Netherlands

Biodiversity captured worldwide attention at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro when 150 nations signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Although most countries by now have had some experience planning and implementing biodiversity-related measures, few have approached them in the comprehensive, integrated manner required by the Convention.

IUCN's 5th World Parks Congress (2003) concluded that parks should not exist as unique islands, but need to be planned and managed as an integral part of the broader landscape. Ecological networks provide an operational model for conserving biodiversity that is based on ecological principles and allow a degree of human use of the landscape.

This booklet contains views and abstracts of articles from the special COP6 edition of the magazine Ecologie & Ontwikkeling (Ecology & Development) published by the Netherlands Committee for IUCN. It reviews the role and importance of the Biodiversity Convention and focuses on the priority themes of the COP6, aiming to briefly sketch some points of view on the history and framework of the Convention.

Environmental accounting---the modification of the national income accounts to take into consideration the economic role of the environment---has grown in importance over the past ten years. However, many countries have not yet implemented such accounts, and there is much controversy about whether and how to do so.