Capacity-Building for Biodiversity in Impact Assessment

Phase I: summary of objectives, activities and lessons learned

To focus its activities, CBBIA initiated global and regional 'needs assessments'. The first of these was a strategic planning meeting for the program held in conjunction with IAIA's annual meeting in Vancouver in 2004. Individuals and organizations already active in capacity building for biodiversity and IA were invited to share their experiences, review current strengths and weaknesses, compare needs and discuss opportunities to build on existing capacity and knowledge. Participants came prepared with country status reports outlining current approaches to IA with respect to biodiversity and identifying key problems and challenges. The results of this meeting helped to confirm CBBIA's objectives, select focal regions and structure the program's activities so that it would address key problems.

Summary of Project Activities

The overall approach was to concentrate capacity building resources and activities in selected focal regions and to complement these efforts with 'global' supporting activities, including an annual 'Small Grants' program, a bursary scheme to support participation in conferences and training and the provision of general advice, guidance and resources.

Project activities included:

  1. Regional programmes carried out in collaboration with suitable institutions and partners in Southern Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and Small Island States;
  2. Provision of small grants supporting research and capacity building projects in any country;
  3. Bursaries to allow participation by suitably qualified individuals in relevant events, including the IAIA Annual Conferences and targeted training sessions;
  4. Organisation of training courses and workshops, development of training resources and materials, development of a pool of suitably qualified trainers and workshop facilitators;
  5. Development of guidance, advice and toolkits;
  6. Networking activities including email discussion groups;
  7. Activities to support the work of global biodiversity-related Conventions and Agreements.