Protected Areas Working Group (PAWG), Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation

With the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement, attention has rapidly shifted from negotiation to the practical realities of implementation.

Meeting social goals is widely considered essential for effective biodiversity conservation. The dominant approach to meeting social goals has focused mainly on support for local livelihoods, but this has often proved inadequate for achieving either social goals or conservation effectiveness.

Climate change and its impacts are increasingly threatening the ability of marine protected areas (MPA) to meet their conservation goals.

Protected areas safeguard biodiversity, ensure ecosystem functioning, and deliver ecosystem services to communities. However, only ~16% of the world’s land area is under some form of protection, prompting international calls to protect at least 30% by 2030.

Protected areas are essential to biodiversity conservation.

To safeguard biodiversity effectively, marine protected areas (MPAs) should be sited using the best available science. There are numerous ongoing United Nations and nongovernmental initiatives to map globally important marine areas.

GEF Tracking of Aichi Target 11 Progress

Track the progress of GEF funded projects by country under Aichi targets 11 and 12 by registering for the "Project Mgt Information System" at the bottom of the GEF splash page.

The Gender-responsive Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Toolkit provides a comprehensive framework and practical guidance for integrating gender-responsive strategies into the planning, implementation, and management of NbS. Developed by Arup and Social

Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) is the flagship publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Global Biodiversity Outlook 4: A mid-term assessment of progress towards the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020

Humanity stands at a crossroads with regard to the legacy it leaves to future generations. Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures driving this decline are intensifying.

The Global Biodiversity Standard is the world’s most scientifically rigorous biodiversity certification that recognises and promotes the protection, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity.

Global Databases to Support ICCAs: a Manual for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources in 1948.

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.

Protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of global conservation and central to international plans to minimize global extinctions.

The expedition was conducted by KSLOF, a US-based nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to providing science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health.

The global trade in sea cucumbers has grown since 2013 and continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites “escalating impacts” and calls for stronger conservation measures.

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).

Understanding the state and value of the world’s wetlands The Global Wetland Outlook 2025 presents a synthesis of scientific information on the value of the world’s wetlands, the costs to society due to wetland loss and degradation and the scale of investment needed to restore wetlands.

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 ).

The definition of large-scale marine protected areas in the Pacific Ocean is fundamental to the achievement of global marine conservation targets.

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.

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.

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.

This technical summary document reports on the findings from the first phase of ESRAM activity that was conducted in Greater Port Vila between January and June 2016.

A guide to the linkages between the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, NBSAPs and the objectives of the Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands region 2014–2020

his guidebook is based on an understanding that social equity refers to fairness and justice with respect to the ways that people are recognised, treated, or impacted by conservation initiatives.

This guidebook is based on an understanding that social equity refers to fairness and justice with respect to the ways that people are recognised, treated, or impacted by conservation initiatives.

Sea turtles are charismatic animals and many people, both from Vanuatu and our visiting tourists, are excited to see them.

Surf ecosystems support biodiversity, cultural heritage, and local economies. With over 5,000 mapped surf breaks globally, many are in ecologically rich areas that store carbon and sustain marine life. Surfing generates an estimated US $50 billion annually, providing

Ecological connectivity is the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth.

These Guidelines deal with invasive plants, animals, disease agents and other organisms, in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, and their impacts on the environment, biodiversity, ecosystem services, human health, economies and society.

Despite playing an essential role in safeguarding food security, livelihoods, and human well-being, biodiversity is in precipitous decline globally with devastating social, environmental, and economic impacts (Pörtner et al. 2023).

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.

SPREP presents these guidelines for undertaking rapid biodiversity assessments in its Pacific island member countries and territories: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. These assessments are referred to as BIORAPs.

Animals that cross borders often encounter conservation systems that stop at them. Migratory species move through jurisdictions with little regard for political boundaries, relying on habitats spread across large distances and governed by different rules.

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.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework envisages an increasing reliance on large-scale private finance to fund biodiversity targets.

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

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.

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.

The report High-risk forests, high-value returns: A co-benefits assessment for decision-makers examines the global significance of conserving “high-risk forests” or tropical forests with high deforestation risk, covering about 391 million hectares.

the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (also known as the ‘BBNJ Agreement’)1 was agreed.

Effective networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) are explicitly recognized and called for in international biodiversity conservation strategies such as the Aichi Targets.

Deep in the dry tropical forest of Malolo Island, Peter Harlow freezes mid-step. The retired biologist from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo raises his flashlight to cut through the heavy Fijian darkness. To the untrained eye, the canopy is just a monochromatic tangle of leaves.

Mangrove forests, located along tropical and subtropical coastlines, are increasingly recognized for their role in buffering climate disasters, storing carbon, supporting wildlife and livelihoods.

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.

Aichi Target 12 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) contains the aim to ‘prevent extinctions of known threatened species’.