Multi-party approaches the way forward for vulnerable islands

The vulnerability of island biological diversity has been the focus of celebratory messages marking the International Day for Biological Diversity.

Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 and observed annually on 22 May, the date marks the adoption of the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992.

With a focus on island biodiversity in 2014, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Mr Braulio Dias, issued a dire warning in a message released to mark the day.

“Due to the vulnerability of their endemic biota and their intense human use, islands have higher extinction rates,” said Mr Dias.

These sentiments were echoed by the Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Mr David Sheppard, who noted the inherent vulnerability of Pacific islands due to geography.

“The small size and isolated nature of our islands makes them extremely vulnerable,” said Mr Sheppard.

Mr Dias pointed to multi-party approaches such as the Micronesia Challenge, the Caribbean Challenge Initiative, and the imminent Western Indian Ocean Coastal Challenge as the way to support conservation on islands and the sustainable use of biodiversity.

This stance was reiterated by the Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, Mr Christopher Briggs, who named the Regional Initiative for the Conservation and Wise Use of Wetlands in the Caribbean involving 11 island nations and organisations in the implementation on the Convention on Wetlands as an example of coastal wetland conservation in tropical islands.