As the world comes to terms with the effects of global environmental change on zoonotic disease risks and the links between biodiversity and habitat loss, global pandemics such as COVID-19, and climate change, the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) community, of which ICIMOD is a Charter member, is issuing a powerful prescription for averting these crises, with seven recommendations to harness the power of landscapes to safeguard biodiversity.

                    <p>A new document by the GLF and Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL),<strong><em>&nbsp;One World, One Health: recommendations for harnessing the power of landscapes,&nbsp;</em></strong>confronts such realities as the&nbsp;<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=527923fae1&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">mass extinction</a>&nbsp;that could see&nbsp;<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=ed9b4e4eef&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">up to a million species disappear</a>&nbsp;from the earth in the coming decades. It outlines seven immediate steps:</p>

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                        <p>Include public health perspectives in landscape and ecosystem management</p>
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                        <p>Transform financial structures for conservation and restoration, especially through re-targeting of subsidies and stimulating youth employment</p>
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                        <p>Return ownership of food systems, value-chain decision making, and financing mechanisms to local communities</p>
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                        <p>Develop inclusive knowledge sharing platforms</p>
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                        <p>Promote the application of rights-based approaches in sustainable development</p>
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                        <p>Scale up local initiatives and successes</p>
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                        <p>Give the narrative back to communities that have the most at stake from climate, health and biodiversity crises<br />
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                    <p>These are some recommendations from the report&nbsp;<strong><em>One World, One Health</em>,&nbsp;</strong>which is being released today. These solutions and potent pathways grew out of the<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=2a9da4f6e5&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">&nbsp;GLF Biodiversity Digital Conference 2020 &ldquo;One World, One Health&rdquo; (28-29 October 2020)</a>, which reached 35 million people on social media.</p>

                    <p>ICIMOD hosted a&nbsp;<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=b6b900a710&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">session</a>&nbsp;at the One World, One Health conference to highlight the links between biodiversity, landscapes, culture, and health in a post-COVID &ldquo;new normal&rdquo;. Speakers from Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan participated in the session to address critical questions related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH).</p>

                    <p>This report by GLF builds on ICIMOD&rsquo;s session at the GLF Biodiversity Conference and included the&nbsp;<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=2cccbda168&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HKH Call to Action</a>&nbsp;as part of the recommendations.</p>

                    <p>&ldquo;The HKH is facing rapid population growth, unsustainable development, migration and climate change, with COVID-19 further compounding these challenges,&rdquo; said Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD at the GLF Biodiversity Conference last year.</p>

                    <p>The GLF community is reminding the world it can afford to invest in conserving biodiversity by re-focusing its subsidies. In 2012, the CBD estimated that it would require between US$ 150-440 billion annually to achieve its Aichi Targets. Currently, governments spend upwards of US$ 500 billion on environmentally harmful subsidies.</p>

                    <p>The recommendations contribute to the work around the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which is to be adopted by the&nbsp;<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=dcdec6ef37&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)</a>&nbsp;this year. It will also contribute to the&nbsp;<a href="https://icimod.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a534d9cefa275a13e577ad8f&amp;id=07e41d844f&amp;e=1e3407ad22" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(3, 108, 182); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030</a>) and play a significant role in promoting solutions regarding sustainable use and conservation of our planet&rsquo;s biodiversity.</p>
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