From 21 October to 1 November, representatives from 196 countries gathered in Cali, Colombia for COP16 on Biological Diversity. Together, they discussed progress and the protection of global biodiversity.

The Netherlands made an active contribution with its own pavilion, hosted by Partners for Water, where new insights, lessons and collaborations emerged on biodiversity, water, food, landscape-based approaches and greening finance. Keep reading to discover the key insights from two weeks of dynamic discussions.

Insights from the Netherlands Pavilion at COP16

The Netherlands Pavilion emerged as a dynamic hub where greening finance, the water-biodiversity-food nexus, and landscape-based solutions for bio-cultural diversity seamlessly came together. Throughout the week, engaging discussions and workshops generated fresh insights and fostered valuable collaborations. A significant milestone was reached when the WWF and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding, pledging to promote Nature-based Solutions (NBS) across Europe to tackle both climate change and biodiversity loss.

The Netherlands Water Envoy Meike van Ginneken visited the Netherlands Pavilion and highlighted the importance of bridging the gaps between different practitioners in the water, biodiversity and food sectors. A key insight? True capacity building happens when we openly discuss challenges, share practical lessons learned, and collaborate on solutions. When we move beyond presentation mode to problem-solving mode, we create lasting impact. “Landscape binds people, binds knowledge, binds nature.” – the Netherlands Water Envoy Meike van Ginneken

The Netherlands Pavilion welcomed UN Youth Representatives on Biodiversity, who shared their insights on their work at COP. Find out what they have to say in the video below.

COP16’s key insights on biodiversity, water, food and more

Finance and biodiversity
At COP16’s Netherlands Pavilion, the message was clear: If we want to see real change, we need to think beyond traditional funding models. While public funding alone can’t solve biodiversity challenges, blending public and private investments opens new possibilities for nature. For instance, government and philanthropic support can help reduce risks for private investors, though new financial structures are still evolving. “Public funding alone is insufficient to tackle the biodiversity challenge. Blended finance is key to unlocking private investment for nature.” – Caroline Van Leenders, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)

Value chains and biodiversity
The dialogue on value chains at COP16 challenged conventional thinking. Rather than hard contracts, experts advocated for soft approaches. A communal vision emerged to push towards localised food systems. Rather than maintaining the status quo of global supply chains, the focus should shift to celebrating and protecting local diversity while sharing risks across the entire value chains.

Biodiversity assessment tools
ASN Bank’s portfolio analysis revealed unexpected insights about groundwater impact, highlighting a crucial lesson: assessment tools can uncover hidden environmental impacts, encouraging organisations to begin measuring their biodiversity footprint. A key message that emerged: starting with available information is better than waiting for complete datasets. “Don’t wait for perfect data to measure biodiversity impact. Even with limited data, you can start assessing with what you have.” – Lucian Peppelenbos, Robeco

Localised landscape restoration
“Return on Inspiration (ROI) is where landscape restoration begins,” noted Willem Ferwerda from Commonland, reflecting the belief that local communities must believe in a better future to make restoration succeed. He emphasised that true change requires a 20-year commitment. A key insight? An area-based approach is essential; let nature define the project’s scale while ensuring long-term stakeholder engagement. “If you truly want to regenerate landscapes, focus on the most degraded areas rather than those that are easy to showcase success with.” – Daan Groot, Nature Squared

Indigenous knowledge, water and biodiversity
Ancient wisdom offers modern solutions, as demonstrated by the Zenu case study where historical canal systems combat flooding while supporting agriculture and aquaculture. These discussions at COP16 highlighted how traditional practices can effectively restore biodiversity and water systems, and repeatedly highlighted the power of collective thinking over individual approaches. Indigenous voices are crucial guides in our journey towards better biodiversity management; their perspective isn’t just valuable – it’s essential for creating lasting change.

Liliane Geerling from Partners for Water discussed incorporating Indigenous knowledge into landscape-based approaches with various experts present at COP16. Watch the video below to learn more.

