Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, including Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Actions to enhance implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020

Target 1: By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.

• Facilitating and encouraging the engagement of citizens in biodiversity issues, including activities to monitor biodiversity (Target 19) and to promote its conservation and sustainable use (Targets 4 to 15)

• Developing and implementing coherent, strategic and sustained communication efforts, strategies and campaigns, with messages and techniques adapted appropriately for different target audiences, drawing upon social-marketing expertise, and publicising nationally relevant examples or case studies on the importance of biodiversity

• Integrating awareness and understanding of biodiversity and its values, including for human wellbeing into national educational curricula, taking into account approaches related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

• Making better use of the social sciences, including in developing a greater understanding of the social, economic and cultural drivers motivating behavioural change and their interplay, in order to improve the design of communication and engagement campaigns and of relevant policies (Targets 2, 3, and 4)

• Undertaking periodic, consistent and comparable assessments of biodiversity awareness, understanding, and willingness to take actions to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, and the extent to which any desired behavioural change has been achieved, to provide a basis for more targeted efforts
  

Target 2: By 2020, at the latest, biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems.

• Assessing existing and planned policies, across government, affecting biodiversity, and identifying opportunities and options for addressing biodiversity concerns

• Widely sharing information on the values of biodiversity and related ecosystem services to enable the better reflection of biodiversity in decision making across sectors (Target 19)

• The further compilation of environmental statistics and building environmental-economic accounts, including by further developing and maintaining national accounts of biodiversity-related natural resource stocks (such as forests, and water) and where possible, integrating these into national financial accounts (Target 5)

• Reflecting the values of biodiversity in spatial planning and resource management exercises including through the mapping of biodiversity and related ecosystem services (Targets 5, 6 and 7)

• Integrating biodiversity into environmental assessment processes and making wider use of strategic environmental assessment (Target 4)
  

Target 3: By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio-economic conditions.

• Undertaking national, and, as appropriate, regional, analytical studies to identify candidate incentives, including subsidies, for elimination, phase-out or reform, as well as opportunities to promote the design and implementation of positive incentive measures (Target 2)

• Developing policy plans, including a prioritized list of measures, with timelines, leading to the eventual removal, phase-out, or reform of harmful incentives, including subsidies, and the introduction, or strengthening, of positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (Target 17)

• In cases where candidate incentives and subsidies for elimination, phase-out or reform are already known, taking timely policy action (Targets 6 and 7)

• Making greater use of social incentives (for example, the establishment of awards or recognition programmes promoting behaviours beneficial to biodiversity)

• Better targeting and integration of agri-environmental schemes and other policy instruments towards desired biodiversity outcomes (Targets 4 and 7)
  

Target 4: By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.

• Strengthening partnerships among companies and industry associations, civil society and government agencies, in an accountable and transparent manner, to promote sustainable practices that address biodiversity

• Developing incentives, regulations and guidelines to encourage business development in sustainable production and consumption (Target 3)

• Promoting action on the demand side by raising awareness about environmental impacts (Target 1)

• Encouraging companies and local authorities to calculate and disclose their environmental and biodiversity-related externalities (footprints) to enable them to identify priorities for reducing impacts

• Establishing government sustainable procurement policies that are in line with the objectives of the CBD

• Developing sector specific sustainable production and consumption plans (Targets 6 and 7)

• Gathering more data and establishing harmonized indicators to measure effectiveness and track progress of policies on sustainable consumption and production (Target 19)

• Promoting the inclusion of conservation and sustainable use in corporate sustainability plans
  

Target 5: By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced.

• Identifying at the national level the direct and indirect causes of habitat loss with the greatest impact on biodiversity, to inform policies and measures to reduce loss

• Developing a clear legal or policy framework for land use or spatial planning that reflects national biodiversity objectives (Target 2)

• Aligning existing incentives to national objectives for land use and spatial planning, and, the use of further incentives to reduce habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, including as appropriate, payments for ecosystem services and REDD+ mechanisms (Target 3)

• Facilitating a sustainable increase or intensification in the productivity of existing agricultural land and rangeland, within a land use or spatial planning framework, combined with more moderate meat consumption and reduced waste from food systems, with a view to reducing the demand for conversion of natural habitats (Target 7)

• Engaging with and supporting indigenous and local communities, landowners, other stakeholders and the general public in activities to conserve biodiversity, to reduce illegal and unplanned land use change to prevent access to products produced from illegally sourced commodities and illegally cleared land, including by addressing issues related to commodity supply chains (Targets 1, 4 & 18)

• Developing effectively-managed protected area networks and other area based conservation measures, identified as being among the most effective instruments for conserving forests and other habitats (Target 11)

• Monitoring land use and land-cover, including, where possible, near-real-time monitoring to inform enforcement actions, as well as regular comprehensive assessments of land use and land-cover change (Target 19)

• Implementing law enforcement activities for relevant laws and regulations relating to habitat protection and conservation
  

Target 6: By 2020, all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.

