BES-Net at COP17: Connecting Knowledge and Action on the Road to 2030
The 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference closed in Yerevan, Armenia, on 31 October, with nearly 50 decisions adopted and a shared plan for the four years left to 2030.
The seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) was the first official event at which countries took stock of their collective progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), adopted in 2022. Launched ahead of the conference, the State of Biodiversity Action report fed into the review and showed that the world is off track to meet the Framework’s 23 targets by 2030.
Parties responded with the Yerevan Pathway, which sets priorities for action by 2030, ranging from more financial, scientific and technical support for developing countries to the reform of nature-harmful subsidies and stronger monitoring and review. Countries also agreed on the Sevan Guidelines, the rules of operation for the permanent subsidiary body on Article 8(j) of the Convention established at CBD COP16, giving Indigenous Peoples and local communities a stronger place in shaping global biodiversity policy. Nearly US$2 billion in new biodiversity funding was also announced over the course of the conference.
“Ultimately, the test is not what governments agreed in Yerevan, but what they change when they return home,” said Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the CBD.
Throughout COP17, discussions kept returning to the same challenge: how to ensure that the knowledge already available translates into decisions and action on the ground. Three recent assessments by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) offer governments and other stakeholders tools to bridge the gap between ambition and implementation: the Nexus Assessment, on the links between biodiversity, water, food and health, the Transformative Change Assessment and the Business and Biodiversity Assessment.
BES-Net consortium partners the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) took part in eight events across the two weeks, alongside partners from Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Namibia and North Macedonia. From national ecosystem assessments and regional Trialogues to the experience of rural communities and young researchers, their contributions offered practical examples of how assessment findings, Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) and dialogue among diverse actors can support this effort. Together, they pointed to a common lesson: implementation moves faster when scientists, policymakers and ILK holders sit at the same table.
Throughout COP17, discussions kept returning to the same challenge: how to ensure that the knowledge already available translates into decisions and action on the ground. Three recent assessments by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) offer governments and other stakeholders tools to bridge the gap between ambition and implementation: the Nexus Assessment, on the links between biodiversity, water, food and health, the Transformative Change Assessment and the Business and Biodiversity Assessment.
BES-Net consortium partners the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) took part in eight events across the two weeks, alongside partners from Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Namibia and North Macedonia. From national ecosystem assessments and regional Trialogues to the experience of rural communities and young researchers, their contributions offered practical examples of how assessment findings, Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) and dialogue among diverse actors can support this effort. Together, they pointed to a common lesson: implementation moves faster when scientists, policymakers and ILK holders sit at the same table.
Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
Indigenous and local knowledge that shapes national plans
Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
On 20 October, at the official side event Traditional Knowledge in Action: Contributions of IPLCs to the KMGBF, co-hosted by the COP Presidency and UNESCO, Lillian Chimphepo, Chief Environmental Officer in the Environmental Affairs Department of Malawi’s Ministry of Natural Resources, shared her experience as Co-chair of the country’s national ecosystem assessment. She explained how ILK gathered through the assessment and its ILK outlook informed the revision of Malawi’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Joseph Karanja, BES-Net ILK Project Officer in UNESCO’s Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, highlighted that ecosystem assessments that draw on scientific knowledge and ILK could serve as practical tools for delivering the new programme of work on Article 8(j). “The process matters as much as the final product,” he said. “The credibility, legitimacy and policy impact of an ecosystem assessment are determined not only by the evidence it generates but also by how that evidence is produced. A rigorous, inclusive and transparent process creates the ownership, trust and partnerships that give lasting value to the final product and enable its findings to inform action.”
Joseph returned to this theme several times during the conference, first at the Ocean Pavilion on 21 October, where he discussed the value of diverse knowledge systems in coastal conservation. The following day he spoke about the role of ILK in bringing the three Rio Conventions closer together. He emphasized that Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage landscapes as integrated social-ecological systems, treating land, biodiversity and climate resilience as interconnected.
BES-Net also contributed to two sessions during the Seventh Science-Policy Forum for Biodiversity. On 24 October, Noor Noor from UNEP-WCMC showcased the BES-Net Trialogue as one of the transformative methodologies that could help stakeholders move from complex scientific assessments and ambitious global biodiversity targets to action and decisions on the ground.
On 25 October, Joseph presented guiding principles and practical arrangements for effective engagement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in a scientific assessment, drawing on BES-Net’s experience of engaging ILK holders in the scoping, evaluation, review, validation and use of the assessment findings. He shared a panel with Divija Jata of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, who also took part in the BESPIN Trialogue.
