How Can You Get Involved?
YouIPBES currently has 127 member States. A large numberof NGOs, organizations, conventions and civil society
groupings also participate in the formal IPBES process asobservers, with several thousand individual stakeholders,
ranging from scientific experts to representatives of academic
and research institutions, local communities and the private
sector, contributing to and benefiting from our work.

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There is a wide range of opportunities to engage with IPBES, someof which include:• Supporting our capacity and knowledge-building work bycontributing expertise, data or other resources.

www.ipbes.net
Email: secretariat@ipbes.net
Tel: +49 228 815 0570

• Serving as a regional or subregional communication and outreachpartner.
• Coordinating a sectoral or industry-specific network of stakeholders
engaging with IPBES.

10th floor,Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1,D-53113 Bonn, Germany• Participating in the IPBES Fellows programme.

Follow IPBES:
Twitter: @IPBES | Instagram: ipbes_
youtube.com/ipbeschannel | facebook.com/IPBES
linkedin.com/company/ipbes

The first step is to register as an IPBES Stakeholder. It is free and will
ensure you receive regular information about the work of IPBES as
well as opportunities to get involved. To register go toPhotos © Pixabay & Unsplash & Freepik

www.ipbes.net/stakeholders
or use any smartphone or mobile device to scan this QR Code:IS?

Intergovernmental Platform
for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services• Contributing as a nominated expert to our ongoing assessments –as an author, editor or reviewer.

IPBES is funded through generous
voluntary contributions from its member
States to the IPBES Trust Fund.
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United Nations
Educational, Scientiﬁc andCultural Organization

Empowered lives.
Resilient nations.

What is IPBES?
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversityand Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independentintergovernmental body, established by member States in2012. It provides policymakers with objective scientificassessments about the state of knowledge regarding theplanet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the benefits they
provide to people, as well as the tools and methods toprotect and sustainably use these vital natural assets.
Our mission is to strengthen knowledge foundations forbetter policy through science, for the conservation andsustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human wellbeing and sustainable development. To some extent IPBES
does for biodiversity what the IPCC does for climate change.

Why Does IPBES Matter?
Biodiversity and nature’s benefits to people underpin almostevery aspect of human development and are key to thesuccess of the new Sustainable Development Goals. They
help to produce food, clean water, regulate climate andeven control disease. Yet they are being depleted anddegraded faster than at any other point in human history.
IPBES is unique – harnessing the best expertise from acrossall scientific disciplines and knowledge communities – toprovide policy-relevant knowledge and to catalyze theimplementation of knowledge-based policies at all levels ingovernment, the private sector and civil society.

What Does IPBES Do?
The work of IPBES can be broadly grouped into four
complementary areas:• Assessments: On specific themes (e.g. “Pollinators,Pollination and Food Production”); methodological issues(e.g. “Scenarios and Modelling); and at both the regionaland global levels (e.g. “Global Assessment on Biodiversityand Ecosystem Services”).
• Policy Support: Identifying policy-relevant tools andmethodologies, facilitating their use, and catalyzing theirfurther development.
• Building Capacity & Knowledge: Identifying and meetingthe priority capacity, knowledge and data needs of ourmember States, experts and stakeholders.
• Communications & Outreach: Ensuring the widest reachand impact of our work.

How is IPBES Structured?

What Does an IPBES Output
Look Like?

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Plenary: The governing body of IPBES – made up of the representativesof IPBES member States – usually meets once per year.
Observers: Any State not yet a member of IPBES; the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) and other biodiversity-related conventions;related UN bodies; as well as many other relevant organizations
and agencies.
Bureau: Comprising the IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson, four ViceChairs and five additional officers who oversee the administrative
functions of IPBES.
Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP): Five expert participants fromeach of the five UN regions, overseeing all IPBES scientific andtechnical functions.
Stakeholders: All contributors to and end-users of the IPBES outputs.
Expert Groups & Taskforces: Selected scientists and knowledgeholders carrying out the IPBES assessments and other deliverables.
Secretariat (Includes Technical Support Units): Ensures the efficient
functioning of IPBES through support to the Plenary, Bureau andMEP, as well as implementing the Platform’s work and administrative
functions. Led by the Executive Secretary of IPBES, Dr. Anne
Larigauderie. The headquarters of the secretariat is hosted in Bonnby the Federal Government of Germany.

The first IPBES thematic assessment,on Pollinators, Pollination and Food
Production, was completed in2016 – the result of two years ofintensive work by 77 experts fromall over the world. The assessment
cites about 3,000 scientific papers
and includes information about
practices based on indigenous andlocal knowledge from more than
60 locations around the world.
Its Summary for Policymakers wasapproved word-by-word by theIPBES Plenary.

&Key Messages

Some Findings• Up to $577 billion worth of annual global food production relies
on direct contributions by pollinators.
• Agricultural production dependent on animal pollination has
increased by 300% over the past 50 years, but pollinatordependent crops show lower growth and stability in yield thancrops that do not depend on pollinators.
• Nearly 90% of all wild flowering plants depend to some extent
on animal pollination.
• 16% of vertebrate pollinators are threatened with global
extinction - increasing to 30 per cent for island species - with atrend towards more extinctions.
• Pesticides, including neonicotinoid insecticides, threaten
pollinators worldwide, although the long-term effects are still
unknown.
• A range of actions can be taken to safeguard pollinators, fromensuring greater diversity of habitats to promoting sustainableagriculture; supporting traditional practices such as those thatmanage habitat patchiness and crop rotation; wider educationand knowledge-exchange; decreasing exposure of pollinators topesticides; and improving managed bee husbandry.
For more see the full Summary for Policymakers on our website at:
http://www.ipbes.net
Cutting-Edge Science to Inform Better Policy.