The Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute held the first national biodiversity consultation forum at Bishoftu Pyramid Hotel and Resort on 11 January 2024.

The Director General of the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute said that the plenary session included members of the Standing Committee of the Federal People’s Representative Council, members of the National Biodiversity Forum, senior government officials from federal and regional offices, scientific families, leaders of the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, media families and stakeholders of the forum. He added that as per the instructions of the Biodiversity Forum, it will hold the General Assembly twice a year. Finally, he mentioned the conference will hear and evaluate reports on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Dr. Feleke Woldeyes, the Deputy Director General of the institute, told the participants of the day’s forum that Ethiopia’s post-2020 biodiversity framework was approved in Montreal, Canada last year and the world is in a hurry to implement it.

The framework will run from 2021 – 2030 and progress will be reported annually. He added that biodiversity and ecosystem services are carried out by three main bodies and they are policy makers, the scientific community and practitioners.

 “A brief review of the National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA)” by Dr. Feleke Woldeyes and “Scenario Analysis based on the findings of the (NEA)” by Professor Mekuria Argaw research articles were presented.

Dr. Demeke Datiko presented “BES Net Phase II Overview” document and Assessment findings of Matters Related to “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES)” by Dr. Abyot Berhanu as well as Assessment findings of Matters Related to “the National Biodiversity Platform-Ethiopia” (NBP-Ethiopia) presented by Dr. Samson Shimels.

“IPBES Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species: The East African perspective” was presented by Dr. Feleke Woldeyes, Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute.

Finally, group discussions and reports were presented and the program was completed.