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The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) includes a target to protect 30% of land by 2030, identifying other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) as complementary to Protected Areas (PAs). However, their contribution to conservation outcomes remains uncertain. Here we show the level of human pressure across the global OECM network and assess the impact of different governance mechanisms on deforestation and associated carbon emissions in the Peruvian Amazon from 2005 to 2021.

Effective marine conservation planning that supports long-term food security for Indigenous peoples requires a clear understanding of how fish populations use coastal seascapes and interact with local fisheries. Mangroves provide sheltered, accessible fishing grounds that support abundant culturally and commercially important fish. Their ecological connectivity with adjacent reefs, shaped by local tidal regimes, determines how fish use these habitats for food and shelter.

A new El Niño has begun and is projected to develop later this year into one of the strongest on record (1). The El Niño Southern Oscillation is a cyclical climate phenomenon driven by complex interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere. During the warm El Niño phase, surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific can rapidly increase by ~5 °C or more. Super El Niños are especially strong events in which the peak Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) exceeds 2 °C (2). Whether anthropogenic climate change is directly influencing this amplitude remains an active area of research.

Global efforts to protect 30% of the ocean may substantially overestimate conservation success if outcomes are assumed rather than measured. Current assessments emphasize protected area coverage and stated protection levels instead of whether marine protected areas (MPAs) deliver ecological benefits. By comparing observed fish biomass on shallow reefs with counterfactual predictions, we found that at most one quarter of MPAs are achieving meaningful conservation outcomes, with success strongly dependent on compliance with fishing restrictions.

Marine megafauna - whales, dolphins, porpoises, turtles, sharks, tuna and other migratory species - depend on a connected and healthy ocean. Across the Western Pacific, their survival is shaped not by a single place alone, but by ecological relationships across feeding, breeding, calving, nursing, socialising and migratory areas.

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (red list) is of fundamental importance for nature conservation and biodiversity protection. I considered the interaction between the red list and international biodiversity law (IBL), the legal regime that aims to protect biodiversity at a global level. The red list is deeply embedded in each of the five global biodiversity treaties.

In response to demand for better biodiversity stewardship from the private sector, frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) have been developed to help companies assess, manage, and disclose their nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities. A key initial screening step is to identify operations in ecologically sensitive areas. This step is often conducted using global datasets that are readily available and consistent but may be less accurate than national data informed by local expertise and conditions.

More than 30 years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, the three Rio Conventions — the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) — remain the principal global frameworks addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and land degradation. Yet the crises these Conventions seek to address do not occur separately in nature, nor are they experienced separately by Indigenous Peoples.

Bomb fishing is recognised as the most destructive fishing practice that can be performed in our oceans. This practice involves the use of improvised explosives to stun or kill fish for harvest. Bomb fishing is primarily undertaken on highly threatened tropical coral reef habitats where it accelerates ecological degradation that destabilises communities dependent on these habitats. However, the true extent of bomb fishing in impacted regions is unknown, making it difficult to identify hotspots and activity patterns required to inform management.

Global conservation agreements emphasize protected area coverage targets, such as the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 30 × 30 target, yet their effectiveness in safeguarding biodiversity remains uncertain. We measure the intersection between marine protected area (MPA) coverage and the distribution of sharks and rays. Using global range maps and MPA boundaries within national exclusive economic zones, we calculate the percent of species’ ranges within MPAs, focusing on no-take areas. We reveal significant shortfalls in species-level protection.