We are at the cusp of a year since the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted in December 2022 at the COP 15 in Montreal, and it is a good time to reflect on what we know and what we have learned. The Commission has been heavily engaged with supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, especially Target 3 (T3), working alongside many partners.
 
We have co-produced comprehensive technical guidance on T3 implementation and published important science to fill gaps in knowledge on how to protect the most important places for biodiversity. There is high demand for technical support from government agencies and the practitioner community on interpreting the many elements of the Targets—a constant reminder that the success of T3, although globally defined, lies in implementation at national, sub-regional, and regional scales.

T3 emphasizes the role of both protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), which have captured the attention of the global conservation community. While we see some innovation and experimentation, it is clear that we are on a learning curve and will be for some time to come. With all the focus on OECMs, we must not forget the importance of strengthening existing systems of protected areas, expanding and connecting them where necessary to protect the most important places for biodiversity and diversifying governance and management mechanisms.

Along with bold financial and political commitments, well-aligned, collective action will determine our ability to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. WCPA supports the T3 partnership, a broad community of practice, including state and non-state actors, that aims to catalyze T3 implementation and improve efficiencies of implementation.

While T3 has received much attention, success will be defined by how the remaining 22 Targets are implemented. Recognizing the significance and relationship of spatial planning (T1) and restoration (T2) to the success of Target 3, the Commission has created a new Restoration Task force and is advancing the creation of a Spatial Planning Task Force.

The conservation community recognized the urgency of action needed for biodiversity in Montreal last year, but we face a much bigger challenge at the upcoming COP 28. We need to place the protection and restoration of biodiversity at the front and center of climate negotiations as solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation and ensure that they are explicitly recognized as such within COP 28 decision outcomes.

Protected areas represent critically important nature-based solutions and offer a huge opportunity to connect biodiversity commitments through the GBF with climate targets. Working together with the remaining six Commissions, WCPA seeks to draw focus to protected areas at COP 28.

The biodiversity and climate crises require us to work in extraordinary ways, challenging existing norms and forging new paths, so that we are on track to guaranteeing a healthy planet for current and future generations.

WCPA co-organized three side events at the CBD SBSTTA-25 in Nairobi (October 2023) focusing on:

(i) The IUCN-WCPA Site-level Assessment Tool for Identifying OECMs, providing a platform for representatives from Korea, Namibia and DRC to present experiences in recognizing and reporting OECMs (IUCN WCPA Specialist Group: OECMs)

(ii) Monitoring equity and governance in area-based conservation: WCPA co-organized a side event highlighting opportunities to strengthen CBD guidance on equitable governance and on respect for rights, in collaboration with IIED and Forest Peoples Programme. Speakers highlighted the diversity of tools available already to monitor equity at the site level, and the need for strengthened guidance and tools that reflect the new language of Target 3 with a particular focus on the "respect for rights" commitments and how to achieve these across diverse circumstances. (IUCN WCPA Theme: Governance, Equity and Rights)

(iii) T3 Partnership Side event: WCPA, in partnership with the Secretariat of the CBD, organized a side event on the margins of SBSTTA-25 to review progress to date and discuss the work ahead for the Target 3 partnership (IUCN WCPA Theme: Scaling Natural Solutions).

A Three Basin Summit (Amazon, Congo and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia) attracted some 3,000 participants to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on 28–30 October 2023. Governments promised to collaborate to conserve the three largest tropical rainforest basins in the world but did not adopt concrete steps to address ongoing deforestation and the growing threats of extractive industries. Progress towards 30x30 was showcased in a pre-Summit meeting of Bezos Earth Fund grantees working in the Congo region. Lessons included that political commitments matter, science is needed to gauge integrity of Target 3 implementation, and work must be led by local and Indigenous people. IUCN WCPA provided an overview of Target 3 guidance, including the new OECM site-level assessment tool. (IUCN WCPA Region: West and Central Africa)

WCPA supported a meeting of representatives from environment agencies and border services from five Central Asia countries in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to discuss the conservation of migratory species and transboundary conservation. The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, GIZ, OSCE, CMS, UN Turkmenistan, and Conservation X Labs. WCPA contributed to the possibility of designating OECM border areas that can play a critical role in the conservation of migratory species. Working groups also dived into the challenges and opportunities for transboundary cooperation in border areas and mitigating the border fence impacts of migratory species. (IUCN WCPA Region: North Eurasia)

In September, Mariana Bellot, IUCN WCPA's Regional Vice Chair for North America, participated in the IUCN US National Committee meeting, showcasing the Commission's work to US members. The meeting addressed the upcoming Regional Forum for North America, where IUCN WCPA aims to share members' contributions to Protected Areas conservation, including OECMs and Indigenous community involvement.