“Like salsa dancing in Cali – the world’s salsa capital –, COP16 was all about making meaningful connections!” – Martine van Weelden, Capitals Coalition

Moving forward with nature

COP16 demonstrated that protecting biodiversity requires long-term commitment, collective thinking, and innovative funding models. As shown at the Netherlands Pavilion, success lies in bridging sectors, incorporating indigenous knowledge and turning discussions into action. “The way forward is not through war but through working with the other party,” emphasized Colombia’s Minister of Environment Susana Muhamad. So let’s start working together with nature to create a water, food and biodiversity-secure future.

Watch the recap video for a glimpse of the vibrant atmosphere.

In the heart of the coffee-growing region of Magdalena, the Netherlands and Colombia are combining forces to improve water efficiency and biodiversity conservation. This week, representatives from 196 countries including scientists, indigenous communities, business representatives and environment ministers are gathering in Cali, Colombia at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP). Agreements on progress and protection of biodiversity will be discussed extensively until 1 November.

Amid the many discussions, the collaborative partnership between the Netherlands and Colombia reflects a committed effort to promote biodiversity conservation, particularly in the coffee sector. One notable project, “Improving Water Efficiency in the Coffee Sector in the Magdalena Region” is funded by the Dutch government’s Partners for Water (PFW) programme and coordinated by AidEnvironment, a non-profit consultancy specialising in sustainable development and environmental conservation. AidEnvironment works in close partnership with the local Fundación Herencia Ambiental Caribe and Deltares, a Dutch research institute focused on water management, environmental sustainability and climate resilience.

The project

The “Improving Water Efficiency in the Coffee Sector in the Magdalena Region” project is implemented in Colombia’s key coffee-growing regions in the watersheds of the Aracataca. This is the birthplace of the famous writer and Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and is located in the Magdalena department by the Fundación rivers in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM) mountain range. The region covers 18,000 hectares of coffee farms comprising of over 5,000 small-scale farmers. The project aims to find a balance between the economic importance of coffee production and the need to preserve ecosystems downstream, including the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM), a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Since 1981, annual rainfall has steadily declined, resulting in water scarcity that poses a significant threat to both coffee farming and the biodiversity of the CGSM wetlands, which depend on reliable upstream water flows. The region’s traditional wet-processing methods pollute the water and place additional stress on both surface and groundwater resources.

Smallholder coffee farmers, who are vital to the local economy, are especially susceptible to these environmental shifts. Their limited financial resources further hinder their ability to adapt, making it more urgent to find affordable, locally tailored solutions. Keje Nagel, Coordinator of AidEnvironment, conducted extensive field research in various countries to understand the conditions and challenges that coffee farmers face, particularly around economic hardships and environmental degradation caused by coffee production. “It is essential,” he says in a video call from Colombia, “to create more circular agricultural systems that reduce environmental harm.”

The challenges

To tackle the challenges, Nagel explains that a two-phased approach will be implemented that actively engages coffee producers. In the first phase, “we will collaborate closely with local farmers to thoroughly understand their realities, challenges and the socio-cultural contexts. This will enable us to identify innovative water-saving and decontamination technologies specifically tailored to their needs and financial capabilities. Green filters for water purification will be explored, as well as other methods for reducing agrochemical use and innovative post-harvesting techniques for water-scarce conditions.

In the second phase, these technologies will be deployed on a pilot farm “to ensure they are both technically effective and culturally relevant”. Each farm will be treated as a micro-watershed, emphasising water retention, minimising runoff and enhancing soil health. By actively involving farmers in the implementation process and offering training in sustainable practices, the idea is to reduce dependencies on chemical inputs and optimise overall water management. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework will track key indicators, including water availability, soil moisture and biodiversity health, allowing the long-term impact of these interventions to be assessed.

Reducing water consumption and nutrient runoff

Coffee is one of the key crops for soil conservation. However, coffee processing poses a risk of nutrient leakage, which can cause contamination when nutrient levels reach unnaturally high concentrations and end up in local rivers, contributing to water pollution. This occurs when nutrient-rich pulp and wastewater, used in washing the coffee cherries, are discharged into nearby rivers or streams. While this process may appear small, it leads to harmful nutrient peaks as piles of pulp partly end up in the water through rainfall. Nagel adds: “When these piles are left uncovered there is a significant risk of nutrient leakage which can cause serious damage to aquatic biodiversity. Fish and other species may struggle to survive in these altered environments.”

