Protected Planet Report 2020

Context:

The Protected Planet Report 2020 underlined the progress the world has made toward the ambitious goals agreed by countries in 2010 at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Relevance:

GS-III: Environment and Ecology (Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Conservation of Environment and Ecology)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
2. Highlights of the Protected Planet Report 2020
3. Findings of the Protected Planet Report 2020

United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

• The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a legally binding treaty to conserve biodiversity has been in force since 1993. It has 3 main objectives:

1. The conservation of biological diversity.
2. The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity.
3. The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

• Nearly all countries have ratified it (notably, the US has signed but not ratified).
• The CBD Secretariat is based in Montreal, Canada and it operates under the United Nations Environment Programme.
• The Parties (Countries) under Convention of Biodiversity (CBD), meet at regular interval and these meetings are called Conference of Parties (COP).
• On 29 January 2000, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP5) adopted a supplementary agreement to the Convention known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. It came into force on 11 September 2003. The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.
• The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan at COP10. It entered into force on 12 October 2014. It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
• Along with Nagoya Protocol on Genetic Resources, the COP-10 also adopted a ten-year framework for action by all countries to save biodiversity.
• Officially known as “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020”, provide a set of 20 ambitious yet achievable targets (divided into 5 sections: A to E), collectively known as the Aichi Targets for biodiversity.

Highlights of the Protected Planet Report 2020

• The reports are released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with support from the National Geographic Society, a global non-profit.
• These are biennial landmark publications that assess the state of protected and conserved areas around the world.
• The report is the first in the series to include data on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECM) in addition to protected areas. OECM are a conservation designation for areas that are achieving the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas.
• The 2020 edition provides the final report on the status of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, and looks to the future as the world prepares to adopt a new post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 aimed to conserve 17% of land and inland water ecosystems and 10% of its coastal waters and oceans by 2020.

Findings of the Protected Planet Report 2020

• As many as 82% of countries and territories have increased their share of protected area and coverage of Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECM) since 2010. Protected areas covering almost 21 million sq. km. have been added to the global network.
• Since OECMs were first recorded in 2019, these areas have added a further 1.6 million sq. km. to the global network. Despite being limited to only five countries and territories, the available data on OECMs show that they make a significant contribution to coverage and connectivity.
• On an average, 62.6% of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) (sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity) either fully or partially overlap with protected areas and OECMs. The average percentage of each KBA within protected areas and OECMs is 43.2% for terrestrial; 42.2% for inland water and 44.2% for marine (within national waters).

-Source: Down to Earth Magazine