IMET is a Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) tool that allows an in-depth assessment of marine and terrestrial protected areas, regardless of their management categories and governance type. It is also a decision support tool that helps protected area managers take analysis-based management decisions for improved conservation outcomes. 

Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) started with a simple aim – tocontribute to the many efforts around the world to secure wild tigers. But such tasks are never so simple to implement. Developing CA|TS over the last ten years has involved a huge collaborative effort in standard setting, advocacy, software development, training, fundraising and much more. For the sites and people involved it has represented a major commitment in supporting national systems to implement CA|TS.

This report tells the story of the CA|TS journey from an idea to a global partnership of countries, sites, experts and conservation organisations implementing this mission across the tiger range.

In some parts of the world, whale products play an important role in the nutritional and cultural life of native peoples.  Four IWC member countries conduct aboriginal subsistence hunts today: Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Chukotka), St Vincent and the Grenadines (Bequia) and the United States (Alaska and also potentially a resumption of hunts previously undertaken by the Makah Tribe of Washington State).

From the outset, the IWC recognised that indigenous or aboriginal subsistence whaling is not the same as commercial whaling. Aboriginal whaling does not seek to maximise catches or profit.  It is categorised differently by the IWC and is not subject to the moratorium.  The IWC recognises that its regulations have the potential to impact significantly on traditional cultures, and great care must be taken in discharging this responsibility.

In summary, the IWC objectives for management of aboriginal subsistence whaling are to ensure that hunted whale populations are maintained at (or brought back to) healthy levels, and to enable native people to hunt whales at levels that are appropriate to cultural and nutritional requirements in the long term.

DECISION ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

14/17. Integration of Article 8(j) and provisions related to indigenous peoples and local communities in the work of the Convention and its Protocols

Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located.
Their status is internationally recognized.
Their functions are reviewed every 10 years under the periodic review process.

To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.

These criteria are explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention which, besides the text of the Convention, is the main working tool on World Heritage. The criteria are regularly revised by the Committee to reflect the evolution of the World Heritage concept itself.

Until the end of 2004, World Heritage sites were selected on the basis of six cultural and four natural criteria. With the adoption of the revised Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, only one set of ten criteria exists.

The nine criteria for identifying Wetlands of International Importance

The purpose of the report is to provide the national administrative authorities of AEWA with a strategic overview of:

a) the knowledge of the extent and distribution of sites of international importance2 for and used by each of the species on the Agreement;

b) the extent to which these sites of international importance are statutorily or otherwise designated under relevant international processes;

c) the extent to which internationally important sites are subject to directed management for the purposes of the conservation of the waterbirds for which they are internationally important; a

d) instances where populations of waterbirds depend on key unprotected sites of importance, the loss of which would be of significance for the population concerned (for example unprotected ‘bottleneck’ sites, or unprotected sites in migration corridors of restricted geographical extent).

Ecological connectivity conservation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework: from local to international levels

KBAs are sites ‘contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems’. The KBA Partnership is composed of 13 leading international organizations including IUCN. It maintains a KBA Committee, KBA secretariat, a KBA Technical Working Group, a KBA Community, a KBA Consultative Forum, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. An independent KBA Standards and Appeals Committee is established under the authority of the elected SSC and WCPA Chairs. The KBA Global Standard lists the criteria for identification of KBAs. There are five criteria and 11 subcriteria all with quantitative thresholds. KBAs are identified on the basis of ecosystems or species.

KBAs can be identified by a KBA National Coordination Group (KBA NCG). If an individual or small group has an interest in proposing a KBA in a country with an existing KBA NCG they are encouraged to work with that KBA NCG to make the proposal. Where a KBA NCG has not yet been established, proposers are encouraged to consider helping form such a group but if that is not possible they can put together a proposal for a site and submit it directly. KBAs should be reviewed and updated nationally every 8-12 years to also confirm they still meet KBA status for the species or ecosystems that trigger KBA status for the site. The KBA identification process is inclusive, consultative and nationally driven. Anyone with appropriate data may propose a site as a KBA, although consultation with relevant stakeholders at the local and national level is required when identifying the site and needs to be documented in the proposal. A proposer must apply the KBA criteria to data on biodiversity elements (species and ecosystems) at the site and delineate the site clearly. The formal proposal is then made through a process that ensures independent review before a site is incorporated in the World Database of KBAs.

How to use

• To download the KBA Standard, criteria, and guidelines, and for further information: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/home
• To explore maps and site details on the World Database of KBAS: https://wdkba.keybiodiversityareas.org
• For guidance on the role of KBA National Coordination Groups and how to establish them: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/working-with-kbas/programme/national-coordination-groups

One of the principles of the KBA Programme is the strong involvement of local experts and stakeholders in the identification and documentation of KBAs. To ensure the coordination and collaboration of national experts representing different taxonomic groups and biodiversity elements it is recommended to establish KBA National Coordination Groups (KBA NCGs) working towards the development of a single, coherent list of KBAs in each country. The work of the KBA NCG should be guided primarily by scientific considerations.

Membership of the KBA NCG may include NGOs, scientific institutions, relevant government departments and agencies, private sector organizations, indigenous people, and local communities. The KBA NCG may act as a proposer of KBAs or as a reviewer of proposals made by independent experts within or outside the country. The KBA NCG may also decide to coordinate activities between different stakeholders to promote the conservation and management of KBAs at the national level.