LEX-FAOC015912

The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan II is a national cross-sectoral strategic document of Uganda covering the period 2014-2025. Its main objective is to enhance biodiversity conservation, management and sustainable utilisation and fair sharing of the benefits. For this general purpose, the document provides for more specific objectives, including in food security area. In this area, it aims to collect and store diverse gene pools, including through community and women-led seed banks as a basis of genetic adaptation to climate change and for enhancing food and nutritional security; and put in place measures to protect food and energy security of local communities including women and men when introducing biofuel crops. The document’s other objectives include to strengthen stakeholder co-ordination and frameworks for biodiversity management; to facilitate and enhance capacity for research, monitoring, information management and exchange on biodiversity; to put in place measures to reduce and manage negative impacts on biodiversity; to promote the sustainable use and equitable sharing of costs and benefits of biodiversity; to enhance awareness and education on biodiversity issues among the various stakeholders; to harness modern biotechnology for socio-economic development with adequate safety measures for human health and the environment; and to promote innovative sustainable funding mechanisms to mobilize resources for implementing NBSAP II. In the area of climate change, NBSAP II plans to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation for biodiversity conservation including disaster risk reduction from climate change impacts; enhance carbon stocks and storage by mainstreaming climate change into the REDD+ strategy as well as in sector policies, plans and projects; and enhance biodiversity and ecosystems’ resilience to climate change especially in biodiversity hotspots. National Environment Management Authority, which is the Convention on Biological Diversity focal point in the Republic of Uganda, will be responsible for the over-all co-ordination of the implementation of NBSAP II. Sectoral agencies will be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the sectoral strategies and action plans in the sectors. At the district level, the district local government will be the lead agency in supporting NBSAP II implementation. Also, at the local level, the partners in implementing the NBSAP II will be the local communities. Additionally, NGOs will be crucial in NBSAP II implementation. NBSAP II will be monitored at different levels and intervals with the full involvement of different stakeholders.