Maintaining nutrient flows and minimising external inputs such as fertilizers, is becoming increasingly expensive and unsustainable, especially in economically disadvantaged regions. “The ideal model for coffee farming,” says Nagel, “balances economic stability for farmers with environmentally sustainable practices, involving long-term contracts and regenerative agricultural techniques that support biodiversity and prevent resource depletion.”

Their findings show that the primary issue in coffee production, is exactly that: the economic disparity in the value chain, where producers receive a very small portion of the generated value (around 10%). This financial instability makes it difficult for farmers to get around and they often have other priorities than complying with environmental issues such as biodiversity loss, water pollution and soil degradation.

Pilot farms

Currently the National Coffee Federation (FNC) is implementing various technologies aimed at reducing water use and contamination. They are promoting two different filters that filter water wastewater with plants such as vetiver grass to remove excess nutrients from coffee processing. The other option is the use of Eco mills, innovative coffee processing machines that drastically reduce water usage. “The Eco mill processes coffee from cherry to parchment without impacting the overall production system”, Nagel adds.

However, these technologies are expensive, ranging from €2,500 and €5,000, making them inaccessible for many smallholder farmers. Moreover, green filter technology currently lacks a component that ensures the re-use of the collected nutrients. The project, therefore, is still in its development phase aiming to find scalable, affordable solutions tailored to different farm sizes and local contexts, with closed nutrient cycles. Farmers are encouraged to implement various agroforestry techniques before they become eligible for subsidies. By doing this, greater awareness among farmers can lead to their active contribution to sustainable practices.

Local institutions like CENICAFÉ, the research arm of the National Coffee Federation (Federación Nacional de Cafetéros de Colombia) is essential in ensuring not only the best technology, but also its adaptability and scalability within the region.

Rather than inventing new technologies these existing technologies built on previous research, are taken as departure points ensuring that any potential additions proposed can be easily adopted by the FNC, who are closely connected to the local context.

The road ahead

Over the next six months, the team will develop a technological design for a farm and work closely with local partners to ensure that the systems are effective and sustainable. This will be followed by a nine-month implementation phase. As with any project of this scale, however, patience and persistence are required. Cultural change in farming communities takes time and the team recognises that building trust and demonstrating success will be essential for long-term adaptation.

Looking for ways to get involved?

Are you currently working on water projects in Colombia or exploring how to do so? Or just curious about participating in the Partners for Water initiatives? Here are ways for you to get involved:

• Apply for our tenders focused on innovative solutions in delta countries like Colombia.
• Join our annual Colombia platform meeting or one of the other Partners for Water events.
• Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on our tenders, activities, events and projects.
• Apply for the Partners for Water subsidy. Explore whether you are eligible.
• Get in touch with our Project Advisor for Colombia: Robert Proos

Water, climate, and biodiversity are the foundations of life on Earth. Despite their vital functions, these elements face severe pressures, threatening food, health, safety and economies. To address this, Partners for Water and the IUCN hosted “Shaping a Biodiversity-Proof Future” on 1 October 2024 at Omniversum Museon, in The Hague. This event united the international water, food and nature sectors to develop actionable solutions. Explore the next steps for a biodiversity proof future below.

“Biodiversity and ecosystem services form a strong foundation that underpins all the sectors present today. It’s not a ‘nice to have’; it’s at the core,” explained Heleen van den Hombergh from the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Together with co-organizer Liliane Geerling from Partners for Water and moderator Caroline van Leenders from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, she opened the Biodiversity event. Amid the museum’s captivating photos of wild cats, eagles and rhinos, 90 dedicated water, food and biodiversity professionals listened attentively as van Leenders explained that the event is designed not just to inspire but to catalyse action to integrate biodiversity in their work and mainstream it internationally.

Working towards a biodiversity proof future

The majority of the day was dedicated to collaborative workshops in small groups. Participants discussed challenges, identified action points, and equipped each other with the new insights needed to work towards a biodiversity-proof future. Geerling added, “The insights resulting from today’s discussions we will bring to the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) in Cali, Colombia this October.”

