Protected Area targets have been set globally, regionally, and sometimes at a country level. During the last decade, the global protected area targets that all country signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) committed to were the CBD's Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Specifically, Aichi Target 11 which stated that:
at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes by 2020.
The new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted in December 2022 at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15). CBD country signatories have committed to implementing the protected area target (Target 3) of the new GBF by the year 2030. The text of Target 3 is below:
Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, recognizing indigenous and traditional territories, where applicable, and integrated into wider landscapes, seascapes and the ocean, while ensuring that any sustainable use, where appropriate in such areas, is fully consistent with conservation outcomes, recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities including over their traditional territories.
Regionally, the Micronesia Challenge aims to effectively conserve at least 30% of near-shore marine resources and 20% of terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020. An example of a country-based target is Fiji that aims to have 30% of reefs protected by 2015 and 30% of waters managed as a marine protected area network by 2020. During the 24th Micronesia Island Forum in 2019, the Leaders recognized the success in the first 15 years of the Micronesia Challenge and endorsed the new Micronesia Challenge 2030 goals to effectively manage 50% of marine resources, including the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and 30% of terrestrial resources by 2030.
Below are various efforts that have been carried out to assess global and regional progress towards the Aichi protected area targets. The paper by Govan (2009) is the most comprehensive assessment of marine protected areas (MPAs), including all LMMAs in the Pacific Islands. Govan’s data has now been incorporated into the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). Several of the papers below attempt to assess progress towards targets which relate to factors such as management effectiveness, biodiversity coverage, governance and finance etc.
As we move closer to 2030, further technical guidance on implementing the new GBF Target 3 that becomes available will be added to the resources section below. Furthermore, the resources section will be updated as needed to include any new papers or guidance related to taking stock of national, regional and global progress in implementing the GBF Target 3.
Global Protected Areas as refuges for amphibians and reptiles under climate change
Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment of the conservation effectiveness of PAs using species distribution models.
Global protected areas seem insufficient to safeguard half of the world's mammals from human-induced extinction
Protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of global conservation and central to international plans to minimize global extinctions.
Global Reef Expedition - Final Report, Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
The expedition was conducted by KSLOF, a US-based nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to providing science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health.
Global trends in protected area connectivity from 2010 to 2018
Connectivity of protected areas (PAs) is needed to ensure the long-term persistence of biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery. The Convention on Biological Diversity agreed in 2010 to have 17% of land covered by wellconnected PA systems by 2020 (Aichi Target 11).
GlobalUsefulNativeTrees (GlobUNT)
The GlobalUsefulNativeTrees species selection App combines species data from the Botanic Gardens Conservation International GlobalTreeSearch database (GTS) ( website ; Beech et al. 2017 ) with data available from the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (WCUPS) ( Diazgranados et al. 2020 ).
Going Big in the Pacific Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas in the Pacific Ocean
The definition of large-scale marine protected areas in the Pacific Ocean is fundamental to the achievement of global marine conservation targets.
Governance Assessment for Protected and Conserved Areas (GAPA) - Methodology manual for GAPA facilitators
This manual provides detailed guidance for assessing the governance quality of protected areas (PAs) and other conserved areas (CAs) and any related conservation and development activities.
Governance, Equity and the Green List
Good governance is fundamental to effective protected area (PA) design, planning, and management operations, and the degree to which these are equitable in terms of the recognition and engagement of key actors, and the distribution of benefits and costs/burdens.
Governing Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: Roles and Opportunities for the Private Sector
The entry into force of the “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ Agreement) marks a historic moment.
Guidelines for conserving connectivity through ecological networks and corridors
Ecological connectivity is the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth.
Guidelines for privately protected areas
These guidelines, prepared by the Privately Protected Areas and Nature Stewardship Specialist Group of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, offer a range of best practices for establishing PPAs and securing effective longterm conservation on private properties.
Harnessing island–ocean connections to maximize marine benefits of island conservation
Islands support unique plants, animals, and human societies found nowhere else on the Earth. Local and global stressors threaten the persistence of island ecosystems, with invasive species being among the most damaging, yet solvable, stressors.
Heavy reliance on private finance alone will not deliver conservation goals
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework envisages an increasing reliance on large-scale private finance to fund biodiversity targets.
High Seas Biodiversity Treaty Policy Brief
This introductory brief's target audience is professionals from governments, civil society, private sector, and other stakeholders who know multilateral processes and treaties but are not “BBNJ (biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction) experts”. It is an easier
High-profile international commitments for ocean protection: Empty promises or meaningful progress?
As 2020 approaches, countries are accelerating their commitments to protect 10% of the ocean by establishing and expanding marine protected areas (MPAs) and other area-based protections.
High-profile international commitments for ocean protection: Empty promises or meaningful progress?
As 2020 approaches, countries are accelerating their commitments to protect 10% of the ocean by establishing and expanding marine protected areas (MPAs) and other area-based protections.
How far have we come? A review of MPA network performance indicators in reaching qualitative elements of Aichi Target 11
Effective networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) are explicitly recognized and called for in international biodiversity conservation strategies such as the Aichi Targets.
How is your MPA Doing?
This guidebook offers managers and other conservation practitioners a process and methods to evaluate the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the purposes of Adaptive Management.
How many bird and mammal extinctions has recent conservation action prevented?
Aichi Target 12 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) contains the aim to ‘prevent extinctions of known threatened species’.
Improving biodiversity protection through artificial intelligence
Over a million species face extinction, highlighting the urgent need for conservation policies that maximize the protection of biodiversity to sustain its manifold contributions to people’s lives.
