On 28 and 29 May, Johanna von Braun (Natural Justice) participated in the first meeting of the Diversity Liaison Group (DLG) of the joint programme on biological and cultural diversity which was endorsed by UNESCO’s constituencies and the tenth Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

This first meeting brought a number of different stakeholders together, ranging from representatives of indigenous communities, academic institutions, funding agencies, other UN agencies and NGOs. The expectation from the DLG, which is an informal group with fluid membership, is to provide technical advice and to assist the Secretariats of the CBD and UNESCO in advancing the Joint Programme, assessments of progress made, and in plotting of future steps. 

In this first meeting participants were asked to comment on the priority focus areas for the joint program of work and its deliverables for COP11, discuss a future online ‘Global Knowledge Platform on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity’, identify key messages on the links between biological and cultural diversity, and to coordinate their strategic communication with respect to future events such as Rio+20, the World Conservation Congress and COP 11.