Five themes that impact biodiversity were explored during the day: regenerative agriculture, water related infrastructure, greening finance, transformative change, and biocultural landscapes, including ancestral knowledge in landscape-based approaches. The main takeaways are presented below.

Main takeaways for mainstreaming biodiversity

An overarching insight from the sessions was the interconnectedness of biodiversity and climate change. Destroying and degrading ecosystems releases more CO2 emissions than burning fossil fuels. Conversely, the consequences of burning fossil fuels—such as rising global temperatures, increased wildfires, and ocean acidification—threaten habitats and wildlife.

Each session resulted in various outcomes, with two insights recurring across all sessions:

• Collective action: A biodiversity-friendly future requires unified efforts from all stakeholders, including businesses, NGOs, knowledge institutions and governments.
• Localized approach: Working with local people and partners is crucial. Incorporating not only their needs but also their knowledge is essential for achieving positive biodiversity impact.

These recurring outcomes underscore the complexity of biodiversity challenges and the need for integrated, collaborative solutions. To learn more about these subject-specific insights, please continue reading below.

Regenerative agriculture and biodiversity

A sustainable food system should provide sufficient, affordable, and healthy food for everyone, fairly produced and within the Earth’s ecological limits. The current system is far from achieving this goal, but regenerative agriculture can play a crucial role in making food systems more sustainable.

During this session, a collective brainstorm was held. It resulted in acknowledging various challenges and identifying many potential solutions to address these challenges which you can find in illustration 1.

“How we produce our food is probably one of the biggest challenges of the decade and will determine the biodiversity status for the future.” – Marieke Harteveld, Lead agri-food transition at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency

Additionally, useful practices for implementing regenerative agroforestry in a landscape setting were discussed.

Takeaways

• Agroforestry practices, such as implementing edible hedges, can benefit both nature and farmers by addressing soil erosion, water scarcity, reduced biodiversity, climate change and economic vulnerability.
• Understanding community needs and adopting a bottom-up approach is crucial for the successful implementation and adoption of agroforestry practices.
• Patience and long-term thinking are required, as income and returns from agroforestry may come later. De-risking smallholder investments through conservation agreements, collateral, and spreading risk across farmers can help attract investment partners.

Water infrastructure, climate resilience & biodiversity

People often claim that biodiversity is too complex to integrate into water-related infrastructures, like dikes, dams, sluices, and storm-surge barriers, but, ensure that biodiversity is prioritized from the starting point and monitored at the start as well as after implementation, it is achievable. This session encouraged participants to exchange ideas on how to integrate biodiversity into infrastructure projects and explored the key challenges and innovations when monitoring biodiversity in these types of infrastructures.

Takeaways

• Both time constraints and climate change must be considered when planning for water related infrastructures. Infrastructure projects often have short timelines, while restoring or preferably enhancing biodiversity requires long-term thinking.
• Data-driven design is crucial for monitoring biodiversity and creating biodiverse oceans and climate-resilient coastlines and infrastructure, and incorporating data from indigenous communities and historical environmental information should be standard practice.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration is necessary to create and maintain impactful, climate resilient water related infrastructures, with an emphasis on including ecologists in decision-making processes.

Greening finance & biodiversity

Ecosystem services are becoming increasingly relevant in the investment world. Of the three types—regulating, provisioning, and cultural ecosystem services —provisioning services are often assigned a higher monetary value, while regulating services are often undervalued despite their importance to human wellbeing. This session explored how recognizing the true value of ecosystem services leads to better investment decisions, what financing nature-positive initiatives means, and why it is needed.

“It is not just about funding restoration projects; we need to fundamentally change business and finance.” –  Nicolas Poolen, Green Finance Adviser, WWF

Takeaways

• Provisioning ecosystem services are often easier to invest in than regulating ecosystem services due to their direct market value, but if we want to conserve nature, we need to recognize the true value of regulating ecosystem services.
• Nature’s value appreciates over decades and the localized nature of ecosystem services necessitates targeted investment strategies at the landscape level. That’s why investment strategies for nature require alignment with ecological timescales and local contexts.
• There is a shortage of transition plans rather than a shortage of capital for nature positive investments. This presents a clear opportunity to integrate nature into strategies, aiming to deliver both net zero and nature-positive outcomes for the corporate and financial sectors.