Include biodiversity representation indicators in area-based conservation targets
Advances in spatial biodiversity science and nationally available data have enabled the development of indicators that report on biodiversity outcomes, account for uneven global biodiversity between countries, and provide direct planning support.
Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool for Research and Conservation Planning (IBAT)
IBAT compares the current distribution of protected areas with the distribution of Key Biodiversity Areas, displaying the extent to which Aichi Target 11 (Convention on Biological Diversity) is being delivered strategically. By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and
Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) - Information Brochure
The Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) is an approach to support protected areas planning, monitoring and evaluation and to improve management patterns and conservation outcomes.
IUCN WCPA Technical Note - Equity in conservation – what, why and how?
Achieving the target to conserve 30% of land and sea requires strong emphasis on equity.
IUCN WCPA Technical Note - IMPROVING PROTECTED AND CONSERVED AREA MANAGEMENT TO SAFEGUARD ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY AND MINIMISE ZOONOTIC DISEASE RISK
This Technical Note provides advice to managers of protected and conserved areas1 (PCAs) for applying a ‘One Health’ approach for the benefit of environmental, animal, and human health.
IUCN WCPA Technical Note 16: Approaches for identifying areas of particular importance for marine biodiversity
Identifying and conserving areas of particular importance for biodiversity is a fundamental element of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3
IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3 builds on three cycles of Conservation Outlook Assessments undertaken since 2014. It presents the main results for 2020, but also some longer-term trends based on a comparison of three data sets now available.
Learning from Positive Deviance in Gender and Fisheries: A Case Study in Solomon Islands
We present an initial exploration of why and how participation in a case of community-based resource management (CBRM) in a Pacific context could be considered a deviation from gender norms.
Lessons learnt in global biodiversity governance
INEA has featured many articles covering the dilemmas, puzzles, and tensions related to global biodiversity governance; this coverage was infrequent in earlier issues but has steadily increased as both environmental diplomacy and international law on biodiversity conservation and environmental ju
Machine learning prediction of connectivity, biodiversity and resilience in the Coral Triangle
Even optimistic climate scenarios predict catastrophic consequences for coral reef ecosystems by 2100. Understanding how reef connectivity, biodiversity and resilience are shaped by climate variability would improve chances to establish sustainable management practices.
Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Forestry
Forests are host to most of Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world’s biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world’s forests.
Mainstreaming biodiversity: A review of national strategies
Biodiversity is suffering dramatic declines across the globe, threatening the ability of ecosystems to provide the services on which humanity depends. Mainstreaming biodiversity into the plans, strategies and policies of different economic sectors is key to reversing these declines.
Making Money Local: Can Protected Areas Deliver Both Economic Benefits and Conservation Objectives?
This publication has been developed as a contribution to Phase II of the Two-phase Strategy on Protected Areas of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and prepared pursuant to various paragraphs of COP decision XIII/2 on protected areas, in particular paragraph 5(a-e),
Making the global local Should the drive to 30x30 be locally led?
There has been a profound shift in attitudes towards the designation and management of site-based conservation over the past 25 years, from being a predominantly science-based, top-down and government-led approach to one that focuses on governance and equity, and is far more variable,
Making waves: The science and politics of ocean protection
Lubchenco, Jane, and Kirsten Grorud-Colvert. 2015. Making waves: The science and politics of ocean protection. Science Vol.
Management Plan for Upland Areas of Lake Lanoto'o National Park, 2018-2023
The management plan describes the priority strategies for the upland areas of the Lake Lanoto'o National Park that will nest maintain and improve the key conservation values in these areas by reducing the impact of threats including from climate change.
Mapping Multilateral Environmental Agreements to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets
Mapping Multilateral Environmental Agreements to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets
Technical report:
Mapping the patriarchy in conservation
It is essential to ensure the effectiveness of current conservation efforts to meet the interconnected crises of biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, and climate change.
Mapping the planet’s critical areas for biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people
Meeting global commitments to conservation, climate, and sustainable development requires consideration of synergies and tradeoffs among targets.
Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdictions - What to do?
In June, 2015 the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution calling for the development of an international legally-binding
Marine Conservation Agreements - Guidance for the Tourism Industry in Fiji
This summary provides resorts, tourism operators, and policy makers with an introduction to marine conservation agreements (MCA) and outlines a process for planning and implementing an MCA in Fiji.
Marine Protected Areas: Smart Investments in Ocean Health
Marine protected areas (MPAs) that effectively protect critical habitats, species and ecological functions are an essential tool for recovering, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, productivity and resilience, and for securing these benefits for current and future generations.
Marine protection targets: an updated assessment of global progress
Oonzaier, L. B. and D. Pauly. 2016. Marine protection targets: an updated assessment of global progress. Oryx 50(1), 27–35.
Marine-Related Learning Networks: Shifting the Paradigm Toward Collaborative Ocean Governance
Formal and semi-formal networks are emerging as effective, collaborative, and adaptable approaches for addressing complex, rapidly evolving ocean governance issues.
Marshall Islands' National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
The purpose of this Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) is to Assist the Marshall Islands to Plan for the Conservation of its biodiversity and for in the sustainable use of its biological resources.
Mismatches in Scale between highly Mobile Marine Megafauna and Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas (MPAs), particularly large MPAs, are increasing in number and size around the globe in part to facilitate the conservation of marine megafauna under the assumption that large-scale MPAs better align with vagile life histories; however, this alignment is not well established
National and Regional Networks of marine protected areas: a review of progress
Most of the marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world, estimated to number about 5000, have been established both on an ad hoc basis and through systematic planning processes. The
