Review of country ambition in targeting important areas for biodiversity in the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity framework

Targets 1 and 3 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) require actions to focus on areas of importance for biodiversity—a prerequisite for reversing biodiversity loss and halting human-induced extinctions as set out in the Mission and Goals of the Framework. There is a need to review progress on how countries are aiming to identify and conserve such areas of importance. We reviewed 97 national biodiversity strategy and action plans (NBSAPs) and 89 country submissions to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) online targets reporting tool (ORT) to assess ambition across five targets of the KMGBF. We searched for evidence that countries were considering where to act for Targets 1,2,3,14,15 and 21. No country defined what constitutes an important area for biodiversity, and any stated focus of planning was limited largely to existing protected areas or ecosystems. Key Biodiversity Areas were identified in 40% of the NBSAPs, yet only 26% included specific targets, actions, or indicators for these globally significant sites. Ambition toward the 30% restoration (Target 2) and 30% protection (Target 3) targets was higher than previously reported but remained low overall. Only half of the countries planned to mandate or encourage business to measure its impacts on biodiversity (Target 15). Across six measures of ambition, an average of 29% of the countries submitting NBSAPs and 31% of the ORT target countries aimed to meet the KMGBF benchmarks, while 48% and 53% respectively showed no ambition to do so. European countries showed the lowest level of ambition of any region. Much greater levels of ambition and progress are needed to achieve the targets, goals, and vision for areas of importance for biodiversity in the KMGBF by 2030.