Armenia presents four flagship initiatives under COP17 Presidency to advance biodiversity conservation

Armenia is presenting four initiatives under its COP17 Presidency aimed at helping countries translate global biodiversity conservation goals into practical action.

The initiatives focus on strengthening biodiversity monitoring systems, conserving mountain and freshwater ecosystems, promoting effective conservation measures outside protected areas, and developing economic incentives that benefit biodiversity.

Speaking to Armenpress, Voskehat Grigoryan, Head of the Department for Specially Protected Areas of Nature and Biodiversity Policy at Armenia’s Ministry of Environment, said that water, agriculture, health, community well-being and other important sectors depend on biodiversity.

Conserving biodiversity and ecosystems is essential to ensuring quality of life, she said. 

Effective conservation requires reliable data, assessments of valuable ecosystems, professional capacity and appropriate economic decisions.

First initiative: Yerevan Tech for Biodiversity Monitoring Platform

“To make decisions aimed at conserving biodiversity, we need to know the condition of our ecosystems, how species populations are changing and where intervention is needed. This platform will help countries benefit from expert support, satellite observations and new tools for data collection and analysis. For countries around the world, including Armenia, it offers an opportunity to strengthen monitoring and make better-informed decisions. In 2022, in Kunming and Montreal, the world adopted four goals and 23 targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The Yerevan conference is taking place halfway along that path. The time for new commitments has passed; now we must deliver results, and we must do so faster. This is the meaning of our motto, ‘Taking Action for Nature,’” she said.

Grigoryan said that the first global review of collective progress provides a clear picture of where the world stands. It draws on national reports submitted by 129 Parties to the Convention, representing two-thirds of the Parties; national targets submitted by 162 Parties, representing more than 80% of the Parties; and updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans submitted by 89 Parties, representing nearly half of the Parties. According to her, the findings show that the world is not on track to achieve the goals.

“The review also tells us something about our own tools. Many countries still lack well-coordinated monitoring systems and infrastructure to generate, manage and report reliable data. The global report and the analysis of the seventh national reports reveal significant data gaps. And what cannot be measured cannot be accounted for or corrected.

“Armenia is familiar with this problem from its own experience. Our national monitoring system remains fragmented, and consolidating data is one of our priorities. Many Parties, large and small, face the same challenge.

“This is precisely why the COP17 Presidency has developed the Yerevan Tech for Biodiversity Monitoring Platform, in coordination with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and under the joint leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

“It has three components: cooperation among institutions responsible for indicators, accompanied by a support package; a program to strengthen countries’ capacity to support monitoring; and access to technologies and innovations, including Earth observation, ecosystem mapping, assessments of species extinction risk and genetic diversity, environmental DNA, bioacoustics, and artificial intelligence-assisted data integration, presented in a format that countries can apply in practice,” Grigoryan said.

Second initiative: Yerevan Platform on Mountains and Related Freshwater Ecosystems

Grigoryan noted that changes in mountain areas affect rivers, lakes, water availability and people’s livelihoods. For Armenia, this connection is clearly illustrated by Lake Sevan and mountain water systems. The platform is intended to facilitate the exchange of experience, provide technical support and connect countries with relevant partners and funding opportunities.

“This flagship initiative has personal significance for each of us, because our villages, monasteries, pastures and entire history have been shaped by mountain ecosystems.

“Healthy mountain ecosystems are essential for biodiversity, water security, agriculture and human well-being. Therefore, conserving mountains and related freshwater ecosystems is a shared priority that requires stronger cooperation among countries and across sectors.

“Worldwide, mountains support the livelihoods of around 1.2 billion people. They supply more than half of the world’s freshwater flows, encompass 25 of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots, and are home to 85% of amphibian, bird and mammal species,” she said.

Grigoryan emphasized that mountains are nature’s water reservoirs for humanity. Therefore, conserving mountains and related freshwater ecosystems is a shared priority that requires stronger cooperation among countries and across sectors.

