This weekend, in time for Earth Day, the Interngovenmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was established. Here is the text from the IPBES website:
IPBES was established by more than 90 Governments in Panama City on Saturday 21 April, after several years of international negotiations. ³Today, biodiversity won², said the chair of the meeting, Sir Robert Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom. ³Biodiversity and ecosystem services are essential for human wellbeing. This platform will generate the knowledge and build the capacity to protect them for this and future generations.² The German city of Bonn won the bid to host the secretariat of the new independent body. See here for the full press release in English <http://www.ipbes.net/component/docman/doc_download/979-press-release-englis h.html?Itemid=58> and Spanish <http://www.ipbes.net/component/docman/doc_download/980-press-release-spanis h.html?Itemid=58> and here for the IISD coverage of the meeting <http://www.iisd.ca/ipbes/sop2/> . Cheers! Fabrice
