PYEONGCHANG, Republic of Korea, Oct. 13, 2014, CNS – St. Kitts and Nevis has been elected to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Conference of the Parties (COP) Bureau for COP13 to be held in Mexico in 2016.
Director of Physical Planning and Environment in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Randolph Edmead, who is representing St. Kitts and Nevis at the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 12) being held here from Oct. 6-17, will serve for the next two years as the representative for the Caribbean, replacing Dr. Spencer Thomas of Grenada.
Edmead told Caribbean News Service (CNS) that biodiversity is very important to Sustainable Development for St. Kitts and Nevis as it addresses one of the three components of Sustainable Development – the environment component.
Additionally, he noted that as St. Kitts and Nevis is pursuing tourism development as its main economic activity, biodiversity is very important in this regard.
“Many of our tourism related activities and attractions are based on biodiversity. These include marine biodiversity where coral reefs represent an important component,” he said.
“Coral reefs also support fisheries which is an important source of food. The income generated from these activities not only support development but also is important for sustaining livelihoods.”
He said forest biodiversity also forms an important part of the tourism product of St. Kitts and Nevis, adding that ecotourism activities which are based on organised hikes along established trails are used regularly by tourists; while products for items such as craft and medicine are derived from the forest.
Mr. Edmead said the two-week meeting here is important to St. Kitts and Nevis and Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for several reasons.
“It is the first COP to be convened after the SIDS International Conference in Samoa and as such a number of the items that were discussed with direct relevance to SIDS were welcome. These include the items on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development and Biodiversity and Climate Change,” he explained.
“St. Kitts and Nevis and other Caribbean SIDS were also following the new and emerging issue of Synthetic Biology and the implication for Biodiversity in our region.”
He said COP12 is also significant as it saw the coming into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation.
“This represents the third objective of the CBD Convention and as such St. Kitts and Nevis welcomes this milestone achievement of the CBD. Even though St. Kitts and Nevis is not yet a party to this Protocol, we will be looking at the possibility to become a party as soon as possible,” he added.
The GRULAC is a non-binding consensus and dialogue group comprising all Latin American and Caribbean countries, the purpose of which is to reach consensus on the different topics of the Region.
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