International Mechanism Of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity

2. DIVERSITAS OSC 1 (Oaxaca, November 2005)

Oaxaca Declaration on Biodiversity

The scientists participating in the DIVERSITAS First Open Science Conference, Integrating biodiversity science for human well-being, held in Oaxaca, November 10-12, 2005, support the conclusions of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and of the Conference Biodiversity Science and Governance held in Paris in January 2005:

Biodiversity is our common natural heritage and the foundation for a wide variety of ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being.
Irreversible destruction of biodiversity is taking place globally as a result of human activities; there is insufficient political and public attention to its extent and consequences.
Mechanisms to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity have been developed at local, national and international levels; these need to be supported and considerably expanded.
Scientific knowledge of biodiversity must be substantially increased, but immediate actions must be taken to better protect biodiversity based on existing knowledge.

Therefore, they call upon governments, policy makers and citizens:

to integrate biodiversity into the criteria considered in all economic and policy decisions that affect environmental management;
to launch and support ambitious interdisciplinary research programmes to explore the Earth’s biodiversity, the ecological and socio-economic causes and consequences of its changes, and the best means to conserve and sustainably use it;
to commit resources to build and greatly expand the capacity, especially in developing countries, to undertake biodiversity research and implement the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

In agreement with the recommendations of the Paris Conference, they urge national governments and United Nations bodies to establish a properly resourced international scientific panel that includes an intergovernmental component and that aims at providing, on a regular basis, validated and independent scientific information relating to biodiversity to governments, international conventions, non-governmental organisations, policy makers and the wider public.