Dr Sangay Dema, who represented NBSAP Secretariat of Bhutan, hosted at the National Biodiversity Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL), participated as a panel member in a side event titled “Mountains at the Heart of the Climate–Biodiversity Nexus: Strategic Ecosystems for Advancing Global Frameworks.” The event was jointly organised by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and other regional mountain bodies, on the sidelines of the twenty-seventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (CBD-SBSTTA 27), currently taking place in Panama.
She underscored Bhutan’s recognition of mountain ecosystems as central to the climate–biodiversity nexus, highlighting their effective protection and management as instrumental in achieving multiple global environmental goals and commitments, including those under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She further added how this recognition is reflected in Bhutan’s National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP 2025), which places mountain biodiversity at the heart of its vision and mission, underscoring its strategic importance for ecological integrity, climate resilience, and sustainable development.
The session also provided a platform for participants to exchange perspectives on advancing the mountain agenda to strengthen implementation of both the UNFCCC and CBD commitments.
