Jakarta, Indonesia. December 7, 2016. WWF-Indonesia is calling on the government to react quickly to address the dramatic rate of biodiversity loss, in order to achieve joint commitments at the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting. This meeting also aims to remind CBD member countries that have fallen behind in meeting the targets of this international agreement.

In 2010, 196 countries agreed to improve their natural conditions, including clean water, forests and seas as basic elements for living wildlife in the world. At the CBD meeting, which took place from December 4-17 in Cancun, Mexico, only 10 percent met the convention's target, known as the Aichi Target.

To implement the agreement in this Aichi Target, each country must pour it into a national strategy to save biodiversity. Indonesia already has an Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP, National Strategy and Action Plan for Biodiversity Management 2003-2020) this document has been revised 2015-2020.

"The government has not fully integrated biodiversity conservation strategies in every national development planning strategy across sectors, this is absolutely necessary because a lot of biodiversity is outside the conservation area," said Arnold Sitompul, Conservation Director of WWF-Indonesia.

"From this CBD meeting, it is time for the government to take a new breakthrough in biodiversity conservation efforts in Indonesia, for example by implementing the Indonesia Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP) 2015-2020 concretely through institutional formation, preparing policies and allocating optimal funding," continued Arnold.

Ambition to support nature is still low and biodiversity conservation is still neglected in national economic planning. Countries, for the most part, remain content with exploiting nature only for short-term economic solutions, while eroding its long-term potential for sustainability in providing food, jobs and supporting economies and people.

WWF recently released a report stating that by 2020 there will be a two-thirds decline in biodiversity from 1970. The Living Planet Report 2016 also highlights the promises in international agreements such as the CBD to protect biodiversity.

Governments at the Cancun meeting need to find ways to more effectively implement global agreements. To do so, major efforts are needed to incorporate biodiversity into strategic decisions in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and tourism. The importance of nature must also be more strongly integrated into national sustainable development plans, economic policies and national budgets, so that the real value of biodiversity is well understood.

Last year, the countries of the world were eager to establish a global plan for climate change and sustainable development. These agreements will not be fulfilled if we do not take biodiversity conservation seriously. Biodiversity is the third leg of sustainable development. It is now time that governments get serious about realizing commitments to biodiversity conservation.

Member states currently meeting in Cancun must also show that they are prepared to fulfill their pledge not to subsidize activities that are harmful to biodiversity and pledge to double international financing for biodiversity conservation.

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Editor's Note:

1. WWWF-International's position paper on the CBD can be downloaded here: http://wwf.panda.org/cbd
2. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan can be downloaded here: http://www.bappenas.go.id/files/publikasi_utama/Dokumen_IBSAP_2015-2020.pdf
3. The National Strategy and Action Plan for Biodiversity can be downloaded here.

Further information, contact:
Diah R. Sulistiowati, Forest and Species Terrestrial Campaign Coordinator
Email: dsulistiowati@wwf.id, mobile: +6281 1100 4397