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<p>The Government recognises that there have been declines in species populations
across the world since 1970 and that declines have been pronounced in many tropical
ecosystems. This downward trend and the impact it has on peoples’ economic and social
wellbeing highlights the need to strengthen international efforts to tackle biodiversity
loss.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to being the first
generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it. We are already
working worldwide, including in the tropics, to tackle biodiversity loss, by:</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Investing more than £36 million between 2014 and 2021
to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, and hosting the fourth international Illegal
Wildlife Trade conference last month in London. The conference represented a significant
step forward in the global fight to eliminate this trade;</p></li><li><p>Committing
£210 million of Defra’s International Climate Finance to support projects that aim
to protect and restore more than 500,000 hectares of the world’s most biodiverse forests.
For example, we are supporting communities in Madagascar to protect mangrove forests,
which are important habitats for the protection of many species, some of which are
found nowhere else on earth;</p></li><li><p>Ambitious plans under the Government’s
25 Year Environment Plan to reverse the decline of many species and help wildlife
survive and thrive. We are committed to protecting the oceans, and have called for
at least 30 per cent of the oceans to be in Marine Protected Areas by 2030. The UK
is also leading the fight against plastic pollution; and</p></li><li><p>Introducing
one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales to protect the elephant.</p></li></ul><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are also committed to developing an ambitious post-2020
strategic framework for biodiversity and are working with countries around the world
to achieve this under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.</p><p>
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