On 24 October 2026, the Council of Europe hosted a panel discussion at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. The event, “Cultural Landscapes and Biodiversity: A Living Heritage Worth Protecting”, took place from 16:00 to 18:00 at the Armenia’s Pavilion in the Blue Zone.
Cultural landscapes are rich reservoirs of biodiversity, maintained over generations through traditional practices and local knowledge. The panel explored how landscape management, planning and community participation can sustain them, drawing on the example of Armenia.
Rafael Benitez, Director of Social Rights, Health and Environment at the Council of Europe, opened the event, followed by Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands. The panel, moderated by Caroline Martin, Secretary of the Landscape Convention, included Nune Petrosyan (Armenia), Antonio Antequera (Vice-President of the Landscape Convention), Clinton Omusula (FAO) and Mohamed Ali Dridi (Ministry of Environment of Tunisia).
The event showed how the Landscape Convention contributes to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and highlighted that the Convention is open to States beyond Europe.
