Biodiversity Policy Programme 2008-2011

In the policy programme ‘Biodiversity works: for nature, for people, forever', the Dutch government set out its priorities in addressing the biodiversity loss and promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resources in the years 2008-2011. Cooperation between ministries and with other authorities and actors in civil society was a key feature of this policy. The intention was to have more focus in the ongoing efforts to protect biodiversity. It also set out the Dutch government's policy response to various signals from the scientific community and society.

The Dutch government also decided to ask the Biodiversity and Natural Resources Task Force to publish an advisory opinion on the steps the Netherlands must take in the period after 2010 and to propose verifiable objectives and targets.

The government wished to use this policy program to reinforce public commitment to the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. One important point was to highlight and increase public awareness of the value and function of biodiversity for humans. This was therefore an important objective for communication and education about biodiversity, also during the international year for biodiversity 2010. The Dutch government also wanted to further align a number of priority themes and improve cooperation between the different ministries on these points; it therefore invited other public authorities, companies and non-governmental organizations to contribute to achieving the goals set in these priority areas:

Trade chains and Biodiversity, which among others payed attention to Certification and biodiversity
Payment for biodiversity (for which among other activities also a conference ‘Investing in healthy ecosystems makes economic sense’ was held.
Biodiversity works, which among others payed attention to ecosystem services (Factsheet in Dutch), for ecosystem services in the practice of soil management and area development, for Financing of Green-Blue Landscape Services (report in Dutch), and for To venture with Landscape Services
Ecological networks
Marine biodiversity and fisheries chains.

Inter-ministerial Biodiversity Program Team (2008-2011)

In order to effectively implement the Dutch biodiversity policy, all departments within the Dutch government worked closely together within the Inter-ministerial Biodiversity Program Team (IPB) established in 2008 for this purpose. The IPB was responsible for effective implementation of the policy paper Biodiversity Works: for nature, for people, forever, Policy Program 2008-2011. This concerns biodiversity all over the world as well as in the Netherlands. The IPB was also responsible for translating recommendations and other findings of the 'Biodiversity and Natural Resources' task force into long-term implementation programs.

In IPB, each priority was addressed by a Theme Coordinator appointed out of the ranks of the participating departments. The following departments participated in IPB: the ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV, coördinating ministry), Foreign Affairs (BuZa), and Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM). IPB was technically and administratively supported by SenterNovem.