WORKING SESSION
Ecosystems Management & Resilience
Brief & Concept Note
Brief
1. Why is this topic important ?
Environmental degradation has been identified as a key driver of disaster risk. While rates of
desertification, forest and wetland conversion, and soil and water pollution and biodiversity
loss continue to increase, to date, attention to dry land ecosystems has been limited.
2. What gaps need to be filled?
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The demand for ecosystem-based actions for disaster risk reduction at the local level
still remains untapped.
Lack of coordination among diverse cast of actors and institutions implementing
ecosystem preservation.
Harnessing science to develop tailored guidance for assessing risk, designing
appropriate management solutions and making a clear economic case for prioritizing
ecosystem-based solutions.
Mobilizing financial support through environment, development and other
mechanisms.
3. What commitments are expected?
To be confirmed
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Concept Note
Schedule
Sunday 15 March 2015, 16:00-17:30
Room and Venue
Hagi Hall, Sendai International Conference Centre
Organizers
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ministry of Environment, Japan,
Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR),
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations
University (UNU), Wetlands International, World Food Programme
(WFP)
UNISDR Focal Point
Glenn Dolcemascolo (dolcemascolo@un.org)
Background and
Rationale
Environmental degradation erodes the resilience of communities
and nations to disasters.
From the desertification and the degradation drylands to the
destruction of coastal forests and wetlands, the loss of biodiversity
and ecosystem services often translates to increased disaster losses
and slower recovery- in urban and rural areas alike. Drivers of
degradation such as land conversion for urban growth, agriculture
and infrastructure as well as extractive industries and pollution are
well understood.
Despite the growing knowledge on the role of ecosystems in
reducing disaster risk, an upsurge in pilot initiatives and new
commitments emerging from decisions in the Convention on
Biological Diversity and other multilateral environmental
agreements, significant opportunities still remain untapped for
scaling-up and mainstreaming ecosystem-based solutions for
disaster risk reduction and resilience.
Efforts to protect ecosystem services and reverse the trend of
environmental decline often suffer from piecemeal and pilot-scale
efforts and do not support broad coordination among the diverse
cast of actors and institutions that should be involved– this
challenge has made it even more difficult for ecosystem based
actions for disaster risk reduction to identify entry points and
leadership.
Efforts to build partnerships for resilience between local
governments and communities, where the effects of ecosystem
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decline are felt most acutely, and ecosystem managers have been
piloted in several countries. One of the most important gaps to be
addressed in the implementation of the post-2015 framework for
disaster risk reduction is how to increase these local partnerships
and tap into demand for ecosystem-based solutions that can be
found at the local level.
Among the most critical partnerships for ecosystem based
solutions are those with scientific and technical partners in
providing guidance for assessing risk, designing appropriate
management solutions and making a clear economic case for
prioritizing ecosystem-based solutions. Strengthening the
engagement of science, including through local universities, will
help to close the gap in advancing this work.
The Working Session will seek to address these key gaps and
contribute to the generation of commitments for implementation
of the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.
Session Objectives
The session considers how partnerships between local and national
governments and environmental managers can create shared value
measured in both reduced loss of lives (in cities and rural areas)
and reduced loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. More
specifically, the session aims to:
 Promote policy coherence with environment and development
agendas internationally and nationally.
 Identify areas where shared value between risk reduction and
the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems can be realized.
 Mobilize new partners to support implementation including
vulnerable cities and communities, science and local
universities, the private sector and environmental managers.
Discussion agenda
and structure
1. Introduction and welcoming remarks (5mns)
2. Short video (5mns)
3. Keynote address (15mns)
4. Panel discussion
5. Interactive guided discussion (30mns)
6. Wrap up and conclusion by the moderator (5 minutes)
Expected outcomes
• Understanding of implementation challenges and opportunities
in delivering ecosystem based solutions based on lessons
learned.
• Vision for mobilizing support and partnerships for accelerating
action for implementing ecosystem based actions for disaster risk
reduction.
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• Demonstration of readiness for implementation of the post-2015
framework in communities and in countries.
• Concise and compelling recommendations regarding the
opportunities to strengthen and accelerate implementation of
ecosystem-based solutions for reducing disaster risk.
Commitment /
special
announcement in
support of a post2015 framework for
DRR
To be confirmed
Expected number of
participants
300
Background
documents
(1) http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/05_Biodiversity.pdf
(2) http://www.unep.org/climatechange/Portals/5/documents/U
NEP-DiscussionSeries_2.pdf
(3) http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/majorhazards/ressources/pub/Ecos
ystem-DRR_en.pdf
(4) http://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/2011/en/b
gdocs/GAR-2009/background_papers/Chap5/thematicprogress-reviews/UNEP-Environmental-Management-forDRR.pdf
(5) http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document
.285.aspx.pdf
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