The Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is pleased to inform CMS Parties and stakeholders that the tenth session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-10: 28 August – 2 September 2023 in Bonn, Germany), has agreed to undertake three new assessments on areas of work of great relevance to CMS.

These include a fast-track methodological assessment of integrated biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning and ecological connectivity for consideration by the Plenary at its fourteenth session in 2027, a fast-track assessment on monitoring biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, and a second global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Having an IPBES assessment on connectivity has long been a priority for CMS. Such an assessment has been actively promoted by CMS Parties along with the Secretariat over the years; details of these efforts are included in (UNEP/CMS/COP14/Doc.18.2). Original requests for the development of a dedicated assessment of ecological connectivity were made by several entities including three global conventions, namely CMS and its Agreements, the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (WHC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in response to the first call of the IPBES work programme up to 2030, issued in July 2018. In 2020, CMS COP13 underscored the importance of such an assessment and requested both Parties and the CMS Secretariat to promote its inclusion in the IPBES rolling work programme.

The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15, 7–19 December 2022) also requested IPBES to consider a number of assessments, including a fast-track assessment on integrated biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning and ecological connectivity at its Plenary in 2023.

The approval by IPBES-10 to undertake this assessment is therefore a historic milestone, and a recognition of the importance that connectivity has gained in the last years in the context of numerous global processes including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Decade on Restoration and the UN General Assembly.

The assessment is not only timely but urgent as it will provide, inter alia, globally-relevant science-based evidence, tools, and methodologies that would support governments in implementing a range of pressing objectives, including the KMGBF Targets 1 – 3 and 12.

As indicated in the timetable of the scoping report of the assessment, the IPBES Secretariat will establish the institutional arrangements necessary to mobilize the necessary technical support and will request nominations of experts by Governments and other stakeholders in late 2024.

For any further information please contact Laura Cerasi, Fundraising and Partnerships Officer, CMS Secretariat, E-mail: [email protected]