China and Canada are about to pass the torch to Columbia to lead global biodiversity negotiations

To achieve their 30x30 targets, Canada and China must focus on both the quantity and quality of the areas they conserve, and ensure that protection mechanisms are effective to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

Biodiversity is in serious decline, with up to one million species worldwide threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, natural ecosystems have diminished by 47 percent compared to their earliest estimated states. Habitat loss and degradation is a key driver of this crisis, making the increased protection and conservation of habitats for threatened and endangered species, as well as other high-integrity ecosystems, universally accepted as essential for halting and reversing biodiversity loss.

The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) in December 2022 at the 15^th Conference of the Parties (COP15) marked a significant milestone in global efforts to safeguard biodiversity. This landmark agreement sets forth global goals and targets to be achieved by 2030, including Target 3, which calls for the conservation of 30 percent of the world's land, freshwater, and oceans. To meet this target, known as 30x30, countries must identify and commit to increasing protected areas, such as national parks and reserves, as well as "other effective area-based conservation measures" (OECMs). Although OECMs are not officially classified as protected areas, they are managed to conserve long-term biodiversity by excluding harmful activities, including industrial development and natural resource extraction.

China, which chaired COP15, and Canada, which hosted it, were instrumental in securing the KMGBF and both play a crucial role in ensuring its success. 94 percent of the world's remaining wilderness is found in just 20 countries, including Canada and China. Before COP16, which Colombia will host this October, countries are required to submit National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) detailing how they will achieve the goals and targets set by the KMGBF. In recent months, China and Canada issued their NBSAPs, outlining how they will fulfill their obligations under the KMGBF, including Target 3. This blog reviews each country's plans, challenges, and progress towards achieving their 30x30 targets, as outlined in their action plans.

Target 3: "Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 percent of terrestrial and inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed ... recognizing and respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, including over their traditional territories."

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 2022

PROGRESS: HOW CLOSE ARE CANADA AND CHINA TO ACHIEVING THEIR TARGET 3 GOALS?

CHINA

In recent years, China has implemented a land-use framework that designates "red line" zones for ecological protection, agriculture, and urban and rural development. The Ecological Conservation Redlines (ECRs) specifically set aside environmentally sensitive and vulnerable regions, including official protected areas, where human activities are restricted, and development is largely prohibited. ECRs cover more than 30 percent of China's land area, with 18 percent of that designated formal protected areas, such as national parks and nature reserves. ECRs also include 150,000 square kilometers of marine waters. By 2035, China's national parks-the largest and most strictly protected type of protected area-are projected to encompass 1.1 million km², about the size of California and Texas combined. With ongoing planning policies and enhanced efforts on effective protection and management, China is on track to achieve its 30x30 targets in the coming years.

CANADA

As of 2023, Canada had conserved 1.2 million km² (or 13.7 percent) of its terrestrial area (land and freshwater), as well as over 350,000 km² (or 6%) of its marine waters. However, progress toward expanding protected and conserved areas seems to be slowing. Whereas terrestrial conservation grew by 22 percent over the past five years, in the last year, it increased by just 1 percent.

To achieve its 30x30 target, Canada must more than double the cumulative area it currently protects within the next six years. This will require the collaboration of not only the federal government, which manages just 6 percent of Canada's land and freshwater areas, but also of provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, as well as private landowners and Indigenous governments. Indeed, some of Canada's most significant conservation successes have been the outcome of Indigenous-led initiatives, including Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area, Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Provincial Park, and Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area and Dehcho Protected Area.

PLANS: NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLANS

China's NBSAP advocates for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to biodiversity conservation, emphasizing nationwide action and broad societal participation. However, effective implementation remains crucial. Ensuring that conservation efforts lead to tangible outcomes, rather than just numerical targets, is essential. Additionally, fostering coordination across government departments and promoting cross-sector collaboration are areas where China must explore effective mechanisms to address these challenges.

Canada's NBSAP does an effective job acknowledging that partnerships, particularly with Indigenous Peoples, will play a crucial role in the country's ability to meet its Target 3 commitments. However, the more general actions it outlines are vague, lack timelines, and are noncommittal, often framed as something the country mayconsider doing in the future. For instance, while the NBSAP identifies the need for innovative funding opportunities to advance the development of protected areas, it goes no further in outlining any clear financial pathway.

KEY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

DESIGNATING PROTECTED AND CONSERVED AREAS BASED ON QUALITY, NOT JUST QUANTITY

To achieve their 30x30 targets, Canada and China must focus on both the quantity and quality of the areas they conserve. While protecting 30 percent of the world's lands and oceans is a significant step towards maintaining global ecological health, many scientists believe it is not enough. Recent estimates suggest that 44 percent of terrestrial lands must be conserved globally to truly safeguard biodiversity.