“Siloed policy tends to focus on instrumental values that drive biodiversity loss; an integrated approach recognizing multiple values can be a pathway for transformative change.”
Joseph Karanja
BES-Net ILK Project Officer, UNESCO
Joseph returned to this theme several times during the conference, first at the Ocean Pavilion on 21 October, where he discussed the value of diverse knowledge systems in coastal conservation. The following day he spoke about the role of ILK in bringing the three Rio Conventions closer together. He emphasized that Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage landscapes as integrated social-ecological systems, treating land, biodiversity and climate resilience as interconnected.
BES-Net also contributed to two sessions during the Seventh Science-Policy Forum for Biodiversity. On 24 October, Noor Noor from UNEP-WCMC showcased the BES-Net Trialogue as one of the transformative methodologies that could help stakeholders move from complex scientific assessments and ambitious global biodiversity targets to action and decisions on the ground.
On 25 October, Joseph presented guiding principles and practical arrangements for effective engagement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in a scientific assessment, drawing on BES-Net’s experience of engaging ILK holders in the scoping, evaluation, review, validation and use of the assessment findings. He shared a panel with Divija Jata of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, who also took part in the BESPIN Trialogue.
“Siloed policy tends to focus on instrumental values that drive biodiversity loss; an integrated approach recognizing multiple values can be a pathway for transformative change.”
Joseph Karanja
BES-Net ILK Project Officer, UNESCO
BESPIN Trialogue lessons presented at COP17
The BESPIN Regional Trialogue for Europe and Central Asia, held in Skopje, North Macedonia, in May 2026, brought policymakers, scientists and practitioners from 12 countries together to explore how IPBES and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments could better inform action in their own countries. BES-Net convened it together with the REinforcing Science-Policy INterfaces for integrated biodiversity and climate knowledge and policies (RESPIN) project, with support from the IPBES Europe and Central Asia Network.
The Trialogue was designed around a challenge that featured prominently throughout COP17: how scientific assessments and knowledge products can move beyond informing debate to shaping implementation. Drawing on IPBES and IPCC assessments, participants worked to identify practical actions, partnerships and policy opportunities relevant to their own national and regional contexts.
The impact of the process has continued beyond the event itself. In Kazakhstan, the conservation of the Caspian Sea was highlighted during the Trialogue and remains one of the country’s most significant biodiversity concerns, reflected in national reporting under the CBD. Since Skopje, discussions have focused on the Caspian seal, a species under pressure from both climate change and biodiversity loss, and have continued through youth-led initiatives and engagement around national biodiversity priorities. The Trialogue helped create new connections between young researchers, practitioners and biodiversity advocates working to keep attention on the issue. In Greece, the Trialogue also helped stimulate new conversations around biocultural diversity, bringing together perspectives on biodiversity conservation, cultural heritage and local identity, and creating opportunities for future collaboration.
On 23 October, BES-Net and RESPIN held a side event at the pavilion of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets in the Blue Zone to share the Trialogue’s lessons. The discussion featured Alicia Pérez-Porro of the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications in Catalonia alongside Sona Kalantaryan from Armenia and Alexandra Mussina of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) Kazakhstan, who reflected on how the Trialogue experience has informed their work since Skopje. Nigel Crawhall, Chief of UNESCO’s LINKS Programme, closed the session.
“ILK is systemic thinking – it is a whole package to landscape management.”
Nigel Crawhall
Chief of UNESCO’s LINKS Programme
The impact of the process has continued beyond the event itself. In Kazakhstan, the conservation of the Caspian Sea was highlighted during the Trialogue and remains one of the country’s most significant biodiversity concerns, reflected in national reporting under the CBD. Since Skopje, discussions have focused on the Caspian seal, a species under pressure from both climate change and biodiversity loss, and have continued through youth-led initiatives and engagement around national biodiversity priorities. The Trialogue helped create new connections between young researchers, practitioners and biodiversity advocates working to keep attention on the issue. In Greece, the Trialogue also helped stimulate new conversations around biocultural diversity, bringing together perspectives on biodiversity conservation, cultural heritage and local identity, and creating opportunities for future collaboration.
On 23 October, BES-Net and RESPIN held a side event at the pavilion of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets in the Blue Zone to share the Trialogue’s lessons. The discussion featured Alicia Pérez-Porro of the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications in Catalonia alongside Sona Kalantaryan from Armenia and Alexandra Mussina of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) Kazakhstan, who reflected on how the Trialogue experience has informed their work since Skopje. Nigel Crawhall, Chief of UNESCO’s LINKS Programme, closed the session.
“What matters is creating space where those working on the same landscape, but through different institutional lenses, can share insights, build trust and understand how their work connects and sequences.”
