Other Effective Area Based Conservation Measures (OECMs): The Indian Experience
As a member of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, India needs to extend its conservation and restoration efforts to meet their 2030 goal.
Since there is limited scope of expanding the network of protected areas, India is looking at areas outside this network to contribute to the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity and act as effective carbon sinks. To this end, Other Effective Area Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) are a new, innovative approach, where effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity is achieved mainly as a by-product of other management.
Canada - building conservation quality, quantity and collaboration
The Government of Canada has made significant investments in nature and nature-based climate solutions to address climate change and biodiversity loss, including by setting an ambitious target to protect 25 percent of our lands and oceans by 2025, while working toward 30 percent by 2030. As a member of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and the Global Ocean Alliance, Canada is working to build support for a 30 percent target internationally.
In 2021, the Government of Canada committed $4.1 billion to nature protection, including an additional $2.3 billion over five years for Canada’s Enhanced Nature Legacy, to continue supporting nature conservation measures across the country, including Indigenous leadership in conservation.
Japan’s efforts toward the achievement of 30by30 through OECMs
The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) -Japan, with the help of relevant ministries, established a ‘30by30 roadmap’ to outline necessary actions to achieve the 30by30 target in Japan. To firmly establish this roadmap as Japan’s policy, it will be incorporated it into our upcoming National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP), expected in the spring of 2023.
Gabon’s high ambition to protect and conserve 30% of its land, ocean and inland waters
Gabon is part of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and is committed to protecting and conserving 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 (often referred to as 30x30). Gabon, however, is also one of several countries pushing for an explicit reference to freshwater protection. For a nation whose culture and landscape are shaped by its rivers, Gabon is expanding its commitment also to protect and conserve 30% of its inland waters. Therefore, protecting and conserving 30:30:30 (terrestrial, inland waters, and marine) has special significance.
In July 2022 the Australian Government set a goal to protect and conserve 30 per cent of Australia’s land and 30 per cent of Australia’s marine areas by 2030. The Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032, released in October 2022, sets out Australia’s pathway for threatened species conservation and recovery over the next 10 years and includes the 30 by 30 target.
Achieving the 30 by 30 target will be challenging and requires collaboration across governments, First Nations partners, non-government organisations, the private sector and philanthropists. Australia’s network of terrestrial protected areas, our National Reserve System, covers around 22 per cent of our land mass, over 170 million hectares. Achieving the 30 per cent landmass target requires the protection or conservation of an additional 60 million hectares.
Peru - Transformational action implemented Creation of the Dorsal de Nasca National Reserve
Peru is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world. One of the main characteristics of the Peruvian sea is its high productivity originating from a system of permanent coastal upwelling, which sustains an important biodiversity and biomass of marine resources.
In this context, the State, through the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio del Ambiente, MINAM) constantly promotes the sustainable use of marine biodiversity and through the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado , SERNANP), promotes the management and creation of new natural protected areas, especially those in the marine area.
France - The road to 30x30: Opportunities, Challenges and Lessons Learned by Countries
As a member of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, France is committed to protect 30% of its marine areas and 30% of its land areas, by 2030. In order to reach its 30x30 commitment, the government launched a national strategy for protected areas at the One Planet Summit in January 2021. For the first time, we have a unified strategy for mainland France and the overseas territories that integrates land and sea issues.
To meet our commitments, we are working to strengthen the level of protection, improve the management and develop the interconnection of protected areas, targeting particularly some vulnerable ecosystems: forests, wetlands and the coastline. With these objectives, our national strategy is to create a robust and sustainable network of protected areas that are resilient to global change but also effectively and properly managed.
