National Geographic Post on Biocultural Diversity

Via nationalgeographic.com

Gleb Raygorodetsky of Natural Justice-partner the Sacred Sites Initiative has drafted a post at National Geographic on the intensifying erosion of the earth’s biodiversity entitled "Pulsating Heart of Nature: How to Ensure Our Collective Bioculturally Resilient Future." He notes the limits in the capacity of linear, reductionist thinking in seeking solutions to this degradation and encourages integrative fields of inquiry to develop new and more meaningful responses. 

He concludes by emphasising the need for a more holistic worldview based on valuing biocultural diversity, and lays out the following requirements for achieving this transformation: 

 “We must embrace change as an inalienable part of life, rather than trying to avert it at any cost. We must be realistic about the scope and scale of what should be done to correct the course, as well as what each of us is capable of doing him or herself. We must also expand our notion of community from a group of people united by their geographic or genetic proximity, to a broader global community inclusive of other like-minded individuals and groups united by their recognition of the value of biocultural diversity as the very ‘pulsating heart’ of Nature. We must work towards a biologically and culturally rich world not only through our work, but more importantly by changing our own thinking and actions.” 

 The post can be accessed here.

First Meeting of the Diversity Liaison Group

On 28 and 29 May, Johanna von Braun (Natural Justice) participated in the first meeting of the Diversity Liaison Group (DLG) of the joint programme on biological and cultural diversity which was endorsed by UNESCO’s constituencies and the tenth Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

This first meeting brought a number of different stakeholders together, ranging from representatives of indigenous communities, academic institutions, funding agencies, other UN agencies and NGOs. The expectation from the DLG, which is an informal group with fluid membership, is to provide technical advice and to assist the Secretariats of the CBD and UNESCO in advancing the Joint Programme, assessments of progress made, and in plotting of future steps. 

In this first meeting participants were asked to comment on the priority focus areas for the joint program of work and its deliverables for COP11, discuss a future online ‘Global Knowledge Platform on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity’, identify key messages on the links between biological and cultural diversity, and to coordinate their strategic communication with respect to future events such as Rio+20, the World Conservation Congress and COP 11.