The United Nations Biodiversity Conference starts today in Cali, Colombia. We are excited to be sponsoring our long-time partners Women for Conservation to attend the event and promote family planning as an important aspect when it comes to protecting biodiversity.

The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) is taking place from 21 of October to 1 November 2024. COP16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022. That led to the breakthrough “30 by 30” target – aiming for 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans to be conserved by the end of this decade.

At COP16, governments will be tasked with reviewing their commitments to the Global Biodiversity Framework and assess whether high-income countries have fulfilled their commitments to collectively fund $30 billion a year to support the Global South in its efforts to save precious ecosystems.

It’s fitting that COP16 is taking place in Colombia, a country rich in biodiversity, hosting close to 10% of the planet’s biodiversity. This year we are sponsoring our long-time partners Women for Conservation, who are based in Colombia, to attend COP16 on our behalf.

Women for Conservation bring a wealth of experience in PHE, a holistic approach to environmental conservation that includes family planning and sustainable development. Population Matter’s biodiversity campaign is focused on the promotion and wider adoption of PHE. We are sponsoring Women for Conservation to promote the benefits of this integrated approach at COP16.

Our Partner – Women for Conservation

Women for Conservation runs family planning and conservation programmes in the tropical rainforests and mountains of Colombia. They work closely with indigenous communities and focus on empowering female leaders to manage their projects. Their name reflects their vision of a world in which women are integral to the preservation of nature.

Women for Conservation was founded by Sara Inés Lara, in honour of her mother, Amparo. Amparo had dedicated her life to the empowerment of rural women in Cauca, Colombia. Her image is enshrined in Women for Conservation’s logo. Now Sara’s daughter, Isabella Cortes Lara, has been appointed executive director of the organisation, continuing a legacy of three generations of women.

Women for Conservation programs are designed around environmental education to raise awareness about endangered species and their habitats, in collaboration with local mothers and their children. They also work with the local community to provide fuel-efficient stoves to families, replacing the need for firewood and preventing deforestation in the area. They have also launched reproductive health programs and workshops that taught sexual education and distributed safe, modern contraceptives to local women, providing them with access to family planning.

Women for Conservation works collaboratively with bird conservation organisation Fundacion ProAves Colombia, organising meetings with communities in inaccessible areas to further conservation efforts.

Population Matters has previously sponsored Women for Conservation through our Empower to Plan program in 2021, and we are pleased to have continued the relationship by appointing their Executive Director, Isabella, as one of our Choice Ambassadors.

Promote PHE

Through their incredible work, Women for Conservation highlights the importance and interconnectedness of nature conservation, sustainable livelihoods and voluntary access to birth control and family planning.

Women for Conservation’s integrated and holistic approach to family planning and conservation, closely aligns with the principles of Population Health Environment (PHE).

PHE has been proven to be one of the most effective approaches to biodiversity conservation as it addresses both the needs of the community, and reduces population pressure on natural resources, whilst improving community support for conservation of local biodiversity.

And it’s with this extensive experience that we are pleased to sponsor Women for Conservation to attend COP16 to promote their expertise in the PHE approach and why family planning is important to include in biodiversity conservation.

The integrated approach of PHE has been gaining traction with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with references to family planning included in their Global Species Action Plan to help guide policymakers’ strategies to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework.

However, PHE is not officially recognised on the Global Biodiversity Framework itself, and many environmental conservation organisations remain reluctant to engage with the PHE approach or incorporate family planning into their work. It’s our aim for the Women for Conservation team to familiarise other stakeholders attending COP16 of the benefits of the PHE approach and help move the needle to a wider adoption of PHE in the conservation space.

Stay Tuned

Over the next two weeks of the conference, we will be sharing content from the COP16 event provided by the Women for Conservation team on all our affiliated social media channels.

We’ll be giving Women for Conservation all the support they need to promote PHE and start the conservation on the impacts of population on biodiversity at COP16, and you can add your support by engaging on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.

After the conference we’ll also be publishing a post-COP16 blog from Isabella, detailing the highlights and memorable moments of the event, for you to look forward to.