About
CABES – Capacity Development for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Experts aims to develop and strengthen the capacity of professionals in biodiversity-related fields in West, Central, and East Africa to engage in the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, www.ipbes.net). CABES is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).
The goals of the CABES programme include:
Goal one
to inform national decision-making processes amongst multiple stakeholder groups including researchers, practitioners from the public and private sectors, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) holders, women, and IPBES National Focal Points (NFPs) in target countries.
Goal two
to establish a network of science-policy platforms to contribute to the implementation of the IPBES rolling work programmes at national, sub-regional and regional level. Sub-regional refers to countries either in West, Central or East Africa, and the regional level represents the 38 countries.
Goal three
to train early career scientists, researchers and facilitators to manage science-policy interfaces (SPIs). Finally, CABES will develop capacities to support the implementation of political decisions for the management and sustainable use of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services/Nature’s Contributions to People (BES/NCPs).
Objectives of the CABES programme
The overall project objective is to raise awareness of IPBES (www.ipbes.net) amongst multiple stakeholder groups and undertake actions towards a better representation of West, Central, and East Africa in IPBES activities as well as improved uptake of IPBES products into national policies to better conserve and sustainably use BES/NCPs. This is closely related to the main outcome of the project, targeting at science-policy-practice communities represented by researchers, practitioners from the public, private sectors, as well as NGOs, ILK holders and focal points in West, Central, and East Africa that support the national governments to engage in the IPBES rolling work programme at global level, and its implementation at the regional and national level.
In order to achieve this objective, CABES will:
- Enhance the awareness about IPBES and its multiple outputs to inform national decision-making processes on the conservation and sustainable use of BES/NCPs amongst various stakeholder groups,
- Establish a network of science-policy platforms to contribute to the implementation of IPBES work programme at national, sub-regional, and regional levels across West, Central, and East Africa,
- Train a gender-balanced group of early-career scientists, researchers and facilitators to manage SPIs and contribute to narrowing knowledge gaps reported in IPBES assessments and other IPBES activities, and
- Develop capacities of decision makers and other target groups to support the implementation of political decisions on nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based adaptation approaches and sustainable use of BES/NCPs.