Did you know that the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD) can be used as a tool for valuing ecosystem services? Discover more about ESVD.

Transformative change and biodiversity

Our food systems undeniably require change, but how can we ensure this change is transformative? This session encouraged participants to explore both general and specific transformative practices in food value chains, alongside strategies for overcoming barriers. The key insights from this discussion provided substantial food for thought and action.

Takeaways

• An important aspect for transformative change is to understand that worldviews and knowledge systems underpin what we value in nature and biodiversity and that there are multiple value perspectives, like nature for nature, nature as culture, and nature for society.
• There should be a fundamental shift in value chain strategy: competition should no longer be solely based on price, quality and availability, but should also incorporate water usage and biodiversity considerations.
• Transition management is complex due to the number of stakeholders involved and their potentially conflicting interests. Every stakeholder group, from government, businesses and NGOs to financial institutions, has a role in the transition process, emphasizing the importance of coordination and timing.

Indigenous knowledge & biocultural landscapes

Did everything used to be better? We all know that’s not always true. However, many ancient practices that we’ve set aside did a better job of respecting nature and biodiversity. A wealth of this knowledge, both ancient and contemporary, is still preserved and practiced by indigenous cultures all around the world. This session on biocultural landscapes discussed how we can incorporate this wisdom, focusing on ancestral knowledge and landscape-based approaches for sustainable development.

Takeaways:

• Reviving biocultural landscapes requires considering the inherent logic of the landscape as a foundation and landscape values.  This includes leveraging ethnobotanical knowledge and ecological wisdom and practices from local indigenous cultures.
• Landscape-based approaches are context-specific; scaling up requires being alert to opportunities and cultivating local partnerships.
• Although funding is often siloed, landscape-based approaches demand a holistic perspective, emphasizing co-creation and regeneration.

Nature will bounce back

It is clear that biodiversity extends far beyond environmental benefits and ecosystem health. It forms the foundation of our lives and the resources we depend on. Addressing its decline is of the essence. Wouter Ubbink, former UN Youth Representative on Biodiversity and Food, ended the day with a pledge that left participants with food for thought.

“Water and nature should not be tamed but should be given space instead. Space is where the battle for nature will be fought,” said Ubbink compellingly. In his view, green growth is a myth. So, we need to halt over-exploitation, overproduction and overconsumption. Nature should be embraced and harnessed, not controlled and oppressed. Ubbink: “If we leave it alone nature will bounce back.”

Uniting for biodiversity: a call for collective action

This event marks just one step towards a more sustainable and resilient future for both humanity and nature. The insights from these workshops will be carried forward, as we will bring them to the Biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia in October and continue today’s efforts during sessions hosted at the Netherlands pavilion. You can find more details in our full programme here.

Building on this momentum, our new podcast series, Waterproof, will launch on 21 November. It will explore biodiversity and other crucial water themes, including salinisation, the Build-Neglect-Rebuild cycle, locally led development, greening finance and Water-Biodiversity-Food. The series kicks off with one of the crucial elements in creating positive biodiversity impact: Nature-based Solutions. Click here to stay tuned and be notified when the series launches.

Partners for Water and IUCN urge participants and other water professionals to start mainstreaming biodiversity in all their processes and projects and to work together towards a world where biodiversity thrives.

Hondsbossche Dunes

In the water sector, the Hondsbossche Dunes in the Netherlands provide a good example of an area with high biodiversity. This project was initiated to offer protection against rising sea levels but also included nature development, such as dune formation and creating habitats for plants and animals. This kind of nature-based solution combines infrastructure with nature restoration and has been exported to other countries, such as those in West Africa, to protect coasts against erosion and flooding. Developing ‘robust nature’ is essential in this context; it means an ecosystem that can sustain itself over time and has high biodiversity, including plants, birds, and grasses that are resilient and can survive under changing conditions.