Fashion industry to support International Year of Biodiversity

18 Jan '10

4 min read

Sustainability is the message of the UNCTAD BioTrade programme, which helps local communities preserve native biodiversity through the marketing of products that give them not only a moral but an economic interest in nurturing and preserving biodiversity. For example, local communities in the Plurinational State of Bolivia have successfully implemented sustainable management plans resulting in exports of skins and products derived from the Caiman yacare, a species of crocodile, to Italy, generating over $1.4 million in sales (a 282 per cent increase over 2003).

During the Twelfth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD's 193 member States recognized that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity provides new opportunities for developing countries. They stressed that the trade of products and services related to biodiversity can be an important tool for preserving biodiversity and enhancing development.

UNCTAD has an important role to play in meeting the objectives of the International Year for Biodiversity through its contribution to shaping policy debates and thinking on sustainable development. It also works to promote the greater engagement of businesses and consumers in ecological concerns such as biodiversity, and it assists developing countries in addressing the challenges and opportunities of globalization in an ecologically responsible manner.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

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