• Promoting and enabling dialogue and enhanced cooperation and information exchange between fishing and conservation communities and the corresponding national agencies and associations;

• Making greater use of innovative fisheries management systems, such as community co-management, that provide fishers and local communities with a greater stake in the long-term health of fish stocks (Target 18)

• Eliminating, reforming or phasing out those subsidies which are contributing to excess fishing capacity (Target 3)

• Enhancing, in each country, monitoring and enforcement of regulations to prevent illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing by flag-vessels

• Phasing out fishing practices and gear which cause serious adverse impacts to the seafloor or to non-target species (Targets 5 and 12)

• Further developing marine protected area networks and other effective area based conservation measures, including the protection of areas particularly important for fisheries, such as spawning grounds, and vulnerable areas (Targets 10 and 11)
  

Target 7: By 2020, areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity.

• Making agriculture more efficient, including through improved targeting and efficiency of fertilizer, pesticide and water use (Target 8), and through the use of diverse and well-adapted crop varieties (Target 13) and the greater use and rehabilitation of ecological processes at the landscape level to replace chemical inputs and reduce water consumption (“ecological intensification”) (Targets 5, 14 and 15)

• Reducing waste at all stages of production and consumption, including reducing post harvest losses and minimizing food waste (Target 4)

• Promoting sustainable diets, with appropriate caloric and nutrient intake, for example through the promotion of sustainable food cultures (Target 4)

• Making greater use of existing certification schemes for sustainably produced goods and the further development of certification schemes to fill current gaps

• Supporting customary sustainable use, for example through education, and, where appropriate, delegating governance and responsibility for land management to indigenous and local communities (Target 18)

• Enhancing the understanding of local farmers and fishers of the status of biodiversity and ecosystems they rely on for their agricultural production, and engaging them in the planning process (Target 1)

• Promoting integrated landscape-level planning, taking into account the role of biodiversity in providing ecosystem services, including services that contribute to agricultural production such as pollination, pest control, water provision and erosion control (Targets 5 and 14)
  

Target 8: By 2020, pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity.

• Developing and enforcing national water and air quality guidelines and/or concentration thresholds for different pollutants, for example by reducing the level of emissions per unit of combustion
• Improving nutrient use efficiency to reduce losses to the environment, for example through coupling livestock and crop systems and minimizing emissions from animal housing and feedlots (Target 7)
• Eliminating phosphates from detergents to reduce nutrient loss to water bodies
• Enhancing treatment and recycling of sewage and industrial waste water
• Conserving and restoring wetlands and other ecosystems which play an essential role in nutrient cycling, to reduce nutrient losses to the environment (Targets 5,11, 14 and 15)
• Promoting the reuse and recycling of plastics and the use of biodegradable alternatives to reduce marine debris
  

Target 9: By 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment.

• Raising awareness among policy makers, the general public and potential importers of alien species, of the impacts of invasive alien species, including the possible socio-economic costs and the benefits of taking action to prevent their introduction or to mitigate their impacts, such as by publicizing nationally relevant case studies (Target 1)

• Developing lists of alien species known to be invasive (or assessing existing lists for their completeness and accuracy) and making them widely available (Target 19), such as through the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership

• Increasing efforts to identify and control the main pathways responsible for the introduction of alien species, including through the development of border control or quarantine measures to reduce the likelihood of potentially invasive alien species being introduced and making full use of risk analysis and existing relevant international standards

• Putting in place measures for the early detection and rapid response to species invasions

• Identifying and prioritizing those invasive alien species with the greatest potential to cause negative impact on biodiversity that are established in the country, and developing and implementing plans for their eradication or control, prioritizing protected areas and other areas of high biodiversity value for eradication or control measures
  

Target 10: By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning.

• Sustainably managing fisheries on coral reefs and closely associated ecosystems (such as mangroves and seagrass systems), including by empowering local and indigenous communities and individuals involved in local fisheries (Target 6)
• Managing coastal zones and inland watersheds in an integrated manner in order to reduce pollution and other land-based activities that threaten coral reefs (Target 8)
• Increasing the spatial coverage and effectiveness of marine and coastal protected and managed areas in coral reefs and closely associated ecosystems (Target 11)
• Managing coastal development to ensure that the health and resilience of coral reef ecosystems are not adversely impacted and promoting sustainable coral reef tourism, including through the use of guidelines for tourists and tour operators
• Maintaining sustainable livelihoods and food security in reef-dependent coastal communities and provide for viable alternative livelihoods, where appropriate (Target 14)
• At a national level, identifying other ecosystems that are vulnerable to climate change and related impacts, implementing measures to improve their resilience, and monitoring their effectiveness

Target 11: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas 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.

