Under article 26 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, parties are required to report regularly to the Conference of the Parties on the implementation of the objectives of the Convention in their respective countries.

As such, the draft format for the third national report was prepared in accordance with the rules set out in paragraph 3 of decision VI/25, based on the guidelines for the preparation of national reports adopted by the Conference of the Parties in paragraph 2 of decision V/19.