Additionally, Monica Alvarez, IUCN WCPA's focal point for Mexico, organized a session during the Second National IUCN members Congress in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico in October, focusing on implementing Target 3 of the GBF in Mexico. The session also updated members on IUCN WCPA's activities and identified opportunities for collaboration in the upcoming Regional IUCN Forum for the Mesoamerican region in April 2024.

Finally, IUCN WCPA was invited by the National Commission for Protected Areas of Mexico (CONANP) to discuss how to prioritize global biodiversity targets at the Perspectives: Protected Areas of America 2023 event in Cancun on November 9, which brought together 25 national systems of protected areas of North, Central, and South America. The IUCN WCPA focal point in Mexico highlighted the importance of Target 3 and the need to diversify area-based conservation mechanisms while strengthening efforts in management effectiveness, connectivity, ecosystem representativeness, and governance schemes. During the event, it was emphasized and highlighted that IUCN WCPA offers resources and guidance tools for the effective implementation of Target 3. (IUCN WCPA Region: North America).

As essential planetary health workers, ranger’s roles are complex, diverse, and expanding. Rangers are central to the changing relationships between business, nature and society, and safeguarding them will enhance the ecosystem services that are vital for sustaining a regenerative and nature positive economy. Despite rangers being responsible for managing large tracts of the planet’s lands and waters, they are often under-recognized and under-equipped. According to a global survey conducted in 28 countries across the globe, 50% rangers do not have access to any life or health insurance, and at least two rangers have died in the line of duty every week since 2006. This meeting provided a platform to discuss the challenges rangers face and explored how conservation and insurance experts can collaborate to develop a meaningful approach to insurance, safeguarding rangers and the services they provide in protecting natural and financial assets. (IUCN WCPA Theme: Capacity Development).

UNFCCC COP 28 is taking place in Dubai, UAE, from 30 November to 12 December 2023. 

IUCN has developed a position paper for COP 28 here. WCPA contributed to the development of four technical briefs in partnership with the new IUCN Climate Crisis Commission to support the main recommendations in the position paper. These technical briefs will be available online on the IUCN COP28 webpage and include the following topics:

(i) Connecting the dots: Achieving synergistic action for global biodiversity and climate goals utilizing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

(ii) Role of Protected Areas in Climate Change Mitigation and Biodiversity Conservation

(iii) Primary Forests, Ecosystem Integrity, and Climate Change

(iv) The renewable energy transition: Mining impacts on biodiversity and protected areas


WCPA, in partnership with the other 6 IUCN commissions, is hosting a side event on “Achieving synergistic climate and biodiversity outcomes through Nature-based Solutions”. More information on COP 28 can be found here and IUCN’s COP 28 engagement can be found here. 

WCPA will also be participating in a side event hosted by the Government of Bhutan on Sustaining Carbon Neutrality.

With the announcement of the members of the IUCN Green List Panel, the governance structures for the Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas are now in place. On the recommendation of the IUCN WCPA Chair Madhu Rao, the Director-General of IUCN has appointed a committee of 10 global conservation leaders selected from more than 60 people who were nominated for this role. The Panel will be chaired by Darlene Upton from Canada. The Green List Steering Group, chaired by Trevor Sandwith, Director of the Centre for Conservation Action, has four members from WCPA and four from the Secretariat. The Green List Standards Committee, all drawn from WCPA members, is chaired by Dr Stephen Woodley, IUCN WCPA Thematic Vice Chair for Science and Biodiversity Policy. Members of the WCPA Green List Standard and Management Effectiveness Specialist Group are engaged in regional support and capacity building elements of the Green List Programme. 

