From 21 October to 1 November, a dynamic mix of government leaders, scientists and biodiversity champions will descend on Cali, Colombia, for the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD COP16).
The event promises a packed agenda, focusing on transforming doubly ambitious commitments of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) – which set 23 global targets to be met by 2030 – into actionable plans, supported by robust financial mechanisms and monitoring metrics.
Cali’s vibrant history and culture form the backdrop for this important moment of multilateral governance: its dynamic dance and food cultures – which fuse Indigenous, European and African elements into multitudinous and surprising forms – will offer participants a compelling microcosm of the wider continent’s rich cultural and ecological diversity.
Aerial view of the Amazon Rainforest, near Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Brazil.
Photo by Neil Palmer/CIAT
The biodiversity powerhouse of Latin America
Latin America harbours more than 40% of the world’s known biodiversity, almost a third of its freshwater, over a quarter of its mangrove area and 57% of primary forests. These natural assets position the region as a key player in global biodiversity and climate negotiations with both a unique responsibility and a remarkable opportunity to lead the charge and shift the equation in favor of global biodiversity.
Cali, for example, is nestled in a lush valley amid the towering Andes—the longest mountain range on Earth, stretching nearly 9,000 kilometres from the windswept plains of Patagonia in the south to Venezuela’s northernmost peaks. These majestic mountains cradle a rich mosaic of ecosystems, from the misty páramo and puna grasslands to high-altitude wetlands and alpine heaths. Together, these ecosystems perform essential roles in regulating the continent’s water supply and cycling.
The tropical Andes, in particular, stand out as the most biologically diverse of the planet’s 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots. Home to an astounding array of amphibians, birds, and mammals and boasting more than one-sixth of all plant species on Earth, this region is a true biodiversity treasure trove.
Journeying inland from Cali leads you to the vast Amazon rainforest, often dubbed the ‘lungs of the Earth’. This critical ecosystem is vital for global climate regulation, yet land-use changes disrupt its natural functions. To preserve its integrity, we must implement interventions that combine biodiversity conservation with socio-environmental resilience for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Travelling in the opposite direction towards the coast, the salty air of the Pacific Ocean reveals another biodiversity hotspot. Latin America is a global leader in marine conservation, exemplified by the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor, which protects and connects 10 Marine Protected Areas and encompasses 2 million square kilometres of ocean across Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama. These collaborative efforts safeguard biodiversity-rich seascapes and provide vital social, environmental and economic benefits for coastal communities and national economies.
The double-edged sword of natural wealth
Latin America’s vast natural wealth has long been both a blessing and a curse. Since the days of the Spanish conquistadors, who mined the mountains for silver and planted sugarcane across the fertile lowlands, the region has been caught in a cycle of extraction, too often yielding little benefit for local communities.
The legacy of exploitation continues to this day, leaving Latin America the most unequal region on the planet, where the top 10% earn 21 times more than the bottom 10%. In 2021, the combined wealth of the richest 105 individuals accounted for nearly 9% of the region’s GDP, while poverty remains deeply entrenched, disproportionately affecting women, Indigenous peoples, and rural communities.
It’s now alarmingly clear that this model of unchecked exploitation is unsustainable for everyone. And the stakes couldn’t be higher: if the Amazon crosses its looming ecological ‘tipping point’, its vital carbon and water cycling functions collapse, drastically accelerating climate impacts and biodiversity loss.
The challenge at hand is to chart a new path forward: one that conserves and restores Latin America’s biodiversity, creating and maintaining services and livelihoods for 656 million people, a third of whom struggle to meet their basic needs. The future of both the region’s ecosystems and its people hangs in the balance.
A Kichwa villager cuts down small trees using a machete, clearing an area to sow corn to feed their livestock near the Napo River in Orellana, Ecuador. Photo by Tomas Munita/CIFOR-ICRAF
Forging partnerships: A collaborative approach to ecosystem restoration
Meeting that challenge will demand an extraordinary level of collaboration across sectors, said Khalil Walji, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and the principal investigator of the Restoration Monitoring Target 2 Pilots project. This initiative is focused on helping countries design, set, and implement national targets aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework’s ambitious goal to restore 30% of all degraded ecosystems by 2030 (Target 2).
“One of the transformative elements of the new framework, learning from noted underachievement of its predecessor, the Aichi Targets, is the push for a whole-of-society, whole-of-government approach,” said Walji. “It’s a significant departure from the traditional way of doing things, where the climate ministry would only handle climate issues, or the environment ministry focused solely on biodiversity. It acknowledges the inherently intersectoral nature of the poly-crisis and the drivers behind both biodiversity loss and land use change.”
“Ecosystem restoration is a complex, long-term endeavor, that presents significant challenges across the entire restoration process: adding to the complexity is that restoration requires an intersectoral approach,” continued Walji. “Most of degraded land exists outside of protected areas, with much of it on private or community lands, making collaboration crucial. To fully seize these opportunities, we need to foster partnerships and convene all relevant actors to the table to integrate NBSAPs [National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans] into the national decision-making process. Success in restoration will depend not only on environmental factors, but also on aligning interests in agriculture, finance, governance, and local livelihoods.”
The project has launched pilot initiatives in four countries – Burkina Faso, Kenya, Peru, and Vietnam – to support the development of national and sub-national strategies and monitoring frameworks for restoration. These efforts converged around a series of national dialogues and the publishing of the Target 2 Resource Guide, a self-assessment tool for alignment to global guidance, and a capacity assessment brief to support countries in developing their updated NBSAPs.
In Peru, the country dialogue proved particularly valuable due to overlapping mandates between the ministries of environment and agriculture, both of which are responsible for restoration, but in different types of landscapes.
“There was noticeable policy misalignment,” said Walji. “At the sub-national level, actors are often unsure which policy to follow because of conflicting guidelines. Should they adhere to agricultural policies or biodiversity strategies? This often depends on the influence of the ministry in charge.”
“The dialogues played a crucial role in bringing these issues to light,” Walji added. “CIFOR-ICRAF, as a neutral convening party, helped create a space for ministries and various actors to engage, which was key in identifying discrepancies in definitions and goals, and starting a conversation on how to address them collaboratively.”
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