Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Azerbaijan conducted its National Ecosystem Assessment, aiming to provide a knowledge basis for the management, use and protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services at the national and subnational levels, based on IPBES' methodology and conceptual framework.
The Summary for Policymakers was published in 2024 outlining the key findings of the assessment process. It highlights the key biodiversity assets of the country (lakes and wetlands, bird migratory paths, food crops, forest ecosystem services), challenges and their drivers (water withdrawals and droughts, climate change, deforestation, waterways pollution, land degradation, lowgrass conversion and fragmentation of the steppe ecosystems) and policy options to respond to these (relating to governance, cross-sector policies, stakeholder engagement, linkages with climate action, availability of environmental data).
The assessment process also included the establishment of the National Biodiversity Platform, to convene academia, NGO, community representatives and government officials for the support of science-based policies for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The assessment was conducted under the coordination of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and with the support of UNEP-WCMC's National Ecosystem Initiative.