For Alexandra, the value of the Trialogue lies in bringing together people who rarely work side by side. “Biodiversity and climate issues are often addressed by different ministries and organizations working in parallel, with limited exchange between them,” she said. “What matters is creating space where those working on the same landscape, but through different institutional lenses, can share insights, build trust and understand how their work connects and sequences.”
One concrete outcome of that exchange was bringing the science directly to Yerevan. Alexandra and her colleagues invited Assel Baimukanova, who studies the Caspian seal in the field, to join them “so that the science could be spoken by someone who collects it first-hand, and so that the conversation about conservation could carry the weight of direct experience with local communities.” Assel and the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology have since expressed interest in further engagement, including cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), UNDP, IPBES and other agencies.
For Alexandra, the value of the Trialogue lies in bringing together people who rarely work side by side. “Biodiversity and climate issues are often addressed by different ministries and organizations working in parallel, with limited exchange between them,” she said.
“What matters is creating space where those working on the same landscape, but through different institutional lenses, can share insights, build trust and understand how their work connects and sequences.”
One concrete outcome of that exchange was bringing the science directly to Yerevan. Alexandra and her colleagues invited Assel Baimukanova, who studies the Caspian seal in the field, to join them “so that the science could be spoken by someone who collects it first-hand, and so that the conversation about conservation could carry the weight of direct experience with local communities.” Assel and the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology have since expressed interest in further engagement, including cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), UNDP, IPBES and other agencies.
The complex negotiations in Yerevan highlighted the growing importance of cooperation beyond formal talks. As governments grapple with how to accelerate implementation of the KMGBF, initiatives that connect science, policy and practice can help build the partnerships needed to turn commitments into action.
Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
According to Axel Paulsch of the Institute for Biodiversity – Network and RESPIN, who co-organized the Trialogue, such collaboration is increasingly crucial. “Against the background of more and more difficulties to reach meaningful consensus between all Parties, it becomes even more important to build networks and alliances between those who want to really move forward,” he said. Axel emphasized that while individual projects cannot replace government-led action, they can bring together the people who will ultimately deliver change on the ground. “Seeing how limited the ambition towards many KMGBF targets still is makes initiatives from science and civil society all the more valuable. Our joint BESPIN Trialogue was such an initiative, and a very much needed one.”
Nature and culture, side by side
Two voices from the Western Balkans spoke at the Nature-Culture Summit on 24 October, with Senka Barudanović of Bosnia and Herzegovina joining the panel on nature-cultural heritage, identity and memory, and Frosina Pandurska-Dramikjanin from North Macedonia, who took part in the BESPIN Trialogue, speaking on custodianship and community-led conservation.
Frosina works with rural communities in North Macedonia and across the Balkans, where many young people are leaving. Those who stay are often less familiar with the land than their parents and grandparents were, and climate change is weighing more heavily on everyday life. As Nigel Crawhall noted after her intervention, she sees part of the answer in reviving traditional custodianship and giving rural people a stronger presence in the decisions that affect them.
“Through my work with rural communities, I have witnessed how deeply people’s identities, livelihoods, traditions and knowledge are rooted in the landscapes they inhabit,” she said. “From shepherding and traditional land management to the use of local natural resources, these practices carry generations of knowledge that contribute to biodiversity conservation and sustainable living.”
Her message resonated with the spirit of the Sevan Guidelines adopted at the end of the conference. “Communities must be more than beneficiaries or stakeholders in conservation,” Frosina said. “They should be recognized as knowledge holders, custodians of landscapes and active partners in shaping decisions that affect their lives and the natural environments they depend on.”
Senka emphasized the linkages between diversity of culture, diversity of knowledge and biological diversity, drawing on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s publication on the state of traditional knowledge of biodiversity, supported by BES-Net.
A young researcher’s view
Photo by Belma Nahic
Photo by Belma Nahic
Among the younger participants was Belma Nahić, an early-career researcher working on biodiversity conservation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an active member of GYBN Western Balkans. Belma also took part in the BESPIN Trialogue in Skopje and attended COP17 with support from the BES Solution Fund and UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“As someone working on biodiversity conservation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and actively engaged in youth advocacy through GYBN Western Balkans, it was particularly meaningful to bring these perspectives into conversations with people from different countries, backgrounds and generations,” Belma wrote after returning home. Some of the most useful moments, she added, happened between sessions, in conversations where people exchanged experiences and found common ground.
“Young people are not a cascading force to be referenced in political documents; they are already agents of reform and conservation.”
