A recent global report delivered a stark warning: 49% of the 1,200+ unique species protected under the Convention on Migratory Species have declining populations, up from 44% two years ago. Confronting this newest evidence that birds, fish, insects, and mammals that cross national borders are increasingly at risk, government and conservation leaders gathered in late March for the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS/CoP-15) in Campo Grande, Brazil.  

These multilateral governmental negotiations, convened under the theme “Connecting Nature to Sustain Life,” reinforced the critical need to conserve the ecological connectivity of our globally shared natural heritage of migratory species. Linking ecosystems, cultures, and economies across country borders and continents, wild species undertake increasingly perilous journeys throughout their lifecycles.

Participants at CoP-15, including the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, demonstrated resolve by adopting commitments to address compounding threats to the survival of migratory species. This included agreeing on new or enhanced international protections for 40 species in danger of extinction such as the cheetah, snowy owl, giant otter, and great hammerhead shark. Read the full list of species here.

Throughout the week, participants also addressed more than 100 agenda items ranging from illegal and unsustainable taking of migratory species to impacts of deep sea mining. By close of CMS/CoP-15, Parties also adopted a diversity of policies to address threats and implement actions with a strengthened focus on ecological connectivity, international cooperation, and expanding partnerships.

Campo Grande provided a fitting backdrop for this meeting of the world’s only international agreement recognizing countries as the stewards of migratory species living within or passing through their national jurisdictions. As the capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in southwestern Brazil, it is the southern gateway to the Pantanal—the world’s largest tropical wetland—at the intersection of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. This landscape supports more than 1,000 bird, 300 mammal, 500 reptile, 400 fish, and thousands of invertebrate species. It is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth and a powerful example of the importance of connected, functional ecosystems and why the work of the Convention on Migratory Species matters so much.

High-level Commitment for Wildlife 

An ambitious tone was set at the preceding High Level Segment chaired by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who was joined by the President of Paraguay, ministers, and other stakeholders. Together, these country representatives adopted the Pantanal Declaration “Promoting Connectivity to Protect Migratory Wildlife.” It highlights the need to maintain, enhance, and restore ecological connectivity; include measures to prevent negative impacts on migration routes in economic development strategies; and use available resources to support developing countries to more effectively conserve migratory wildlife.  

The importance of the Convention and key role of ecological connectivity was highlighted by President Lula:   

“The Convention on Migratory Species conveys a simple but powerful message: migration is natural. By crossing continents and connecting distant ecosystems, these species show that nature does not recognize the limits between States. The jaguar moves across nearly all preserved territories of the Americas in search of safe areas to hunt and reproduce. Like it, every year, millions of birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, and even insects cross continents and oceans. These journeys connect ecosystems, preserve natural cycles, and ensure the balance that makes life possible. Protecting these animals means protecting life itself on the planet. The survival of these species depends on collective action.”  

During his address, President Lula also announced Brazil’s newest conservation commitments including the creation of a the new Córregos dos Vales do Norte de Minas Gerais Reserve, and significant expansions of Pantanal National Park and Taiamã Ecological Station, together representing approximately 145,000 hectares (559 square miles) of newly protected lands. 

CLLC’s Ongoing Leadership 

Joining more than 2,000 attendees, including delegates from 105 of the 133 country “Parties” to the Convention on Migratory Species, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation was represented by three team members: Katie Deuel (Chief Program Officer), Aaron Laur (Manager, International Connectivity Program), and Fernanda Teixeira (Linear Infrastructure Ecology Advisor).  

As an official NGO Observer to CMS, the Center continued advancing the aims of the convention by emphasizing the fundamental importance of conserving ecological connectivity to more efficiently and effectively achieve the great diversity of international treaty agreements for conserving nature. In preparations and over the course of the conference, the team contributed expertise and worked with partners to showcase innovative collaboration for maintaining, enhancing, and restoring ecological connectivity to conserve migratory species.  

Over the course of the conference, Katie, Aaron, and Fernanda followed negotiations, shared expertise through presentations, and participated in official events especially promoting leading joint efforts focused on conserving migratory species, their habitats, and migration routes. Aaron, who also serves as Co-Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group (CCSG), represented the World Commission on Protected Areas as part of IUCN’s official delegation throughout the negotiations and associated events. 

Official Side Events Promoting Collaboration 

Among the nearly 60 official side events held in Campo Grande, CLLC was proud to lead co-organization of the event “Nature Positive Infrastructure – Avoiding and mitigating impacts of linear infrastructure on migratory species and ecological connectivity” with numerous partners. Participants learned about new and expanded initiatives around the world building capacity and mobilizing resources to mainstream biodiversity conservation into infrastructure policy, planning, investment, and development. 

Additionally, the Center contributed to back-to-back events emphasizing the growing, collaborative action that is being scaled up by the Global Partnership on Ecological Connectivity (GPEC) titled “Ecological Connectivity: A Cross-Cutting Solution for Achieving Multiple Environmental and Socio-Economic Priorities” and “From Partnerships to Practice: Advancing ecological connectivity action on the ground”.

Toward the end of the conference, Aaron was moderator for the event Bridging the gap: Leveraging animal movement and mapped migration corridors to inform national conservation policy” that provided insights into how movement data, with a focus on migration, can be better integrated into conservation planning and policy.

