Notification 2009-114

Dear Madam/Sir, In decision IX/13, E7 on Article 8(j) and related provisions, the Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requested the Executive Secretary to convene, subject to the availability of financial resources, further regional and sub-regional workshops on community-friendly communication tools on traditional knowledge related to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Decisions VIII/5, B13 and D6(a) on Article 8(j), similarly requested the Executive Secretary to convene regional and sub-regional workshops to assist indigenous and local communities in capacity-building, education and training, as well as in using new information and web-based technologies and in establishing communication networks. In response to these decisions, the Secretariat of the CBD is continuing a series of training workshops to support indigenous and local community management of biodiversity and tourism products. These workshops aim to reinforce the sustainable use of biodiversity in tourism through bolstering the web-based capacities of indigenous and local community tourism operators. The workshops are being planned for five bio-geographical regions of the globe – the Arctic, islands, dry lands and deserts, forest basins and mountains. The first workshop of the series took place in 2007 in Canada and focused on the Arctic region. In 2008, the second workshop was hosted in Samoa for the Pacific Islands region. The Secretariat of the CBD, in collaboration with the Government of Ecuador and thanks to the continued financial support of the Government of Spain, is now planning the third workshop of the series, focusing on forest ecosystems, to be held in Ecuador on 9-11 December 2009. It is my pleasure to invite you to nominate possible participants for this upcoming workshop. Please select one or two nominees based upon the following criteria:  The participants must come from a country of the Latin America and Caribbean region;  Participants are indigenous or local community leaders in tourism from the region as entrepreneurs, policymakers or advisors, and active in existing and functioning tourism operations. The tourism products they manage include areas with significant biodiversity (parks, community or private protected areas in forest ecosystems);  Participants, and their constituents or representatives, should have access to Internet and use the Web for information, marketing, and networking; and  Participants can disseminate the methodology and results of the workshop within existing networks and their region of origin, after the workshop. Available resources will allow the Secretariat to offer financial travel support to cover the costs of participation for approximately eleven participants. Therefore, in order to allow for a greater attendance at the workshop, please disseminate information on this event to networks of indigenous and local community tourism operators in your country, so that those interested can seek independent funding for their participation. Among those nominees requiring financial support, the final sponsored participants will be selected based on the abovementioned selection criteria as well as geographical and gender balance, capacity for replication and dissemination of workshop outcomes and significance of indigenous tourism within the participant’s country. For more information, see attached brochure. I would appreciate receiving updated curriculum vitae for the nominated participants at your earliest convenience, but no later than 9 October 2009, by fax to +1 (514) 288-6588, or scanned and attached to an email addressed to secretariat@cbd.int. I look forward to your suggestions and response. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points of Latin America and the Caribbean region, Indigenous and Local Community Organizations