Four Countries Group – Proposed Terms of Reference and Membership
Background
The UK Biodiversity Partnership Standing Committee agreed at its meeting of 4 May
2011 to revise the UK biodiversity partnership governance structure to provide the
opportunity to focus on substantive and policy-development issues common to all
four countries of the UK in order to respond effectively to UK commitments made at
Nagoya in 2010.
Group structure and working methods
Membership
The group to be comprised of representatives from:
 JNCC
 Northern Ireland Government
 Scottish Government
 Welsh Government
 UK Government
 Statutory Agencies from each of the four countries
 Additional invited experts as required for particular issues
Chair
Defra will chair the Group.
Secretariat support
Defra will provide the secretariat.
Frequency of meetings
The group will meet on a quarterly basis.
Meeting logistics
The meeting logistics will be flexible to suit the nature of the business and will take
place either on a face-to-face basis, by video/teleconference or electronically.
Relationship with other groups
Relationships with other groups are set out in Figure 1. The Four Countries Group
may establish sub-groups on UK-related issues as and when deemed necessary.
These groups may be time limited or ongoing.
Role of JNCC
The JNCC support unit will provide the Group with evidence and advice relevant to
the issues it considers.
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Terms of reference
1. To establish, coordinate and oversee work under the UK Biodiversity
Framework, in order to meet EU and international biodiversity commitments
2. To coordinate the UK response to new and emerging EU and international
biodiversity initiatives.
3. To address other biodiversity-related matters which would benefit from
strategic collaboration at the UK level
4. To coordinate reporting of UK progress on the EU Biodiversity Strategy and
Nagoya commitments including UK biodiversity indicators.
5. To establish and oversee UK-level sub-groups and events as necessary to
support the Four Countries Group in these tasks.
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