History

History of the Belgian National Focal Point

In 2005, the Belgian National Focal Point to the Convention on Biological Diversity celebrated its 10 years of existence. The main milestones of its history are presented below.

1992
Belgium signs the Convention on Biological Diversity during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

1995
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) is designated as CBD National Focal Point. At the same time, it is also designated as Thematic Focal Point for the Subsidiary Body for Scientific Technical and Technological Affairs (SBSTTA) and for the Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM).

1996
The RBINS launches the national website on the Convention on Biological Diversity. This website is called the Belgian CHM website, as a reference to the Clearing-House Mechanism, which is the CBD’s information sharing mechanism.

1997
The CBD National Focal Point receives funding for four years from the Belgian Science Policy Office, the federal administration for science and research.

1998
The RBINS launches the CHM website of DR Congo on the RBINS server, following a partnership request by that country.

1999
Following additional requests to establish partnerships, the RBINS starts a small capacity building programme to help developing countries create and maintain their CHM websites.

2000
The Belgian Science Policy Office attributes recurrent structural funding to the CBD National Focal Point. The Belgian Development Cooperation (DGDC) provides annual funds for the CHM capacity building activities.

2001
The RBINS is appointed thematical focal point to the Global Taxonomy Initiative.

2003
The Belgian Development Cooperation and the RBINS sign a five-year agreement to develop a comprehensive capacity building programme on biodiversity.

The national survey ‘Biodiversity in Belgium’, coordinated by the CBD National Focal Point, is published with financial support from the federal DG Environment.

2004
An executive summary of the survey 'Biodiversity in Belgium' is published in Dutch and French.

2005
An interactive tool on Belgium’s biodiversity, called 'Belgium’s natural treasures', is made available on the RBINS website.

The CBD National Focal Point celebrates ten years of activities.

2006
On March 27th, at the COP8 in Curitiba (Brazil), RBINS and 6 other renowned scientific institutes sign a memorandum of understanding. The objective is the promotion of the effective implementation of the Convention and its Protocol through the organization of training and education activities focusing on policy, technical and scientific issues.

Belgium’s National Biodiversity Strategy, coordinated by the federal DG Environment and the CBD National Focal Point, is finalised after two years of work and the involvement of nearly a hundred experts.

Due to the success of the first brochure Biodiversity in Belgium, a second print is made.

In cooperation with the Federal Environment Directorate General, the NFP publishes a didactical tool on invasive exotic species in Belgium.