A/HRC/34/49 grants has directly assisted a local community to conserve endangered wildlife. Another excellent practice is the UNDP Equator Initiative, which works to support local solutions for sustainable development by building local capacity, sharing good practices and recognizing successes through its annual Equator Prizes.90 IV. Conclusions and recommendations 65. Biodiversity is necessary for ecosystem services that support the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and culture. In order to protect human rights, States have a general obligation to protect ecosystems and biodiversity. 66. Biodiversity around the world is rapidly being degraded and destroyed, with grave and far-reaching implications for human well-being. A human rights perspective: (a) Helps to clarify that the loss of biodiversity also undermines the full enjoyment of human rights; (b) Heightens the urgent need to protect biodiversity; (c) Helps to promote policy coherence and legitimacy in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. 67. Procedurally, States should: (a) Assess the social and environmental impacts of all proposed projects and policies that may affect biodiversity; (b) Provide public information about biodiversity, including environmental and social assessments of proposals, and ensure that the relevant information is provided to those affected in a language that they understand; (c) decisions; Provide for and facilitate public participation in biodiversity-related (d) Provide access to effective remedies for the loss and degradation of biodiversity. 68. States should recognize that defenders of biodiversity are also human rights defenders, and implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on providing a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders in general (see, e.g., A/HRC/25/55) and for environmental human rights defenders in particular (see A/71/281). 69. Substantively, every State should establish legal and institutional frameworks for the protection of biodiversity that: (a) agencies; Regulate harm to biodiversity from private actors as well as government (b) Adopt and implement standards that accord with international standards, are non-retrogressive and non-discriminatory, and respect and protect the rights of those who are particularly vulnerable to the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. 90 See https://sgp.undp.org and www.equatorinitiative.org. 21