The IUCN WCPA Sustainable Finance Specialist Group is collating a growing database of case studies on protected and conserved area finance to complement the “good practice” guidance and factsheets that will be made available soon. If you want to contribute through adding a case study to the inventory, please complete the survey in the Google Document here. The Sustainable Finance Specialist Group will be hosting webinars for: IUCN WCPA Sustainable Finance Specialist Group Webinar Series: Episode 1 Financial Planning for PCAs. The first one is scheduled to take place on 17 January 2024. Invites to be sent to group members shortly.

IUCN WCPA is pleased to announce that we are launching a new task force on restoration led by Dr. Stephanie Mansourian. The aim of this task force is to strengthen knowledge and develop guidance to improve restoration implementation in the framework of KM-GBF Targets 1–3. Through this new task force, WCPA recently engaged with developing a roadmap for Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 2.

WCPA (through Diego Juffe Bignoli) participated in the IUCN International Conservation Forum organized by the IUCN Spanish Committee held in Avila, Spain on 16–18 November. The event entirely run in Spanish brought together 152 in-person and 75 online attendants to discuss and share national experiences on ecological restoration. In addition, 150 children from schools attended other related activities. The event was free and open to the public. 

The IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force was launched ten years ago. To date, the Task Force has examined 72% of the ocean and identified 242 Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs. Each IMMA has gone through an expert nomination process from scientists followed by peer review. 

We are pleased to announce that 33 new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) have been identified and mapped in the South West Atlantic Ocean from the Guianas, north of the Brazilian Amazon, to the tip of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. IMMAs are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. They are not legal designations but independent, peer-reviewed assessments based on a set of criteria supported by data. This accomplishment is the final result from a year-long process, including an intensive week-long scientific workshop last December with 31 of the region’s scientists gathering data on candidate IMMAs which were then submitted for peer review. Besides the 33 newly approved IMMAs, 5 areas have been assigned Area of Interest (AoI) status. Read more here (Spanish version/Portuguese version).

However, some IMMAs on the Task Force IMMA e-Atlas are already in danger, despite their identification as recently as 2021. In the Black Sea, six IMMAs created around the habitat of unique subspecies of threatened dolphins and porpoises along the Ukrainian coast now find themselves in the middle of a war zone. Black Sea harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena relicta), bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus ponticus) and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis ponticus) are increasingly being found stranded or dead at sea amidst floating mines laid in the Black Sea, and following the devastation caused by blowing up the Kakhovka Dam and other disasters from the ongoing war. In the Upper Gulf of California IMMA, the vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) has been reduced to an estimated 10 individuals despite numerous efforts to save the species from extinction. It may be only a matter of a few years before it disappears forever. Read more here. 

Further information can be found on the Task Force’s website.

Are you recording sounds in your parks and protected areas as part of your conservation efforts? By recording, sharing, and listening to sounds, both natural and cultural, we learn more about ecosystems, wildlife behaviors, and human relationships with nature. We can also better understand how species communicate and move across landscapes, and how they might respond to climate change and human-caused disturbances, like aircraft overflights or marine-based traffic. Nature sounds can also further raise awareness about climate change and the biodiversity loss crisis, promote protected areas, and have positive effects on people’s health and well-being. This is the goal for the Sounds of Your Park initiative, a #NatureForAll inspired initiative launched in 2020 led by the IUCN WCPA in collaboration with Parks Canada, U.S. National Park Service, the George Wright Society, and Colorado State University. The Sounds of Your Park website offers an immersive sensory experience, hosting more than 160 high-quality user-submitted audio recordings representing natural and cultural sounds from 21 countries and more than 100 protected areas worldwide. Visit the website to connect with nature through sound, or to add field recordings from protected areas in your region. Email soundsofyourpark@gmail.com for more details.

IUCN WCPA is pleased to be supporting the upcoming World Wilderness Congress taking place from 25 to 31 August, 2024. Please consider joining us in Rapid City, South Dakota for the event and sharing the news among your networks. Stay tuned for more information including registration and call for proposals, coming soon. Read more on the website here. (IUCN WCPA Specialist Group: Wilderness)