Announcing RegionsWithNature

An exciting new initiative dedicated to regional governments and their nature work is being launched today at Daring Cities 2021, the global virtual forum for urban leaders taking on the climate emergency. RegionsWithNature will be a dynamic online space where regional governments and their partners can connect, demonstrate their commitment to biodiversity goals, and access resources to enhance their landscape and territorial actions for nature. RegionsWithNature is building on the success of CitiesWithNature – which has grown to 190 cities and 17 partner organisations since its launch in 2018 – and will follow a similar model.

This partnership initiative is being developed by founding partners ICLEI, Regions4, IUCN, the Group of Leading Subnational Governments toward Aichi Biodiversity Targets (GoLS) and others. Founding regional governments that have already thrown their weight behind RegionsWithNature include Yucatan State in Mexico, São Paulo State and Pernambuco State in Brazil, Goa State in India, the Comunidad de Madrid in Spain and the Western Cape Province in South Africa. RegionsWithNature is being championed by Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal from the State of Yucatan, who is also a Member of ICLEI’s Global Executive Committee where he leads the Biodiversity Portfolio.

Watch the announcement event on 8 October at 16:30 CEST – or the replay – by registering for free at https://daringcities.org/2021-registration . Hear from speakers from ICLEI, Regions4, Yucatan State, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other leading organisations in this plenary session of the 2030 Visions Day of the Daring Cities forum.

Get a glimpse of what is to come by visiting the new website regionswithnature.org  and follow @Regionswnature on Twitter to stay up to date about developments. If you would like to find out more about RegionsWithNature or are from a regional government or partner organisation who would like to join and help build RegionsWithNature, get in touch by emailing info@regionswithnature.org

The need for RegionsWithNature

Many of the actions that we need to take to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises are needed at the territorial and landscape scale. Regional governments such as provinces and states have different mandates from cities and have unique and vital contributions to make. Regional governments are best positioned to work at the larger scale of landscapes and to implement solutions that span from urban to rural areas. For example, to achieve resilient water catchments and sustainable food systems we must work at these scales. Regional governments also play an essential role in supporting and enabling the local governments within their jurisdictions. The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services emphasises that successful transformations towards sustainability, require governance approaches that are integrative, inclusive, informed and adaptive. 

To support the nature ambitions of regional governments and to ensure that multi-level governance opportunities for action are maximised, regional governments require a dedicated space. RegionsWithNature is being developed at the request of regions to have a space to make their voices heard, to share their experiences, and to showcase their commitments towards achieving national and global biodiversity targets. 

RegionsWithNature will serve regional governments from around the world, such as provinces, states, prefectures, and larger territories. The online platform will provide essential resources, tools and services and enable regions to mobilise political will and funding to achieve their ambitions for nature-positive development.

For media enquiries contact pieter.botha@iclei.org