Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a consortium, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) leverages multiple workstreams to contribute to delivering healthier and more resilient ecosystems and support in building science-policy-practice capacity at regional, national and local levels. The initiative is supported financially by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection through the International Climate Initiative and SwedBio at the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

BES-Net builds on the latest assessments of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to offer transformative solutions for biodiversity on the ground. This runs in parallel with the collaborative platform for scientists, policymakers and practitioners that fosters effective BES management and multi-stakeholder knowledge sharing.

During the first phase of BES-Net from 2017 to 2022, Viet Nam was committed – alongside Cameroon, Ethiopia and Colombia – to undertake its first national ecosystem assessment (NEA). UNEP-WCMC, the Institute of Strategy and Policy for Natural Resources and Environment and the Center for Biodiversity Conservation multilaterally facilitated Phase I, instrumentalizing the Trialogues for the three communities and generating evidence-informed advocacy towards national decision makers with the NEA’s key recommendations.