Alexandra Mussina
GYBN Kazakhstan
“Young people are not a cascading force to be referenced in political documents; they are already agents of reform and conservation.”
Alexandra Mussina
GYBN Kazakhstan
A young researcher’s view
Photo by Belma Nahic
Photo by Belma Nahic
Among the younger participants was Belma Nahić, an early-career researcher working on biodiversity conservation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an active member of GYBN Western Balkans. Belma also took part in the BESPIN Trialogue in Skopje and attended COP17 with support from the BES Solution Fund and UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“As someone working on biodiversity conservation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and actively engaged in youth advocacy through GYBN Western Balkans, it was particularly meaningful to bring these perspectives into conversations with people from different countries, backgrounds and generations,” Belma wrote after returning home. Some of the most useful moments, she added, happened between sessions, in conversations where people exchanged experiences and found common ground.
Partnerships and dialogue for biodiversity action in Armenia
Preparations in Armenia began well before the conference opened. From 19 to 25 September, COP17 Week Dilijan, an official preparatory event initiated by Green Rock LLC and co-financed by BES-Net Armenia, brought the biodiversity agenda to the community level through training sessions, an art competition on ecosystem services and a BioBlitz.
Building on that success, Green Rock and BES-Net Armenia used COP17 to show how partnerships among science, policy, business and local communities can turn biodiversity knowledge into action. The screening of the COP17 Week Dilijan video in the Blue Zone reached approximately 70 representatives of international delegations, and around 35 participants joined the panel discussion “Dilijan as a Biodiversity Hub: Sustainable Investment for Resilient Development” in the Green Zone.
Partnerships and dialogue for biodiversity action in Armenia
Preparations in Armenia began well before the conference opened. From 19 to 25 September, COP17 Week Dilijan, an official preparatory event initiated by Green Rock LLC and co-financed by BES-Net Armenia, brought the biodiversity agenda to the community level through training sessions, an art competition on ecosystem services and a BioBlitz.
Building on that success, Green Rock and BES-Net Armenia used COP17 to show how partnerships among science, policy, business and local communities can turn biodiversity knowledge into action. The screening of the COP17 Week Dilijan video in the Blue Zone reached approximately 70 representatives of international delegations, and around 35 participants joined the panel discussion “Dilijan as a Biodiversity Hub: Sustainable Investment for Resilient Development” in the Green Zone.
BES-Net Armenia also held the launch workshop of the National Biodiversity Platform, bringing together more than 30 participants from over 25 public, private and international organizations. The Platform connects government, academia, civil society, businesses and local communities to promote evidence-based biodiversity decision-making.
The workshop set out to identify priority sites for Armenia’s first ecosystem services valuation assessments, supported by BES-Net’s BES Solution Fund. All seven working groups chose Yeghegis Gorge as the highest-priority pilot site. Dilijan National Park and the Lake Sevan Basin also emerged as priority areas, and Goravan was proposed for future consideration. Participants agreed that the assessments should stay focused and practical, generating lessons that can later be scaled up nationally.
The recommendations will now be submitted to the Platform for final approval, followed by field verification of the selected sites and the assessments themselves, to support biodiversity-friendly policies and investment decisions.
BES-Net Armenia also held the launch workshop of the National Biodiversity Platform, bringing together more than 30 participants from over 25 public, private and international organizations. The Platform connects government, academia, civil society, businesses and local communities to promote evidence-based biodiversity decision-making.
The workshop set out to identify priority sites for Armenia’s first ecosystem services valuation assessments, supported by BES-Net’s BES Solution Fund. All seven working groups chose Yeghegis Gorge as the highest-priority pilot site. Dilijan National Park and the Lake Sevan Basin also emerged as priority areas, and Goravan was proposed for future consideration. Participants agreed that the assessments should stay focused and practical, generating lessons that can later be scaled up nationally.
The recommendations will now be submitted to the Platform for final approval, followed by field verification of the selected sites and the assessments themselves, to support biodiversity-friendly policies and investment decisions.
The road to COP18
With COP18 set for Ecuador in 2028, attention now turns from negotiation to delivery. The coming two years will show how far the decisions adopted in Yerevan translate into national policies, local action and measurable progress towards the KMGBF targets. The examples BES-Net and its partners brought to Yerevan, from Malawi’s use of ILK in its national ecosystem assessment to regional Trialogues, youth leadership and Armenia’s new biodiversity platform, suggest that closing the implementation gap depends on knowledge that is understood, trusted, shared and put to use. BES-Net will continue working alongside countries to strengthen the connections between science, policy, ILK and practice, so that what assessments reveal leads to action where it matters most, for both people and nature.
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