By Iffat Ara Sharmeen
11 November, 2026
Held from 19 to 31 October 2026, the
conference theme “Taking Action for Nature” brought together governments, civil
society, practitioners, scientists, and global stakeholders to advance efforts
to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Friendship Founder Runa Khan, and Head
of Climate Action Kazi Amdadul Hoque participated in the conference to share
Friendship's community-led biodiversity action and initiatives in line with the
Rio Synergies.
Friendship founder Runa Khan shared Friendship's experiences in connecting faith, human values, and community-led action to protect biodiversity, along with representatives of Africa4Resilience, LM International and SMC Faith in Development.© Kazi Amdadul Hoque/Friendship
Bringing Communities into Biodiversity
Action
Runa Khan spoke at the side event “Faith in
Action for Biodiversity: A Whole-of-Society Approach to Resilient Landscapes
and Communities”, hosted by Africa4Resilience,
LM International, and SMC Faith in Development. The discussion
explored how faith institutions, traditional knowledge, and community
participation can strengthen biodiversity conservation.
Drawing on Friendship’s work in Bangladesh,
she highlighted communities as custodians of biodiversity and essential
partners in protecting the ecosystems on which they depend. These communities
do more than just ecosystem-based adaptation with mangroves. They conserve
biodiversity, protect native and endangered species out of a sense of moral duty,
and share the role of mangroves in coastal resilience to encourage others to do
the same.
Friendship’s mangrove afforestation uses local
knowledge and scientific expertise together, by ensuring women’s meaningful
participation and establishing community ownership alongside science. This
mutual cooperation between experts in scientific knowledge and experts in
indigenous knowledge ensures long-term ecological sustainability and
climate-friendly, resilient livelihoods.
Drawing on Bangladesh’s experience, Kazi Amdadul Hoque, Head of Climate Action at Friendship, shared its model of mangrove restoration, which brings together local communities, local government institutions, the Bangladesh Forest Department, NGOs and civil society organisations.© Friendship
Connecting the Three Rio Conventions
Kazi Amdadul Hoque joined the side event
“Landscape Restoration and Connectivity as Delivery Mechanisms: TIE Rio
Synergies Roadmap, Ecosystem Approach and Restoration, Kunming-Montreal Global
Biodiversity Framework”. The session, organised with the Global Partnership on Forest
and Landscape Restoration and the Amazon
Sustainable Landscapes Program, explored how coordinated governance can
support landscape restoration.
Integrated landscape approaches recognise
that ecosystems are interconnected, and that restoration can benefit
biodiversity, climate action, and efforts to combat land degradation. However,
fragmented policies and governance systems can make implementation difficult.
The discussion focused on improving coordination across sectors and levels of
decision-making. This approach links biodiversity conservation with climate
adaptation and sustainable management of coastal ecosystems and marine
resources. It strengthens coastal communities’ adaptive capacity and
contributes to national commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global
Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), the National Adaptation Plan, and the
Sustainable Development Goals.
Friendship believes conservation depends on the people who live closest to nature. Global commitments set out the direction; their success will be measured by whether communities have the resources, recognition, funding, and agency to restore and protect the ecosystems they call home. Mutual trust with experts and officials is key to ensuring these things. © Ayon Das/Friendship
From Commitments to Action
COP17 concluded with the adoption of the
Yerevan Pathway, following the first global review of progress under the KMGBF.
Parties adopted nearly 50 decisions on key priorities. Outcomes included
renewed attention to biodiversity financing, monitoring and accountability, and
the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities through the Sevan
Guidelines. Nearly USD 2
billion in new biodiversity funding was also announced. Finally, Ecuador was announced as the next
host of COP18 in 2028.
For Friendship, these commitments and
decisions must translate into practical action, such as accelerating national
biodiversity plans, making financing accessible, credible, and accountable to
local communities, recognising women’s leadership and traditional knowledge,
and measuring ecosystem recovery alongside livelihood resilience. Friendship
urges stronger coordination across the three Rio Conventions, focusing on
overlapping mandates that can help countries make restoration investments
towards multiple goals.