About Glispa

A Global Opportunity
The Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) assists islands in addressing one of the world’s greatest challenges — to conserve and sustainably utilize invaluable island natural resources that support people, cultures and livelihoods in their island homes around the world.
It is a partnership for all islands, regardless of size or political status, to take bold steps towards greater sustainability. It provides a global platform that enables islands to work together to develop solutions to common problems and to take high-level commitments and actions that address these global challenges.
Importance of Islands
- Earth’s 175,000 islands are home to more than 600 million inhabitants
- Islands and their oceans represent one sixth of Earth’s total area
- Islands support many of the most unique and isolated natural systems including: more than half the world’s marine biodiversity
- more than half the world’s marine biodiversity
- 7 of the world’s 10 coral reef hotspots and
- 10 of the 34 richest areas of biodiversity in the world
- 64% of recorded extinctions are on islands
- Over two thirds of the world’s countries include islands
Call for Island Leadership
At the Mauritius International Meeting in January 2005 , former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan made an urgent call for high-level political commitment to the global challenge on islands. Inspired, President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. of Palau and President James A. Michel of Seychelles called for greater collaboration through an international partnership for island conservation and sustainable livelihoods.
The Global Island Partnership grew spontaneously based on the needs of participating governments and partners. It was officially launched at the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP8) for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Brazil, 2006. The Partnership has a committed Steering Committee, co-chaired by the Presidents of Palau and Seychelles, as well as a small coordination unit based in the United States.
GLISPA is recognized as:
- a mechanism for advancing conservation of island biodiversity (Decision IX/21, CBD COP9)
- a best practice partnership by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)
- a success factor in preparations for the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)


