Minister Thakuri reiterates Nepal's commitment to biodiversity conservation at COP 16

Kathmandu, Oct 31: Minister for Forests and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri has reiterated Nepal's commitment to bio-diversity conservation. 

In the UN Biodiversity Summit known as COP16 being held in Cali of Colombia, the Minister said Nepal has made remarkable progress in restoration of forest areas and conservation of endangered animals, while the number of tigers has increased three-fold.

Addressing the session 'Sustainable Finance, Financial System Reform and the Global Response to Biodiversity', he said Nepal is home to world's 2.7 per cent biodiversity though it covers just 0.1 per cent of the world's territory. 

The Forests and Environment Minister said that the achievements were the results of the cooperation of women, indigenous nationalities and local communities, adding that their costs and contributions should not be undermined.

He said that Nepal has garnered 152 million US dollars every year for biodiversity conservation through the community-based conservation initiatives. "However, this is not sufficient to achieve the goal of our biodiversity perspective. We have a short of 80 million US dollars every year as the financing gap," the Minister for Forests and Environment said.

To meet this financing gap, we have been implementing different sustainable financing tools, Minister Shahi shared.

Likewise, he said that the commitment of the world community to provide 20 billion US dollars every year for biodiversity conservation till 2025 should be implemented.

Minister Shahi also stressed the need for support from the international community for implementing the plans for biodiversity conservation. (RSS)