International conservation
We provide advice on nature conservation at the global scale.
This work falls into three broad categories:
- Support on conservation to the UK’s Overseas Territories (OTs)
and Crown Dependencies (CDs)
- Advice on the UK’s implementation of international conventions
that relate to biodiversity
- Providing information about - and analysis - of UK impacts on
biodiversity abroad through trade, tourism and investment
The main recipients of our advice are UK Government departments,
the UK devolved administrations and the OTs and CDs. Government
departments that we work with include the
Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra),
the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
(FCO), the Department of Culture, Media and
Sport (DCMS) and the Department for International Development
(DFID).
Overseas Territories
Biodiversity in the UK’s Overseas Territories is globally
significant. In 2009 the UK Government published the UK Overseas
Territories Biodiversity Strategy which sets out strategic
priorities for effective conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity in these territories. UK Government actions will focus
on providing financial support, building capacity and improving the
flow of information and advice from the UK into the OTs. Our
programme complements and supports the strategy.
International conventions
International conventions are often known as Multilateral
Environmental Agreements or MEAs. Our input includes providing
objective, high quality scientific advice on the application and
implementation of conventions, joining UK delegations to
Conferences of the Parties and their subsidiary committees and
collating formal reports of UK activities. We also carry out more
specialised roles, such as advising on Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) permits.
We may also support implementation of agreements in the UK and
abroad, either by commissioning relevant research, publishing
reports and contributing to policy formulation. A key focus in
recent years has been progress towards the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) target of reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by
2010 and discussions about a successor target.
JNCC also acts as the UK focus for links to the Conservation of
Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). The UK is an observer to CAFF, which
is a working group of the Arctic Council.
UK Global Impact Programme
The programme analyses trade and investment relationships
between the UK and the rest of the world and the impacts they have
on biodiversity. The focus is on the nature and possible impacts of
UK investment into overseas economies, our use of imported biomass
and how overseas ecosystems support the UK economy. The biomass
import flows of relevance are those involving food commodities,
forest products, biofuels for transport and biomass for energy.