The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), which represents the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, took place for a second time, under the overarching theme of “Delivering on the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The Assembly culminated in several resolutions and a global call to action to address the critical environmental challenges, facing the world today.

Members of the UNU-IAS ESD team, the RCE network and RCE candidates from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond took part in a three-event marathon lasting six days in Cha-am, Thailand, including the International Conference on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals: Policy and Practice” (27-29 June, 2016), the 9th Asia-Pacific RCE Meeting (30 June) and finally the 

This year's World Environment Day's theme was ¨Illegal Wildlife Trade¨,a topic which is of great importance in the Himalaya region. WED2016 was used as an occasion to organize an array of successful events across the Himalayas.  The vast demand for products such as wool, fur, leather, and medicines is driving illegal wildlife trade of the already under-threat species of Tiger, Red Panda, Asian Elephant, Greater one-horned Rhinocerus, and the Snow Leopard.

Located in the Northeastern part of India, the state of Uttarkhad shares its boundaries with China in the North and Nepal in the East. The source of both the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers are in this state. 

Here are some materials that may be useful for RCE members in general and to prepare for IPBES related events in particular.

The following links are interesting e-learning materials on the IPBES work programmes.

Work Programmes

 e-learning tools 

Videos

The IPBES task force and technical support unit on capacity-building are pleased to invite you to watch the recorded webinar in the pilot of the IPBES Webinar Series.

The webinar  "The IPBES Assessment Process" from 7 April 2016 is now online here. 

In this webinar, the IPBES task force and technical support unit partnered with Ivar Baste, IPBES Bureau member and co-chair of the IPBES task force on capacity-building.

The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in the Central Himalayas of the Indian Himalayan Region, is largely dominated by biodiversity rich forest ecosystem thus making it one of the most unique yet fragile ecosystems. The majority of the traditional hill communities are dependent on natural resources for food, fruits, fuel wood, and fodder along with a variety of ecological services. Traditional belief was that the natural resources are essential for the livelihood and ecological security of mountain regions.

On the occasion of World’s Wetland Day 2016, CEE Himalaya together with the JSW Foundation and RCE Srinagar organized a series of activities for the inhabitants of Kuroli village, a small and picturesque village, located in Bhatwari Block in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Youths, adults, elderly, school children, teachers, and many others participated in the event.