This year the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – a binding international agreement with 190+ country members – is holding its 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15). Also referred to as the “UN Biodiversity Conference”, the conference is taking place in two parts. The first was a virtual meeting held from 11-15 October 2021, and the second is an in-person meeting from 7-19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Additional meetings have taken place in Geneva, Switzerland and Montreal in recent months to allow for in-person preparatory negotiations of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
As part of the agenda, countries are expected to finalize and adopt the 2021-2030 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, often referred to as the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework (Post-2020 GBF). This framework will serve as a stepping stone towards achieving the larger 2050 Vision of “Living in harmony with nature”.
As this process proceeds, it is important to highlight that ecological connectivity is relevant for the achievement of all three objectives of the CBD, which are emphasized in proposals calling for “urgent action across society to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, to put biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of planet and people.”
Several sections of a recently presented streamlined text address a need for increased focus and action for conserving connectivity, including Goal A and Targets 1, 3, and 12.
Connectivity has featured in the Convention’s policy making for over a decade, including the ground-breaking 2018 decision on “Protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures”. It also played a part in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which called for “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.”
An assessment of this target from Protected Planet stated that as of December 2020, “7.04% of the world’s terrestrial surface is both protected and connected, rising to 7.84% when OECMs (Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures, also called ‘conserved areas’) are included. This figure is an improvement on 2018 figures but remains below [the commitment of] 17%. Methods to assess marine connectivity are being developed and refined.”
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