Press Release
The First ECO Experts Group Meeting on Developing a Work Plan on Biodiversity was held on 24-25 April 2007 in Islamabad, the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Sami-ul-Haq Khilji, Additional Secretary (Deputy Minister) of the Ministry of Environment of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In his inaugural statement, Mr. Khilji stated that the ECO is a platform with a strong and unshakable bond of faith that binds the member states together to act and think collectively. He further stated that there was a need to take concrete steps to fulfill our obligations in the region. The participants made their presentations on the state of affairs of biodiversity in their respective countries.
The Meeting was succeeded in reaching consensus and adopting a Work Plan on Biodiversity in the ECO Region for the years 2007-2015. In the Work Plan, the member states agreed to cooperate in various fields of biodiversity such as achieving the Global 2010 Targets for Biodiversity, trans-boundary movement of biological specimens and species, alien invasive species, promotion of taxonomy, climate change and biodiversity, conservation of shared population of species, habitat protection and endemic and relict species.
The Meeting also recognized the need for public awareness about the effects of biodiversity in their every day life and stated that the people should understand that biodiversity was more than mere discussion of plants, animals, or their ecosystems.
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