CBD COP17: Experts explore new conservation models to advance Africa’s 30×30 goals

Representatives of African governments and civil society organisations on Monday discussed emerging conservation models that could help countries across the continent achieve the global 30×30 biodiversity target.

The experts spoke during a panel session on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.

The event was organised by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The session, themed “Emerging Conservation Models for 30×30 Goals in Africa: Catalysing Policy to Action,” was moderated by Adedamola Ogunsesan, NCF’s Director of Technical Programmes.

The panellists included Daniel Jidda of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment; Allan Dauchi, Chief Natural Resources Officer at Zambia’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the country’s CBD focal point; Amina Mbarouk, Assistant National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) Coordinator for Tanzania; Sylvia Dorbor, Sustainable Finance Coordinator at the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia; and Tiwonge Gawa of the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM), a BirdLife partner.

According to the organisers, the session aimed to showcase emerging and community-led conservation models in five African countries that contribute to Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), while strengthening climate resilience and local livelihoods.

The discussions also focused on how the models could be formally recognised in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECM) registers and national biodiversity reports submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The organisers said the session would further identify the policy, land-tenure and financing reforms needed to translate conservation commitments into action at national and sub-national levels.

Another objective was to establish a regional peer-learning platform connecting CBD national focal points with conservation organisations across West and Central Africa.

Speaking at the event, Durrel Halleson, Head of Policy and Partnerships for Africa at WWF International, said discussions at COP17 had centred on mobilising additional financing to help African countries meet their biodiversity commitments.

He identified Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) as one approach that could expand conservation efforts across the continent.

“We have an opportunity here to really bring this up, talk about OECMs, scale it up, to become one of those ways to reach target 30×30,” he said.

OECMs are geographically defined areas outside formally designated protected areas that deliver sustained, effective and positive outcomes for the long-term conservation of biodiversity.

Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework commits countries to ensuring that at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas are effectively conserved and managed by 2030.

However, in many parts of West and Central Africa, translating these commitments into tangible conservation outcomes remains a challenge.

Limited funding for protected areas, contested land tenure and the dependence of rural communities on natural resources have complicated conservation efforts across the region.

Emerging approaches include community and Indigenous-conserved areas, women-led natural resource management groups, faith-based conservation initiatives, land trusts, forest and mangrove co-management arrangements, and cross-border ecological corridors.

These models can support biodiversity conservation while strengthening local livelihoods and resilience to climate change.

Despite their potential, many remain poorly financed or insufficiently recognised in national conservation policies and reporting frameworks, limiting their contribution to countries’ progress towards the 30×30 target.

The session therefore brought conservation practitioners and CBD national focal points together to explore how successful community-led initiatives could gain formal recognition, secure sustainable financing and contribute more effectively to national biodiversity targets.