Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network - BES-Net

05/10/2026

On 6 October, the BESPIN Regional Trialogue team will come together for an online webinar to revisit the outcomes of the May 2026 Trialogue in Skopje and look at how biodiversity and climate knowledge is being translated into action across Europe and Central Asia.

The discussion will explore country-level pathways, practical experiences and developments since the Trialogue, with C*D COP17 in Armenia also on the horizon.

📅 6 October 2026
🕙 10–11.30 a.m. CEST
💻 Online, in English with interpretation into Russian

https://undp.zoom.us/meeting/register/Y-TLbQhqSAKPHXKZfehN8g #/

03/10/2026

🌍 At the BESPIN Regional Trialogue, practitioners described what happens when biodiversity and climate planning remain separate: fragmented projects and gaps in climate-related biodiversity data needed for action.

From Slovenia, Armenia and elsewhere in Europe and Central Asia, they discussed how to build community participation into adaptation planning, include communities most exposed to economic transitions and finance conservation and adaptation efforts. 🌳

Hear their perspectives on why climate resilience depends on bringing ecosystems, people and finance into the same conversation.

Biodiversity loss and climate change are deeply connected, yet poli...

02/10/2026

🧭 A herder remembers where the forest floods; a researcher maps it. Together, they make the data stronger.

That spirit of shared knowledge is reshaping how the Balkans manage nature. Pig herders in Serbia and seed-keepers in North Macedonia are showing that old land knowledge can guide today’s biodiversity and climate plan.

Read all about their collaboration.

A UNESCO workshop in Sarajevo highlights how local knowledge supports climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and biodiversity action.

02/10/2026

Thank you, UNDP in Armenia, for sharing the opening of COP17 Week Dilijan, and thanks to Green Rock for organizing a week that brought business into the biodiversity conversation. 🌿

The project in Armenia is funded by the Government of Germany through the International Climate Initiative and by SwedBio. 🌱

30/09/2026

🇲🇼 About 85% of Malawi’s population depends on biodiversity and ecosystem services for their livelihoods. This makes ecosystem evidence relevant to decisions on biodiversity, livelihoods and national planning.

Following the assessment’s launch in May 2026, Malawi has become the 16th country to receive BES Solution Fund support.

The next phase will strengthen the National Biodiversity Platform, including work on Indigenous and local knowledge and biodiversity finance. It will also support the identification and management of a priority site as an Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure.

Assessment findings will also inform implementation of Malawi’s National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans III and efforts to mobilize biodiversity finance.

Explore how Malawi is using ecosystem assessment findings to inform biodiversity planning: https://www.besnet.world/story/malawi-becomes-the-16th-country-to-receive-bes-solution-fund-support/

29/09/2026

⚖️ Rights are not a side issue, they are the engine of .
Yet gender equality remains one of the most persistent human rights gaps of our time.

⏱️ The clock is ticking and progress will not happen by default.

These 5️⃣ priority areas show where collective action can shift the balance and ensure women are not pushed to the margins of sustainable futures.

26/09/2026

🌿 Build a stronger understanding of how biodiversity can be brought into real policy and business decisions with CABES' free, interactive online courses this October.

📅 6 October: Explore how biodiversity evidence, assessments, spatial data and stakeholder engagement can support the Global Biodiversity Framework, NBSAPs and decision-making across sectors.

📅 7 October: Learn more about how businesses depend on and affect biodiversity, how those relationships can be measured, and what risks, opportunities and enabling conditions can shape biodiversity-positive action.

Participation is free and open to all!

🌐 Find the details and enroll here: https://elearning.cabes.online/course/view.php?id=46

25/09/2026

For the first time, Cambodia’s national ecosystem assessment brings evidence from terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems into one shared evidence base.

The next challenge is ensuring that this evidence reaches the people and processes shaping biodiversity decisions.

As the 15th country to receive support, Cambodia will translate assessment materials into Khmer, strengthen the National Biodiversity Platform and put the Cambodia Biodiversity Index into operation for national monitoring and reporting.

Training will also support greater participation by women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and persons with disabilities in national biodiversity processes.

Explore how Cambodia is preparing to use assessment findings in biodiversity planning and monitoring: https://www.besnet.world/story/cambodia-becomes-the-15th-country-to-receive-bes-solution-fund-support/

25/09/2026

👣 A change in an ecosystem may be detected through data. It may also be noticed in the timing of a flowering plant, the movement of an animal, the condition of grazing land or a shift remembered across generations.

These observations do not necessarily come from the same methods or carry meaning in the same way. They may belong to different ways of knowing, each shaped by its own practices, values, language and standards of evidence.

BES-Net’s work with Indigenous and local knowledge systems supports dialogue among knowledge holders, scientists, assessment practitioners and environmental policymakers. Cooperation across knowledge systems should respect the contexts, people and relationships through which knowledge is held.

🌿 We began this glossary with knowledge passed through generations. We end with the many ways knowledge is formed, tested, carried and understood.

Consider what biodiversity decisions can learn when more than one way of knowing is taken seriously. 🔎

25/09/2026

🇳🇦 In Namibia’s driest regions, Prosopis is more than an invasive shrub. Its deep roots consume scarce groundwater, dense thickets restrict access to grazing and water, and its spread carries real costs for farmers, communities and ecosystems.

Removing it is essential. But Namibia is also exploring how the biomass left behind can be put to use through charcoal, timber and animal feed, creating economic opportunities that can support restoration rather than compete with it.

That balance matters. Prosopis must not become valuable enough to protect or propagate. Its use must remain a tool for control and ecosystem recovery. Now, government leadership, community knowledge, business participation and biodiversity finance are coming together around that challenge. 🌎

See how Namibia is putting the principles of the IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment into practice with help from BES-Net and The Biodiversity Finance Initiative - BIOFIN: https://www.besnet.world/story/from-invasive-alien-species-to-asset-how-namibia-is-making-natures-recovery-bankable/