The Fourth Meeting of the Working Group on Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Communities of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity has closed in Granada with a final document paying tribute to the Government and people of Spain.

In this letter, the participants in the meeting wish to express their “deep gratitude to the Government and people of Spain” for the hospitality and leadership shown on this key issue and, in turn, invite the Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, to convey to the Ministerial Segment of the next Conference of the Parties to the Convention, which will take place in Curitiba, Brazil, from 27 to 29 March, the results of this meeting in Grenada and the importance of the effective implementation of this work programme to successfully achieve the goal set by the Convention for the year 2010: to halt the process of biodiversity loss that is affecting the entire planet.

It also recalls that, with only four years to go until 2010, it is necessary to redouble efforts at the global level and ensure the active participation of all interested actors if the goal is to be achieved. In particular, it underlines the critical contribution that indigenous and local communities can make in reducing the rate of degradation of nature. In this sense, this Working Group is an unbeatable opportunity for the voices of indigenous communities to be heard in a United Nations forum.