Paris – 12 July 2007. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) welcomed the ambitious project launched yesterday by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) specifically designed to help countries – particularly least developed countries and small island developing States, who will receive at least 50 per cent of the project’s funding – carry out their critical work on protected areas.

Backed by US$ 9.4 million in GEF funding plus co-financing, the project entitled“Supporting Country Action on the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas” was developed in response to a request from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and will help support country-driven action towards implementing the CBD programme of work on protected areas, the ultimate objective of which is to establish comprehensive, ecologically representative and effectively managed national and regional systems of protected areas.

Thanking Ms. Monique Barbut, the GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson, for her support, Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention, said: “This represents the first time that the GEF has funded a project specifically targeting an entire programme of work under the Convention.”

“With climate change a fact, this important project will greatly assist in the effective implementation of the Convention’s programme of work on protected areas and thus be a critical step in sustaining the future well-being of our planet,” said Mr. Djoghlaf. “The importance of protected areas cannot be overstated as they play a key role in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as in adapting to climate change. They are also a key element in individual

country strategies to implement the Convention, since a well designed and managed protected system complements other measures aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity outside protected areas. The Convention itself is the best and most comprehensive instrument to mobilize action to prevent biodiversity loss, meet the 2010 biodiversity target and contribute to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.”

To be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Convention Secretariat, the project’s funding will allow approximately 35 grants of up to US$ 250,000 each to be made available to countries. Applications will be vetted by an International Technical Review Committee, comprising representatives from the Convention Secretariat, GEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP), as well as regional representatives from the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and international NGOs including the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), The Nature Conservancy, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.