Kazakhstan presented its results of creating ‘maps of hope’ that identify country’s essential life support areas (ELSAs) as part of a four-day Nature for Life Hub, which runs on September 24 – 29, 2020 and constitute a virtual space where global and local leaders will share stories on the importance of nature for sustainable development.

 “Using dynamic data, updated in near real-time, will help us track the impact of our actions. Our map of hope can serve as a beacon to other countries in Central Asia, and around the world, who face similar issues,” stated Yakup Beris, UNDP Resident Representative in Kazakhstan, in his video address at the event.

The Nature for Life Hub invites a virtual audience to participate in thought-provoking exchanges, and will engage a wide variety of sectors, including governments, businesses, financial institutions, youth and local communities.  Key messages that were marked every day of event will be issued by the coalition of partners to be fed into the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework negotiation process, CBD COP 15 and Climate COP 26 negotiation processes.

The Nature for Life Hub runs a total of eighteen sessions, between 60 and 90 minutes each. All events showcase nature-based solutions in policy, in practice, in communities – but most of all, in action. They provide new content that will be broadcast live on social media and through the official virtual platform, as well as be available online after the event. 

“Healthy ecosystems underpin the Sustainable Development Goals; they support economic growth, sustain billions of livelihoods, provide the basis of food and water security, and stabilize our climate. Recent reports by IPBES, IPCC and WEF illustrate the grave consequences of biodiversity loss to our economy and to our very survival, and COVID-19 punctuates these findings by showing us of the perilous cost of nature’s loss to people’s health, wellbeing and the economy. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we focus on nature,” said Haoliang Xu, UN ASG and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

The organizing partners for the overall Nature for Life Hub include but are not limited to UNDP, UNEP UNEP-WCMC,  African Development Bank Group,   CBD Secretariat, Birdlife,  Business for Nature, Campaign for Nature,  Climate Advisers, Climate Week NYC, Conservation International,  Club of Rome,  CLUA,  ecohealth Alliance,  Environmental Defense Fund, FAO,  Finance for Nature Series, GEFI, Ford Foundation,  ICLEI, ICRI Forum, If Not Us Than Who, Next Green, The Nature Conservancy,  National Geographic Society,  the Nature for Climate Coalition, OP2B,  The Global Ethical Finance Initiative, United Nations Foundation, UNESCO, UN Global Compact, UN-REDD, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Economic Forum, World Wildlife Fund), Youth4Nature, among others.