National Biodiversity Strategy
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The National Biodiversity Strategy of the Czech Republic (hereinafter the “Strategy”) was formulated shortly after the accession of the Czech Republic (CR) to the European Union (EU). This is the fi rst document that outlines the further biodiversity conservation and management in the country. The Strategy has been submitted for approval to the Government of the CR as a task in the non-legislative plan of work of the Government for 2005. It is based on the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter the “Convention”, “CBD”), which was open for the signature at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, “Earth Summit”) in Rio de
Janeiro in June 1992. It came into force for the CR on March 3, 1994. The Convention is considered globally to be a key document in the conservation of biological diversity (biodiversity) at all three levels (genetic, species and ecosystem).
The very definition of the Convention’s objectives indicates a clear direction, although a very broad one. The Contracting Parties to the Convention pledged to implement the three objectives of the Convention, consisting in:
1. conservation of biological diversity
2. sustainable use of components of biological diversity
3. fair and equitable sharing of the benefi ts arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
In order for the Contracting Parties to the Convention to be capable of implementing these objectives, pursuant to the Article 6, in accordance with their particular conditions and capabilities, they are to develop national strategies, plans and programmes for the conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of its components or adapt existing strategies, plans or programmes for this purpose. These should refl ect, inter alia, the measures set forth in this Convention and relevant to the particular Contracting Party and also integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of its components
into the relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.
The Strategy is a fundamental document that is based on the related activities of the Convention, i.e. the thematic programmes of work, proposed by the Subsidiary Body on Scientifi c, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), which are then approved by the Conference of the Parties (COP). The individual thematic programmes of work of the COP should, within the capabilities of each country, be included in national biodiversity strategie and subsequently incorporated and elaborated in action plans. The Strategy accepts the thematic programmes of work and suitably modifi es the objectives set forth in them on the basis of the current conditions and capabilities
in the CR.
The internationally agreed objective of halting or at least substantially reducing the rate of the loss of biodiverzity by 2010 is the subject of several international and European agreements. In the framework of the EU, the need to halt the loss of biodiversity and include this in the EU Strategy for Sustainable Development was fi rst emphasized at the Gothenburg Summit in 2001. The 6th Environment Action Programme of the European Community (July 2002) also includes the above requirement at both an European and an international level. A common position of Ministers of the Environment was adopted at the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) in Kiev in May 2003, in which they pledged to halt the biodiversity loss in the ECE region by 2010. At the global level, Decision VI/26 was adopted at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (2002). The alarming state of biodiversity was in this decision evaluated and Parties commit themselves to a more effective and coherent implementation of the three objectives of the Convention to achieve by 2010 signifi cant reduction of the current loss of biodiversity at global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefi t off all life on earth. The related World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, 2002) again emphasized the objective to substantially reduce the current loss in biodiversity by 2010 and considered CBD as the key instrument for achieving the “2010 Target” on the global scale. Consequently, all of the objectives of the Strategy are directed towards achieving this target, as agreed by the representatives of the individual countries.
The National Biodiversity Strategy of the Czech Republic has been prepared according to the structure and in accordance with the Biodiversity Strategy of European Community The division of the individual chapters into strategic themes (ecosystem approach; in-situ conservation, ex-situ conservation; sustainable use; etc.) and biodiversity into sectoral policie (agriculture, forest ecosystems, water and wetland ecosystems, etc.) is maintained. The individual chapters are always adapted to the specifi c conditions in the CR. Implementation of the Strategy can substantially contribute to achieving the objectives set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy of the Czech Republic in December
2004.
The Strategy attempts to be a comprehensive, structured and multi-disciplinary document. Consequently, the text includes references to the individual chapters (both in strategic themes and in the second part – biodiverzity in the sectoral policies) and also references to the individual Decisions of the Conference of the Parties of CBD, in the form, e.g., Decision VII/24, indicating that Decision No. 24 was adopted at the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, and deals with education and public awareness. In addition to these references, each chapter includes a comprehensive table with a list of related documents. As an integral part, the Strategy also presents a dictionary of the used terms and abbreviations.
The main objective of the Strategy is to create a document for biodiversity conservation in the CR that will be both intersectoral and interdisciplinary. All parts of the document were prepared by and consulted with experts in organizations under other Ministries, sectors, etc., scientifi c and research institutions, universities and with key partners, and, last but not least, a viewpoint on the document was also provided by non-governmental organizations. In the Strategy’s drafting, for which working groups were established, headed by the chief coordinators, the authors and the drafting parties based their work on the main conceptual and policy materiále on nature conservation in the CR, such as the State Environmental Policy of the Czech Republic (SEP) and the State Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection Programme of the Czech Republic (SNCLPP CR), and on the legally binding regulations for nature conservation and landscape protection. The relevant policy materials and legally binding regulations, which are cited in the particular chapter, were used as basic background materials in each individual chapter, on both strategic themes and sectoral policies.
