The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment has the mandate to coordinate the implementation in Brazil of the commitments made under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This responsibility falls with the secretary of Biodiversity and Forests, established in 1999 to coordinate policies related to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, forests, fisheries, agrobiodiversity and protected areas as well as the policies for the access to genetic resources and the associated traditional knowledge and the sharing of benefits derived from such access. In 2003 the Coordinating Committee of the National Biological Diversity Program, established in 1994, was reformed and upgraded into the National Biodiversity Committee – CONABIO with an expanded mandate to coordinate the implementation of the CBD in Brazil and to coordinate the implementation of the principles and guidelines of the National Biodiversity Policy, established in 2002. This committee, with representatives from 10 governmental sectors and from 10 sectors of the civil society, has since adopted the National Biodiversity Action Plan, the National Priority Areas for Biodiversity and the National Biodiversity Targets for 2010, among other policy decisions of relevance. The Secretary of Biodiversity and Forests (SBF) operates in a matrix structure with a focus on major thematic agendas and on the major biomes of the country. It operates through four National Departments, the Department of Biodiversity Conservation (DCBIO), the Department of Forests (DFLOR), the Department of Protected Areas (DAP) and the Department of Genetic Patrimony (DPG); four Biome-focused Sectors, the Nucleus on the Coastal and Marine Zone, the Nucleus on the Atlantic Forest and the Pampa, the Nucleus on the Cerrado and the Pantanal, the Nucleus on the Caatinga; as well as the Coordination Units of several national and regional programes, projects and committees. The Secretary of Biodiversity and Forests does not operate alone as it work in partnership with the other secretaries of the Ministry of the Environment - the Secretary of Climate Change and Environmental Quality, the Secretary of Water Resources and Urban Environment, the Secretary of Extractivism and Sustainable Rural Development, the Secretary of Institutional Coordination and Environmental Citizenship, and the Executive Secretary. The Biodiversity policies and programs are implemented mostly through the executive arms of the Ministry of the Environment: the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBIO), the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB), the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute (JBRJ), the National Water Agency (ANA), and the National Environmental Fund (FNMA). Finally, a large network of partner institutions of federal agencies linked to other sectoral ministries, state governments, civil society organizations and donor foreign agencies cooperates with the Ministry of the Environment to implement the biodiversity policies, programs and projects. Since the 8th Conference of the Parties held in Curitiba in March 2006, the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment has intensified its efforts to implement the broad agenda adopted under the CBD and to achieve the 2010 Biodiversity Target and sub-targets agreed in COP decisions VII/30 and VIII/15 and in CONABIO Resolution 3/2006. This booklet provides an overview and update of the major initiatives taken by the Brazilian Government in relation to the major issues in the agenda of the 9th Conference of the Parties held in Bonn. Maria Cecília Wey de Brito Secretary of Biodiversity and Forests Brazilian Ministry of the Environment |