On Tuesday, 26 February, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) board formally approved its US$4.5 million co-funding for the new Sustainable Forest and Biodiversity Management program in the Heart of Borneo.

This funding is part of a program that was approved by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council in November 2012. In addition to the ADB’s US$4.5m, the GEF will provide US$2.5m, the Government of Indonesia US$0.5m and WWF US$2m. The GEF program is an example of the power of collaboration with public sector partners, which has resulted in several new funding mechanisms directed at the Heart of Borneo program.

Read more: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/borneo_forests/?207692/Up-...

The Latin American and Caribbean region is home to 40% of the biodiversity on earth and unique ecosystems which can support and foster sustained economic growth if properly managed.

To help the region protect and use this natural capital to generate social and economic development, the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (BES) Program supports countries by:

Integrating the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services into key economic sectors
Protecting priority regional ecosystems
Supporting effective environmental governance and policy
Creating new sustainable development business opportunities

Read more: http://iadb.org/en/topics/environment/biodiversity-platform/the-idbs-bio...

Governments meeting in India to make key decisions on our planet’s future have to prove the deal they struck two years ago was not just a display of good will but a serious commitment.

Over 190 nations will meet in Hyderabad from 8th to 19th October to discuss implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a legally binding treaty governing the sustainable use of our planet’s natural wealth.

Read more: http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?206386/Governments-invest-too-slowly-in-p...

Governments from more than 90 countries have agreed to establish an independent panel of scientists to assess the very latest research on the state of the planet's fragile ecosystems. The decision, which will create a body akin to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was made in Panama City this weekend, after years of negotiations.

Read more: http://www.nature.com/news/world-governments-establish-biodiversity-pane...

Saving biodiversity will cost the world $330 billion a year over the next eight years, according to the UN Convention of Biological Diversity’s new chief

Read more: http://www.rtcc.org/nature/300-billion-a-year-needed-to-save-biodiversit...

As executing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the IDB revitalizes vulnerable ecosystems and helps curb climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It’s looking increasingly likely that this will be the year the United Nations introduces an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – a group similar to the IPCC, but designed to deal with biodiversity rather than climate change.

Its promoters want IPBES to provide an interface between the scientific community and policy makers. The hope is that it will strengthen the use of science in policy making on biodiversity and ecosystems. In a general sense it is proposed that IPBES will provide relevant information on how biodiversity and ecosystem services can be conserved and used.

Read more: http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/biodiversity-think-global-act-local-1232...

The objective of the Effective Management of the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Project for Malawi is to ensure effective management of the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve through a sustainable management model focusing on its Bua watershed area. The project aims to develop and apply a new management approach with the involvement of border communities, public sector, private sector and civil society that focuses on strengthening national Protected Area (PA) management capacity.

Read more: http://go.worldbank.org/DIT36O26L0

Sulawesi is the 11th largest island in the world and an Indonesian region blessed with unique biodiversity which inhabit its pristine terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems. The region also has an incredible amount of mineral deposits underneath its 12.5 million hectares of forest, according to Forestry Ministry data from 2009.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com

The Coral Triangle is a 272-page book that showcases the people, places, and marine ecosystems that make this region truly remarkable. Published by ADB and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the book documents an 18-month expedition by award-winning photographer Jürgen Freund and Stella-Chiu Freund. 

Photo Essay