GEO BON participated, as an observer, in 6th Plenary of IPBES that took place from March 17th to 24th 2018 in Medellin, Colombia.
By the end of the meeting, the plenary had approved the four regional assessments and the thematic assessment on Land Degradation and Restoration. Several GEO BON members were among the hundreds of experts from all over the world that contributed to those assessments, in various capacity from reviewers to fellows and contributing, lead, and coordinating lead authors.
You can access the media release of the assessments following those links:
Regional assessments: https://www.ipbes.net/news/media-release-biodiversity-nature%E2%80%99s-contributions-continue-%C2%A0dangerous-decline-scientists-warn
Land degradation and restoration assessment: https://www.ipbes.net/news/media-release-worsening-worldwide-land-degradation-now-%E2%80%98critical%E2%80%99-undermining-well-being-32
The GEO BON Secretariat was also invited to participate in a world café organized by the capacity building TSU of IPBES and had the pleasure to briefly meet and exchange with the IPBES fellows and present them the work of the network and opportunities to engage with us.
Finally, the undertaking of the pending assessments was approved by the plenary. The methodological assessment on the “diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits” and the thematic assessment of the “sustainable use of wild species” will begin in September 2018, while the call for experts for the thematic assessment on “invasive species” will be launched following IPBES 7 in May 2019.
For more information: https://www.ipbes.net