Both countries must ensure that high-integrity areas are prioritized for protection, including lands and waters that are important for biodiversity; ecologically representative; well-connected; and effectively conserved and managed. Globally, protected areas tend to be established in locations where conservation costs are low and conflicts with development are minimal. This approach leaves large swaths of key biodiverse regions unprotected. To ensure that high conservation value areas are safeguarded, the distribution of protected and conserved areas across geographies should be regularly evaluated based on the latest available science on biodiversity values, socio-economic changes, and other factors, like the impacts of climate change. Indeed, as global average temperatures rise, approximately half of all species are on the move, with many migrating northwards to higher latitudes. To remain effective in the face of a changing climate, there should be redundancy in the protected areas system.

In China, evidence indicates that protected areas do not necessarily exist where species need it most. For example, the western part of the country is home to the largest concentration of protected areas. However, many threatened mammals and birds are found in the country's eastern provinces, where fewer areas are protected. To address this as well as other conservation challenges, China's NBSAP lays out actions for improving the effectiveness of its efforts. This includes improving laws and regulations, as well as enhancing monitoring and supervision systems that assess how effectively endangered species are protected. As part of these efforts, and as a supplement to formal protected areas, China plans to establish 650 protected sites for wild animals and 300 protected sites for wild plants.

In Canada, past approaches to establishing protected areas have focused largely on setting aside areas with little consideration as to how they fit into a larger network or whether they acknowledge Indigenous rights and title. To achieve the greatest benefits for biodiversity, the climate, and Indigenous Peoples, Canada's processes for identifying new areas and networks for protection must continue to evolve. In addition to Indigenous rights and titles, selection processes should account for factors including at-risk species, representative ecosystems, intact wilderness, ecological connectivity, and climate refugia (i.e., areas currently, or predicted to be, less affected by climate change and extreme weather events).

PROTECTION MUST BE EFFECTIVE TO HALT AND REVERSE BIODIVERSITY LOSS

As of August 2024, 17.5 percent of the world's land and fresh waters have been designated protected areas or OECMs. However, this designation does not guarantee these areas are effectively safeguarded or strategically positioned to achieve meaningful biodiversity outcomes.Between 2000 to 2020, 34 percent of the world's protected areas experienced habitat fragmentation, with human activity and climate change largely to blame.

Unsurprisingly, regions with intense human activity often overlap significantly with low conservation effectiveness. A recent study shows that in China, although arable and developed land accounts for less than 2 percent of protected areas, it is responsible for nearly 40 percent of the loss in functional ecological connectivity between protected habitats. Additionally, one-third of protected areas experience conflict when attempting to balance biodiversity conservation with human activities, especially in urban agglomerations such as the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, which are densely populated and have high levels of agricultural and livestock production. Other activities, such as hydro power development and mining, negatively impact protected areas, too. More research is needed to identify strategies to minimize the effects of human activities in and around protected areas, as well as OECMs, which China's NBSAP indicates the country will use to meet its biodiversity targets.

In Canada, concerns have been raised that the government is lowering the bar and weakening the conservation criteria for its OECMs to achieve Target 3. For an area to be recognized as an OECM, it must meet specific, international criteria. For example, it must have defined boundaries and restrict activities incompatible with preserving nature. Conservation must also be year-round, long-term, and lead to positive biodiversity outcomes.

While conservation outcomes are not the primary objective of OCEMs, they can still achieve long-term biodiversity benefits. Across Canada, landowners and managers are successfully preserving natural habitats, protecting at-risk biodiversity, and ensuring that ecosystems function as they should, even while their lands serve other purposes. These areas include military training areas like Canadian Forces Base Shilo in Manitoba, native prairie grasslands managed for beef production, and watershed protection areas around major metropolitan areas. That said, there are indications the Canadian government is interpreting OCEM requirements too loosely. Evidence for this includes the government's signaled willingness to potentially consider areas with industrial activities, like mining, as suitable for conservation. Actions such as this would fail to truly prioritize biodiversity benefits.

LEADERSHIP GOING FORWARD

To achieve their 30x30 targets, China and Canada should each establish cross-sectoral biodiversity governance mechanisms that encourage multi-stakeholder participation, including the active involvement of local communities. Both countries' NBSAPs already emphasize the critical role of traditional knowledge in achieving biodiversity outcomes. Furthermore, as effective management will rely on up-to-date scientific knowledge and monitoring, it is essential that each nation invest in research, data collection, and collaboration among researchers, governments, and local communities to enhance the quality and accessibility of timely biodiversity data.

Having played pivotal roles in establishing the KMGBF, China and Canada are well-positioned to take the lead in forming an international alliance to promote its implementation. By leading by example and sharing their expertise, technology, and resources, they can encourage more nations to join in the global effort. Through collaboration and knowledge exchange, this alliance can help ensure that all countries, particularly those with limited capacity, are empowered to achieve the ambitious biodiversity targets of the KMGBF.

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