Four Vermonters are in Cali, Colombia, this week attending a United Nations summit on global biodiversity hoping to share insights and strategies for conservation.

The group from the Green Mountain State is representing the newly formed Vermont Biodiversity Alliance. The alliance is a collaborative initiative among Vermont conservation organizations that work together to address the biodiversity crisis. It is one of just a few U.S. groups granted official observer status for the COP16 Convention on Biological Diversity, which allows organizations and people to participate in the conference without being official parties to the international treaties being updated and reviewed.

“The amount of learning that will be possible there is mind blowing,” said Curt Lindberg, chair of the Waitsfield Conservation Commission and member of the Vermont Biodiversity Alliance who is attending the COP16. 

With about 1,000 events to choose from during the convention, alliance members are looking to focus on objectives they think are most important for the state. They plan to engage in seminars, workshops and panel discussions while also connecting with international peers, Lindberg said.

“We’re gonna have to focus where we can on what makes most sense in terms of Vermont,” said John Kress, scientist and curator emeritus with the Smithsonian Institution and part of Vermont Biodiversity Alliance’s delegation that is attending COP16.

The conference, known as COP16 because it is the 16th Convention of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, started Monday and runs through Nov. 1. The meeting will bring together more than 15,000 scientists, conservation leaders and representatives from 196 countries to Cali, Colombia, to address the global biodiversity crisis.

“One of the things that the climate crisis is bringing home to us is that our actions, as they relate to the greater environment, come back to impact us as humans greatly,” said Walter Poleman, a senior lecturer in the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and one of the Vermont Biodiversity Alliance delegates. “I think people are recognizing that with the recent hurricanes for instance.”

During the conference, representatives from various countries, including government officials and scientists, will provide updates on their progress toward the 23 goals established in COP 15’s Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in Montreal in 2022. A key focus will be the “30 by 30” initiative, which aims to conserve 30% of the planet’s land, freshwater and oceans by 2030. That ambitious target seeks to protect essential ecosystems that support biodiversity and climate resilience while promoting the sustainable use of natural resources.

“The idea that the entire world could reach 30 by 30 was a bit optimistic, but a lot of places are achieving it,” Kress said. “That is also the main point in Cali. How far have these countries gotten regarding that goal? What is there left to do and what is the best way to do it?”

Vermont even takes it a step further with its own 50 by 50 goal, enshrined along with the 30% by 2030 goal in 2023’s Act 59 approved June 2023.

“That’s a place where our planning horizon looks even further out in the next six years to a generation-long project to permanently or durably protect half the landscape,” said Trey Martin, director of conservation and rural community development at Vermont Housing & Conservation Board.

“Another place where Vermont leads is that we are having this conversation with not just scientists who articulate the goals of biodiversity but with land managers and farmers and organizations who steward the land who are part of a network in New England of productive food,” Martin said. 

The Vermont Biodiversity Alliance has three primary focus areas for biodiversity in Vermont: implementing the state conservation goal to conserve 30% of Vermont’s land by 2030, conservation models and implementing technologies, and inclusive strategies for biodiversity conservation. 

The delegation is eager to explore the biodiversity conservation and restoration techniques employed in other regions and countries that could inform how Vermont enhances and preserves the land it uses to grow food and harvest timber, according to Poleman. 

“How do we actually maintain and even enhance biodiversity in working landscapes alongside preserved areas?” Poleman said. “I’m looking for partners around the world to share their examples of how they do this.”

Photo courtesy of Audrey Irvine-Broque

Lindberg said he is particularly keen to delve into the management of invasive species at the conference, as they are a significant contributor to species extinction and biodiversity loss.

“We’ve got some significant challenges with invasive species in Vermont, like Japanese knotweed,” said Lindberg, who is involved in a local effort in the Mad River Valley to halt the spread of invasive species. 

“It takes over ecosystems and replaces every other native species there,” he said. “It’s very complex work so I hope to pick up some new insights from around the world because it’s a global problem.”

The members of the delegation hope that their participation in the conference will inspire Vermonters to reflect on how they can contribute to biodiversity conservation and encourage others, such as friends, family and community members to get involved.

“I think people will find that by working to enrich and conserve nature, they are also enriching their own lives,” Lindberg said.