• Expanding protected area networks and other effective area based conservation measures to become more representative of the planet’s ecological regions, of marine and coastal areas (including deep sea and ocean habitats), of inland waters and of areas of particular importance for biodiversity
• Improving and regularly assessing management effectiveness and equitability of protected areas and other area-based conservation measures
• Implementing adequate protection for inland water environments through additional measures to protect rivers upstream and downstream from existing terrestrial protected areas, and to maintain connectivity to enable migration within river basins
• Enhancing cooperation with indigenous and local communities in the creation, control and management of protected areas (Target 18) (see Box 11.2.)
• Designing and managing protected areas and the connections between them with a view to addressing the impacts of climate change on shifting species distributions

Target 12: By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.

• Identifying and prioritizing species for conservation activities based on assessments of species conservation status (Target 19)

• Filling gaps in existing national, regional and global species conservation status assessments (Target 19)

• Developing and implementing species action plans that include specific conservation actions aimed directly at particular threatened species, for example through restrictions on trade, captive breeding and reintroductions

• Developing more representative and better managed protected area systems prioritizing sites of special importance to biodiversity, especially those that contain unique populations of threatened species, (Target 11)

• Reducing loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitats (Target 5), and actively restoring degraded habitats (Target 15)

• Promoting fishing practices that take account of the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems and non-targeted species (Target 6)

• Controlling or eradicating invasive alien species and pathogens (Target 9), especially crucial to avoid extinctions of species on islands and those with small global ranges

• Reducing pressures on habitats through sustainable land-use practices (Target 7)

• Ensuring that no species is subject to unsustainable exploitation for domestic or international trade, including by taking actions agreed under the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and taking measures to prevent and deter illegal killing and trade and reducing demand for products derived from such actions (Target 4)

Target 13: By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species is maintained and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.

• Promoting public policies and incentives to maintain local varieties of crops and indigenous breeds in production systems (Targets 2, 3 and 7), including through increased cooperation with, and recognition of, the role of indigenous and local communities and farmers in maintaining genetic diversity in situ

• Enhancing the use and maintenance of genetic diversity in plant and animal breeding programmes, and raising awareness of the importance of genetic diversity and its contribution to food security (Targets 1 and 7)

• Integrating the conservation of the wild relatives of domesticated crops and livestock in management plans for protected areas, conducting surveys of the location of wild relatives, and including this information in plans for the expansion or development of protected area networks (Target 11)

• Maintaining support for national and international ex situ conservation, such as genebanks of plant and animal genetic resources including in vitro conservation

Target 14: By 2020, ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being, are restored and safeguarded, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities and the poor and vulnerable.

• Identifying, at the national level, with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, those ecosystems that are particularly important in providing ecosystem services, with particular attention to ecosystems upon which vulnerable groups are directly dependent for their health, nutrition and general well-being and livelihoods, as well as ecosystems that help to reduce risks from disasters, employing, as appropriate, integrated assessment and/or participatory appraisal methodologies (Target 19)

• Improving monitoring of the status of ecosystems that are particularly important and of the essential services that they provide to facilitate targeted actions (Target 19)

• Removal of perverse subsidies and other forms of public support for infrastructure that destroys, fragments or degrades ecosystems (Targets 2 and 3)

• Reducing the pressures on and, where necessary, enhancing the protection and restoration of those ecosystems providing essential services (for example wetlands, coral reefs, rivers and forests and mountain areas acting as “water towers” among others) (Targets 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 15)

• Investing in and making better use of traditional knowledge, about ecological systems, processes and uses held by indigenous and local communities, and promoting customary sustainable use (Target 18)

Target 15: By 2020, ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15% of degraded ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification.

• Developing a comprehensive land-use mapping and planning approach which provides for the protection, and if necessary, the restoration of native vegetation on vulnerable sites (eg: waterways, coastal areas, sloping land, hilltops), enables increased ecological connectivity, and, as appropriate, specifies minimum areas for native vegetation (Targets 5 and 11)

• Identifying opportunities and priorities for restoration, including highly degraded ecosystems, areas of particular importance for ecosystem services and ecological connectivity, and areas undergoing abandonment of agricultural or other human-dominated use, taking into full account the current use of land, including by indigenous and local communities (Target 14)

• Environmental permitting procedures and market instruments such as wetland mitigation banking, payments for ecosystem services and appropriate non market based mechanisms (Targets 2 and 3)

• Increasing the contribution of biodiversity to carbon sequestration through state or private sponsored passive and active afforestation programs, such as the REDD+ mechanism

• Where feasible, making restoration an economically viable activity, by coupling income generation with restoration activities (Targets 2 and 3)

• Promoting an integrated landscape approach with stakeholder engagement with a view to promoting large scale restoration while also meeting the long-term socioeconomic needs of local communities, for example, by providing support for sustainable increases of agricultural and rangeland productivity in neighboring areas and generating employment (Target 7)

Target 16: By 2015, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation.