The initiative will deliver two outcomes: bringing mountain countries together to coordinate their work regularly at the highest level, and supporting countries in incorporating mountains and freshwater ecosystems into biodiversity strategies, climate plans and national planning priorities.

“Our ambition is to ensure strong and practical coordination within the framework of work that has already been agreed,” the department head said.

Third initiative: Global OECM Action Hub

According to Voskehat Grigoryan, through this initiative Armenia aims to help countries and organizations come together around practical solutions that can support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The global ambition to conserve at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, marine and coastal areas by 2030 is important and necessary. However, achieving this target is not simply about increasing the area under conservation. It is about ensuring that these areas deliver significant and lasting results for biodiversity.

“Protected areas play a fundamental role in this effort. But we also recognize that important conservation outcomes can be achieved beyond their boundaries. Around the world, there are forests, agricultural landscapes, fishing grounds and other areas where biodiversity is effectively conserved, even though conservation may not be their primary management objective.

“Other effective area-based conservation measures, or OECMs, make it possible to recognize this contribution when it meets internationally agreed criteria. However, identifying and assessing such areas is not always straightforward.

“Many countries still face technical and institutional difficulties. Interpretations and applications of existing criteria may differ, while access to the necessary knowledge, guidance and expert support remains uneven.

“At the same time, international organizations, scientific institutions and practitioners working in this field have already accumulated considerable experience.

“We need to bring this knowledge together, make it more accessible and help countries apply it consistently. This is precisely why the COP17 Presidency has launched the Global OECM Action Hub initiative,” she said.

According to Grigoryan, the aim is not to establish new standards or duplicate ongoing work, but to strengthen coordination, build on existing expertise and support the consistent application of criteria agreed under the Convention.

The initiative will operate under the leadership of the COP17 Presidency, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Fourth initiative: Yerevan Call on Incentives Positive to Biodiversity and launch of the Friends of Target 18

“Positive incentives for biodiversity shape decisions across all sectors of our economies. They affect how natural resources are used, how goods are produced and consumed, and where public and private investments are directed. Aligning incentives with biodiversity goals can therefore benefit not only nature but also sustainable development, food and water security, climate resilience, livelihoods and long-term economic stability.

“At the same time, incentive reform is a complex and sensitive process. Incentives are closely linked to national economic and social priorities and can affect sectors and communities in different ways.

“Reforms must therefore be carefully assessed, determined at the national level, socially responsible and tailored to each country’s circumstances. There can be no single model for all countries,” Grigoryan said.

According to her, progress requires national leadership and responsibility, coordinated work across government, a reliable evidence base and international cooperation. It is with this understanding that the COP17 Presidency is launching the flagship initiative.

The initiative was developed in close cooperation with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with the support and involvement of pioneering countries. It brings together three mutually reinforcing elements.

“The first is the Yerevan Call on Incentives Positive to Biodiversity, which sends a political signal in support of accelerated, equitable action tailored to national circumstances to advance Target 18.

“The second is the Friends of Target 18 group, envisioned as a voluntary, Party-led platform to maintain political momentum, exchange national experiences, share practical solutions and promote cooperation beyond COP17.

“The third is the Yerevan Biodiversity Finance Challenge, which aims to translate political commitments into action at the country level, including through incentive assessment and reform, biodiversity budgeting and biodiversity finance planning,” the department head said.

She emphasized that these elements are intended to bring environment ministries together with ministries of finance, agriculture, economy and development. The initiative also seeks to engage central banks and financial supervisory authorities, banks, private financial institutions and businesses, philanthropic organizations and civil society.

“The initiatives are designed for sustained work. After COP17, their governance and working mechanisms are expected to be put in place, plans developed, and technical and policy dialogues organized. Support tailored to countries’ needs will begin on the basis of available partners and resources. Progress will be monitored through national reports and the initiatives’ work plans, and the results are also expected to be presented at COP18. It is important to us that the cooperation established at the conference continues and delivers measurable results,” Voskehat Grigoryan concluded.