HANDBOOK OF THE

CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITYINCLUDING ITS CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY

3rd edition

(Updated to include the outcomes of the 7th meeting of theConference of the Parties to the Convention and the 1st meeting of the

Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to theCartagena Protocol on Biosafety)

Copyright Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2005

ISBN: 92-9225-011-6

All rights reserved.

This publication may be reproduced for educational or non-profit purposes with-out special permission from the copyright holders, provided acknowledgement ofthe source is made. The Secretariat of the Convention would appreciate receivinga copy of any publications that uses this document as a source.

Citation: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2005). Handbookof the Convention on Biological Diversity Including its Cartagena Protocol onBiosafety, 3rd edition, (Montreal, Canada).

Page layout by Black Eye Design, Inc. Printed and bound in Canada by Friesen

This handbook was updated by the Secretariat of the Convention on BiologicalDiversityFor further information, please contact: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity World Trade Centre, 413 St. Jacques, Suite 800, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9 tel: + 1 (514) 288 2220 fax: + 1 (514) 288 6588 e-mail: secretariat@biodiv.org website: http://www.biodiv.org Printed on recycled paper

q1.=DhE

Foreword by Hamdallah Zedan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvHow to use this Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xixIntroduction: The operations of the Convention on Biological Diversity . . xxiiiAcronyms and abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvii

I. Convention on Biological Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

III. Rules of procedure for meetings of the Conference of the Parties tothe Convention on Biological Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

IV. Modus operandi of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical andTechnological Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

V. Financial rules for the administration of the Trust Fund for theConvention on Biological Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

VI. Guide to the decisions of the Conference of the Parties . . . . . . . . . . 85

ARTICLES OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87ARTICLE 1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88ARTICLE 2 Use of terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89ARTICLE 3 Principle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93ARTICLE 4 Jurisdictional scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94ARTICLE 5 Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94ARTICLE 6 General measures for conservation and sustainable use . . 95ARTICLE 7 Identification and monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

ARTICLE 8 In-situ conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Protected areas (Article 8(a)(c)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Ecosystems, habitats and viable populations (Article 8(d)). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Buffer zones (Article 8(e)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128iii

Contents

Rehabilitation of ecosystems and recovery of threatenedspecies (Article 8(f)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Biosafety (Article 8(g)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Alien species (Article 8(h)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Traditional knowledge (Article 8(j) and related provisions). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Mitigation of threats (Article 8(l)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152ARTICLE 9 Ex-situ conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154ARTICLE 10 Sustainable use of components of biological diversity . . . 157ARTICLE 11 Incentive measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165ARTICLE 12 Research and training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172ARTICLE 13 Public education and awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175ARTICLE 14 Impact assessment and minimizing adverse impacts . . . . 181ARTICLE 15 Access to genetic resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187ARTICLE 16 Access to and transfer of technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200ARTICLE 17 Exchange of information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213ARTICLE 18 Technical and scientific cooperation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Clearing-house mechanism (Article 18(3)) . . . . . . . . . . . 222ARTICLE 19 Handling of biotechnology and distribution of its benefits . . 230

Consideration of the need for and modalities of a protocolon biosafety (Article 19(3) and (4)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

ARTICLE 20 Financial resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242ARTICLE 21 Financial mechanism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259ARTICLE 22 Relationship with other international conventions . . . . . 274ARTICLE 23 Conference of the Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275ARTICLE 24 Secretariat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284ARTICLE 25 Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological

Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286ARTICLE 26 Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292ARTICLE 27 Settlement of disputes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299ARTICLE 28 Adoption of protocols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300ARTICLE 29 Amendment of the Convention or protocols . . . . . . . . . 300ARTICLE 30 Adoption and amendment of annexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300ARTICLE 31 Right to vote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301ARTICLE 32 Relationship between this Convention and its protocols . . 302ARTICLE 33 Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302ARTICLE 34 Ratification, acceptance or approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303ARTICLE 35 Accession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303ARTICLE 36 Entry into force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304ARTICLE 37 Reservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304ARTICLE 38 Withdrawals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304ARTICLE 39 Financial interim arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305ARTICLE 40 Secretariat interim arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306ARTICLE 41 Depositary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

iv

HANDBOOK OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY | 3rd edition

ARTICLE 42 Authentic texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306Annex I Identification and monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . 306Annex II Arbitration and conciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

THEMATIC WORK PROGRAMMES

Forest biological diversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309Inland water biological diversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318Agricultural biological diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327Marine and coastal biological diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338Dry and sub-humid lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348Ecosystem approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Mountain Biological Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359Strategic Plan and the 2010 Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363Cooperation with Other Conventions, International organizations and

Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

VII.Status of ParticiptionConvention on Biological Diversity andCartagena Protocol on Biosafety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

VIII. Declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

IX. Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the AgreedText of the Convention on Biological Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

X. Decisions of the Conference of the Parties (with relevant SBSTTA recommendations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

FIRST MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES

DECISION I/1 Rules of procedure for the Conference of the Parties . . . 411DECISION I/2 Financial resources and mechanism . . . . . . . .