• For countries that have not yet done so, to deposit their instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the Nagoya Protocol as soon as possible to ensure full participation in the Protocol

• Putting in place, by 2015, legislative, administrative or policy measures and institutional structures for implementing the Nagoya Protocol

• Making national information available through the ABS Clearing House (see Box 16.2)

• Undertaking awareness raising and capacity building activities, including by engaging with indigenous and local communities and the private sector

Target 17: By 2015, each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implementing an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan.

• Ensuring that the NBSAP is developed through an open, consultative and participatory process involving a wide range of rights-holders and stakeholders from across the country, including indigenous and local communities

• Ensuring that the NBSAP is adopted as an effective policy instrument recognized across the whole of government

• Ensuring that the NBSAP is up to date and aligned with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, for example by setting national targets with corresponding indicators and monitoring mechanisms, and keeping it under review once it has been developed and is being implemented, with the participation of all stakeholders

• Ensuring that the necessary institutional structures are in place to implement the NBSAP, including a mechanism for inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral coordination, and mechanisms to secure the necessary human and financial resources

Target 18: By 2020, the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all relevant levels.

• Developing national guidelines or action plans, aligned with relevant guidance under the CBD, on recognizing and safeguarding the rights of indigenous and local communities over their knowledge

• Promoting local initiatives that support traditional and local knowledge of biodiversity and promote customary sustainable use, including traditional health care initiatives, strengthening opportunities to learn and speak indigenous languages, research projects and data collection based on traditional methodologies (Target 19), and involving indigenous and local communities in the creation, control, governance and management of protected areas (Target 11)

• Raising awareness of the importance of traditional knowledge to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (Target 1)

• Supporting and cooperating in the organization of capacity-building activities on relevant issues under the Convention for indigenous and local communities, as well as cultural awareness raising programmes

• Promoting effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all levels, in issues related to biodiversity and of interest to them

Target 19: By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied.

• Developing inventories of existing biodiversity information as a means of identifying knowledge gaps and defining research priorities, and making greater use of existing national and international research networks to help address these

• Strengthening and promoting the further mobilization of and access to data by, for example, encouraging the use of common informatics standards and protocols, promoting a culture of data sharing (for example, requirements for publicly-funded research and recognition for the publication of datasets), investing in digitization of natural history collections and promoting citizen scientists’ contributions to the body of biodiversity observations;

• Facilitating the use of biodiversity related information by decision makers at national and local levels

• Establishing or strengthening monitoring programmes, including monitoring of land-use change, providing near-real time information where possible, in particular for “hotspots” of biodiversity change,

• Engaging indigenous and local communities as well as relevant stakeholders in information collection and use, including through support for community-based monitoring and information systems (Target 18)

• Supporting communities of practice and stakeholders in relevant skill fields, and strengthening cooperation among relevant national institutions, national and regional centres of expertise in biodiversity and other relevant stakeholders and initiatives

• Ensuring that relevant biodiversity information is made available in a way that it can be easily accessed and improving national, regional and international Clearing House Mechanisms, strengthening thematic information-based services and establishing interconnections in order to contribute to the development of a global biodiversity knowledge network

Target 20: By 2020, at the latest, the mobilization of financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 from all sources, and in accordance with the consolidated and agreed process in the Strategy for Resource Mobilization, should increase substantially from the current levels. This target will be subject to changes contingent to resources needs assessments to be developed and reported by Parties.

• Articulating the various values of biodiversity for the economy and society through national, and where relevant, sub-national, assessments (Targets 1 and 2) This should include assessment of the co-benefits of investments in biodiversity, and of the long-term costs of inaction

• Developing national financial plans for biodiversity, as part of NBSAPs (Target 17), aligned, where possible, with national annual and multi-annual financial planning cycles. The plans should clearly identify funding needs, gaps and priorities to allow for more targeted resource use
• Integrating biodiversity in national development plans and/or national plans for development cooperation (Target 2)

• Broadening biodiversity funding sources including by exploring innovative financial mechanisms, such as subsidy reform and payment for ecosystem services schemes (Target 3), recognizing that no single source of funding will be sufficient to meet the full needs