 11-13th February.

These papers included:

An analysis of opportunities for the implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation through the thematic and cross-cutting programmes of work of the Convention on Biological Diversity (compiled for BGCI by Alexandra González-Calatayud, Kerry ten Kate and Peter Wyse Jackson, with the support of the CBD Secretariat)
A review of existing nationally-based initiatives that can contribute to the implementation of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation at national levels (compiled by Judith Cheney (PlantNet, U.K.), Fiona Dennis, Chris Hobson, Etelka Leadlay and Peter Wyse Jackson, from BGCI, with the support of the CBD Secretariat).
A matrix of examples of initiatives relevant to the 16 draft targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation being undertaken and international and regional levels (compiled by Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI), David Cooper (FAO and CBD Secretariat) and Michelle Gauthier (CBD Secretariat)).
A review paper considering the rationale and basis for the sixteen draft targets being considered for inclusion in the GSPC (compiled and edited by Peter Wyse Jackson, and including articles by Drs Margarita Clemente Muñoz (CITES Plants Committee and University of Cordoba), David Cooper (FAO), Kingsley Dixon (Kings Park & Botanic Garden, Western Australia), Wendy Goldstein (IUCN), Alan Hamilton (WWF), Toby Hodgkin (IPGRI), Geoffrey Howard (IUCN), Mike Maunder (National Tropical Botanic Garden, Hawaii, U.S.A.), Jeff McNeely (IUCN), Alan Paton (RBG Kew, U.K.), Stella Simiyu (National Museums of Kenya), Jane Smart (Planta Europa), Wendy Strahm (IUCN) and Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI).

The meeting of technical experts comprised experts nominated by 13 Parties and seven international organisations. It was supported by the CBD Secretariat, the Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and BGCI (UK and BGCI Canarias). The meeting was chaired by Braulio Dias (Brazil). Michelle Gauthier, the representative of the Executive Secretary, opened the meeting at 10 a.m. She welcomed the participants and recalled the objectives of the meeting. Margarita Clemente, of the Dirección General de la Conservación de la Naturaleza welcomed the participants on behalf of the Ministerio del Medio Ambiente Español. Statements were also made by Ms Maria Eugenia Marqués, President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and Dr David Bramwell, Director of the Jardín Botánico Canario “Viera y Clavijo”, Gran Canaria. Twenty-two participants were present including fourteen representatives from the following Parties: Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kenya, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, South Africa and United Kingdom. The following international organizations were also represented: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI); the Smithsonian Institute, Panama; IUCN - The World Conservation Union (IUCN); Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI): the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and Plantlife, U.K. (see Annex 4 for list of participants).

In line with SBSTTA recommendation VII/8, the technical experts reviewed the targets in the draft Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in order to refine their quantitative elements, provide a scientific and technical rationale in each case, and clarify terms as necessary. The experts also reviewed and revised the papers referred to above which were subsequently refined in the light of the work of the meeting into an information document for the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (UNEP/CBD/COP/6/INF/29). The main points arising from this analysis, as identified by the meeting were the following:

The thematic work programmes of the CBD cover the majority of the world’s biomes and will contribute to the conservation of plants found in them. Some plant species growing in temperate grasslands, polar and subpolar regions and selected mountain ecosystems may not be covered at this time;
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation provides a framework where contributions of existing programmes of work and agreements related to plant conservation can be promoted. In line with decision V/10 of the Conference of the Parties (Global Strategy for Plant Conservation), existing international agreements and initiatives can contribute to the implementation of the targets. Most targets in the strategy can be achieved through existing work programmes of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international agreements and initiatives; therefore, a separate programme of work under the Convention is not needed. Existing programmes of work can be strengthened to enhance their contribution to the implementation of the Strategy;
The existing cross-cutting work programmes adopted and for consideration by the Conference of the Parties can contribute to the implementation of selected targets,
Implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation will serve as a pilot phase for the wider application of this approach to other components of biological diversity within each of the ongoing work programmes of the Convention.

The 6th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held from 8 to 19 April, in The Hague, The Netherlands. A side event of the GSPC was held on 9th April, organised by Planta Europa, the Council of Europe and IUCN (Chaired by Cristián Samper -Smithsonian Institution and Colombia and including several former and the present SBSTTA Chairs as speakers). Briefing documents outlining the viewpoints of several organisations on the development of the Strategy were prepared and circulated at COP6, including by Planta Europa and IUCN. Consideration of the GSPC was included in the agenda and discussed by one of the two working groups of the meeting on Friday 12th April. A series of information documents, based on the results of the Gran Canaria meeting of Technical Experts in February 2002 were provided for delegates, as well as the European Plant Conservation Strategy (prepared by Planta Europa and the Council of Europe). The working group reviewed a draft decision on the GSPC, prepared by the CBD Secretariat, based on the recommendation from SBSTTA and the results of the Technical Experts meeting. Following the introduction of the documentation by the CBD Secretariat speakers from over 40 national delegations spoke supporting the adoption of the Strategy. Many emphasised that it provided a flexible framework for regional and national priority setting and implementation of plant conservation actions. Several delegates stressed that the adoption of targets at the national level should be voluntary and in line with available resources and national priorities. Many delegates noted the need for capacity building in developing countries to enable the GSPC targets to be achieved.

Representatives from several inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations also contributed to the debate. These included BGCI which highlighted its new capacity-building program for botanic gardens worldwide, supported through the HSBC ‘Investing in Nature’ initiative. BGCI also offered to second a staff position to the CBD Secretariat for two years to assist in the implementation of the Strategy. Following informal consultations, the Secretariat presented a revised paper (including a draft COP6 decision) incorporating suggested changes proposed. Delegates accepted the proposed amendments with several clarifications, and the document was then forwarded for adoption during the COP6 Plenary held in the afternoon of 19th April. Text was also added in plenary to a COP6 decision on the CBD budget welcoming the offer of a seconded staff position from BGCI.

At 4.25 pm on 19th April, 2002, the COP6 to the CBD adopted the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and decision VI/9. Global Strategy for Plant Conservation was accepted (see page 4 of this issue of BGCNews).

Working through a unique partnership on international and national organizations, governments and NGOs, the Convention on Biological Diversity has developed an innovative approach to addressing plant conservation and to mobilizing the resources needed to save tens of thousands of plant species. Remarkably, in only two years a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation was created and adopted unanimously at the Conventions 6th Conference of the Parties held in The Hague in April, 2001.

But what is new or unique about this Global Strategy? The Strategy provides an innovative framework for actions at global, regional, national and local levels. The global dimension to the strategy is important because it can facilitate the development of a consensus of key objectives, targets and actions and enhance collaboration and synergy at all levels. The Strategy is also backed by a wide range of organisations and institutions – governments, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, conservation and research organizations such as protected-area management boards, botanic gardens, gene banks, universities, research institutes, non-governmental organizations and networks of non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The inclusion of 16 outcome-orientated, targets, aimed at achieving a series of measurable goals by 2010 is particularly innovative. This is the first time that the Convention has incorporated such targets into its operations, which may become a model for future work on other aspects of the work of the Convention.

The potential disappearance of such vital plant resources sets one of the greatest challenges for the world community: to halt the destruction of plant species that are so essential to meet the present and future needs of humankind. The adoption of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation presents a new opportunity for this crisis to be addressed coherently and effectively in a closely coordinated manner. It will be a considerable challenge but one which we will fail to meet at our own peril.

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation

The GSPC is a plan to save the world's plant species. Botanic gardens are making a major contribution worldwide. Click the image to find out more.

Development and Adoption of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: An NGO’s Perspective

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