Many of these ecosystems are under stress as a result of human activities. Healthy and productive ecosystems are the very basis of the economic and social health of nations. We undertake to stimulate and strengthen cooperation for the conservation, management, and sustainable use of biological diversity and healthy ecosystems throughout the Americas in support of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other related agreements and initiatives. We welcome the efforts undertaken by the working groups established by the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity to address the issues of access to genetic resources and the protection of traditional knowledge 21. We encourage governments to cooperate for the effective implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, particularly on issues related to capacity building and information sharing through the Biosafety Clearinghouse.
Habitat losses are a major threat to biological diversity.
We will seek to develop better information on losses of different habitat types and the implications for biodiversity. We will actively promote improved management of protected areas and in this regard, we commit to cooperative regional activities. We will explore, where appropriate, the expansion of existing hemispheric networks for terrestrial and marine protected areas, including linkages to create biological corridors such as the Mesoamerica Biological Corridor. In many habitats, invasive alien species are a major threat to native species and may pose a significant cost to society. We support the further development of information sharing networks for invasive alien species as well as cooperative efforts on prevention, control, management, public education and outreach, and incident notification.