101 - Setting area-based conservation targets based on evidence of what nature and people need to thrive
101 - Setting area-based conservation targets based on evidence of what nature and people need to thrive
DEEPLY CONCERNED that nature and its life-sustaining contributions to people are deteriorating faster than at any time in human history, and that habitat loss and overexploitation are the primary direct drivers of this decline;
MINDFUL that biodiversity loss and climate change are the greatest environmental threats of our time, are mutually reinforcing, and should be tackled in a coordinated way (e.g. the 2019 Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services – IPBES);
AWARE that well-designed and managed networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are effective tools to protect and restore habitat and species, as well as geological heritage;
RECALLING Resolution 5.097 Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Jeju, 2012), which calls for ensuring that the principles of UNDRIP are observed in the work of the Union;
RECOGNISING the important role of indigenous peoples and local communities in conserving nature, and the need for conservation measures to respect and honour their rights and interests, and incentivise their contribution to nature conservation;
WELCOMING efforts of states and others to establish and recognise protected areas and OECMs towards Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, and to ensure that these are effectively and equitably managed;
MINDFUL of the urgent need to significantly scale-up the proportion of land, inland waters and ocean effectively protected, conserved and restored to reverse the decline of nature and tackle climate change, and of the significant benefits this would provide for people; including helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
RECOGNISING evidence that at least 30% and up to 70% or more of the world should be protected, conserved and restored in an interconnected way to safeguard biodiversity, stabilise the climate and provide a foundation for a sustainable relationship with the Earth;
RECALLING Resolution 6.050 Increasing marine protected area coverage for effective marine biodiversity conservation (Hawai‘i, 2016) encouraging IUCN State Members to designate at least 30% of each marine habitat in a network of highly protected marine protected areas (MPAs) and OECMs by 2030;
WELCOMING IUCN guidance and standards, including for Key Biodiversity Areas, OECMs, management effectiveness, categories and governance models, and the Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas; and
RECOGNISING that Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have endorsed guiding principles directing that the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework be ‘transformative’ and ‘knowledge-based’;
1. CALLS ON all components of IUCN to recognise the evolving science, the majority of which supports that protecting, conserving and restoring at least half or more of the planet is likely necessary to reverse biodiversity loss, address climate change and as a foundation for sustainably managing the whole planet, and CALLS on the Director General to widely communicate this science in all relevant international fora;
2. CALLS ON all components of IUCN to support, at a minimum, a target of effectively and equitably protecting and conserving at least 30% of terrestrial areas and of inland waters (Note: ‘inland waters’ – as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity and Ramsar Convention) and of coastal and marine areas, respectively, with a focus on sites of particular importance for biodiversity, in well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) by 2030 in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;
3. CALLS ON all components of IUCN to prioritise support for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and the implementation of all protection, conservation and restoration activities with the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples, and with appropriate recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources, as set out under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and full respect for their diverse knowledge systems;
4. CALLS ON all components of IUCN to support the full and effective participation of local communities in the protection, conservation and restoration activities, with the recognition of customary and local governance practices as appropriate, along with their diverse knowledge system;
5. ENCOURAGES State and Government Agency Members and other competent authorities to implement area-based targets in ways that are appropriate to regional conditions through participatory, knowledge-based spatial planning processes that include identifying and conserving in effectively and equitably managed protected areas and OECMs:
a. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and equivalent national priorities, Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs), and other areas of importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services;
b. areas important for ecological connectivity, including for migratory species;
c. areas representative of all ecosystem types;
d. remaining intact natural ecosystems, including globally significant areas of exceptional ecological integrity;
e. culturally important areas and species identified by indigenous peoples and local communities; and
f. key areas of geological heritage; and
6. REQUESTS all Members to support the achievement of the actions described above.
