Cook Islands National Environment Service (NES) staff Jessie Nicholson and Maria Maoate attended the Regional Workshop for Asia and the Pacific on Accelerating the Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), alongside the Pacific Subregional Dialogue on the KMGBF Implementation in Thailand from 7-10 October 2025. Hosted by the Government of Thailand with UNEP, UNDP, FAO, SCBD, SPREP, and support from China, the workshop brought together government representatives, technical experts, and regional partners from across Asia and the Pacific.
The workshop focused on strengthening implementation of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) across the region, exploring progress, challenges, and good practices in policy integration, monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and resource mobilization. Panels highlighted key nexuses – biodiversity-food systems, biodiversity-health, and biodiversity-climate change – and emphasised synergies across Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) to improve integration and reduce duplication.
Nicholson contributed to Pacific subregional discussions, sharing the Cook Islands’ experience with updating and revising the NBSAP, including the translation of the NBSAP into Cook Islands’ Maori to increase outreach and ownership. Breakout groups allowed participants to discuss common challenges, such as lack of monitoring systems, limited human resources and weak inter-sectoral coordination.
During the Pacific Sub-regional dialogue, a writeshop was held to develop potential regional project proposals to access various NBSAP implementation funding presented during the workshop. These projects focused on priority areas identified by participants, namely improving national monitoring systems; the biodiversity-agriculture nexus particularly on food systems and the One Health approach; and the marine and coastal environment.
Insights from the workshop will guide NES in improving national NBSAP implementation and monitoring efforts, with a key priority being the development of robust data collection and monitoring systems. NES will continue collaborating with SPREP, the CBD’s regional Technical Support Centre (TSC) for the KMGBF, to enhance data collection, reporting, and overall NBSAP implementation in the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands updated NBSAP is expected to be launched in 2026.
Image: MEC President Mii Kauvai (2nd from R) and her volunteers
