Improving national spatial planning for the conservation of biodiversity.
14th Oct 2024
A recent study identifies ways of strengthening national spatial planning methods, a critical component of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
A recently published paper “The strengths and complementarity of Systematic Conservation Planning and Key Biodiversity Area approaches for spatial planning” suggests improvements to the way nations currently plan for biodiversity conservation.
The paper addresses the urgent need for biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning, a focus of Target 1 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). This target emphasizes the importance of integrating biodiversity considerations into national planning processes to mitigate the loss of critical species and ecosystems by 2030. It also emphasizes the need to identify and plan for areas of high biodiversity importance in each country. The authors explore two approaches to how planning usually happens: criteria-based approaches such as the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) programme, which identifies globally significant sites for biodiversity, and Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP), which optimizes where conservation should take place, applying quantitative targets to the species and ecosystems that nations want to conserve. IUCN Resolution 2020_081 encourages all governments to incorporate KBA identification in their national spatial planning and this paper shows how, when integrated, the two processes can develop a stronger outcome.
One of the revelations from the study is the observation that over 75% of existing published conservation plans utilizing SCP have set poor targets amounts for their biodiversity elements. Many current approaches use uniform percentage targets for all species and ecosystems (e.g. select 20% of each) and the paper shows that this tends to favour the more widespread and common species, and does not target those species we should be more concerned about conserving. By integrating KBA criteria, which focus on globally significant biodiversity, the authors argue that conservation planners can create more robust and effective spatial plans.
The authors advocate for a synergistic use of both KBA and SCP methodologies. While SCP offers a structured framework for planning, the KBA approach provides crucial data on sites with globally important species populations and ecosystems, ensuring that conservation efforts are efficient and meaningful in preserving biodiversity. The goals of the GBF aim to halt extinctions and reverse biodiversity loss and this will only be achieved if conservation plans are built incorporating KBAs. Spatial plans for biodiversity conservation will be a crucial tool in the implementation of the GBF and in mainstreaming biodiversity across government sectors, an aim of Target 14 of the GBF. It is critical therefore that the planning is done well and really targets the right places, where conservation will contribute to halting extinctions and reversing biodiversity loss, the mission and goal of the GBF.
Dive into the full paper to explore the detailed methodologies and findings that could shape the next generation of conservation strategies.
