MONTREAL, Canada—The Philippines received the gold CHM Award at the the recent 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15) in Montreal, Canada.
At the same time, Malaysia and Mexico bagged the bronze and silver, respectively.
The Asean Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM), on the other hand, received a certificate of achievement as an existing regional CHM.
The CHM serves as the CBD’s platform for information sharing, with the CBD web site serving as its central node, National Clearing-House Mechanisms at the national level, and partner institutions at thematic or regional levels.
Making biodiversity information easily accessible contributes to the achievement of science-based and informed decision-making among policymakers working on biodiversity-relevant laws and regulations.
The Asean CHM serves as a single point of access to the national CHMs of the Asean member states (AMS).
It also offers a variety of services, such as biodiversity information and tools and resources for capacity development, to assist the AMS with conservation planning, monitoring, and decision-making.
Additionally, it highlights the regional status of protected areas, among other regional assessments that can be utilised as a foundation for the prioritisation and conservation of species and protected areas.
CBD Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said that the CHM awards were given to recognize parties with the most significant progress in the establishment and further development of their national and regional CHM platforms, and to encourage other countries to do the same.
The awardees were chosen based on the criteria of the CHMs’ content, online services, layout and functionality, visibility and usage, content management, and governance.
This year’s CHM Awards jury panel, or the internal advisory committee to the CHM, consisted of global experts in biodiversity information management.
Among them were Han de Koeijer from Belgium as the committee chairman; Rigobert Ntep from Cameroon and John Tayleur from the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre as jury members; and Tim Hirsch from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility as an observer.
Image credits: ACB