Renewed Policies for Connectivity and Addressing Impacts of Infrastructure 

As part of formal negotiations, Parties considered a raft of background documents, reaching consensus by the last day to adopt new and updated policy resolutions and decisions about a diversity of issues and topics. Specific to the Center’s mission, the Resolution on “Ecological Connectivity” advances previous related commitments urging Parties to identify, strengthen, and expand ecological networks and corridors to conserve migratory species, and for the CMS Secretariat to support their establishment and management.

Additionally, the “Resolution on Impact Assessment and Migratory Species” advances commitments that migratory species, their habitats, and ecological connectivity “[…] be given high priority in biodiversity-related aspects of environmental impact assessment”  

Looking Ahead  

João Paulo Ribeiro Capobianco, in his role as President of CMS/CoP-15, and as Executive Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, made the closing speech, including the following statement: 

“From the Pantanal to the Arctic, from the oceans to the savannas, migratory species connect our planet in ways no political map ever could. They remind us that ecological integrity depends on continuity of flows that must remain alive, uninterrupted, and resilient. And this is precisely what is at stake. Connectivity is not an abstract concept. It is the difference between survival and collapse. Between ecosystems that function and those that fail. To protect migratory routes, ecological corridors, and critical habitats is to protect the very fabric of life on Earth.” 

The outcomes of CMS/CoP-15 represent meaningful and durable progress in the global effort to conserve ecological connectivity for migratory species and the ecosystems they depend upon. For the Center, CMS/CoP-15 reaffirmed that bringing high quality science, field experience, partnerships and networks, and technical expertise to negotiations and side events shapes innovative and actionable decisions. We look forward to building on these outcomes in the months ahead, in collaboration with our many valued partners.  

Additional information: 

• IISD – Earth Negotiations Bulletin with full, daily, detailed coverage including photos 

• WWF – CMS COP15 delivers progress for migratory species, including jaguars, sharks, marine turtles, and birds  

• Mongabay – Migratory species summit adopts new marine protections amid extinction warnings 

_{*Photo of presenters, left to right: Fernanda Abra (President, Reconecta Institute); Fernanda Teixeira (Linear Infrastructure Ecology Advisor, Center for Large Landscape Conservation); Tremaine Gregory (Senior Scientist, Sustainable Infrastructure Team, WWF-US); Steffen Mumme (Spatial Ecologist, Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration); Ruth Tiffer Sotomayor (Senior Environmental Specialist, Global Environment Department, The World Bank); Aaron Laur (Manager, International Connectivity Program, Center for Large Landscape Conservation); Kate Newman (Vice President, Sustainable Infrastructure and Public Sector Initiatives, WWF-US); Duncan Lang (Principal Environment Specialist, Nature and Environment Division, Asian Development Bank); and Katie Deuel (Chief Program Officer, Center for Large Landscape Conservation).}

_{Top image: The Jabiru stork (Jabiru mycteria), locally known as the tuiuiú, is a symbol of the Pantanal in Brazil. Adobe Stock photo.}

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This diverse group of experts and decision-makers, including representatives from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC), gathered in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the 8^th IUCN World Conservation Congress in October 2025. Over the course of the Congress, nearly 10,000 participants from more than 189 countries represented governments, civil society, Indigenous peoples, business, and academia.

The Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) was represented in Abu Dhabi by Gary Tabor, Aaron Laur, and Gabriel Oppler who all contributed their unique and combined skillsets. As a National Non-governmental Member of IUCN since 2016, CLLC has been fortunate to have the leadership of Founder and CEO Gary Tabor also serving as Chair of the Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group under the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). This has increased opportunities for CLLC to work with a broad community of experts and institutions to foster the mainstreaming of ecological connectivity conservation through science, policy, and on-the-ground implementation around the world.

CLLC’s role at the World Conservation Congress

In Abu Dhabi, CLLC actively promoted connectivity and combatting habitat fragmentation as a more comprehensive strategy to save biodiversity, increase resilience to climate change, and benefit people. Preparing for and attending this WCC provided an opportunity for CLLC to collaborate even more closely with long-time partners and friends, get acquainted with new colleagues and topics, and engage more deeply in efforts spanning IUCN.

Especially important to advancing connectivity conservation, CLLC led the drafting, co-sponsor coordination, submission, and negotiation of the adopted Motion 127 “Recognising and reporting ecological corridors”. Now an official policy Resolution, it calls on all of IUCN to strengthen global coordination and reporting on the specific location and management of corridors.

In tandem, the 2021 Resolution 071 “Wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure,” also led by CLLC, remains in effect. A growing number of efforts are implementing this first-ever IUCN policy addressing the environmental impacts of linear transport infrastructure (LTI) and CLLC will continue to engage with existing and new partners to amplify and apply solutions for avoiding and mitigating this fragmenting force.

Overall, these Resolutions now form part of IUCN’s official policy commitments and actions over the next four years until the 9th WCC.

What happened at the World Conservation Congress?

Over the course of the week, participants sought to arrest the ongoing decline of nature through a wide variety of activities. In addition to a Forum and Exhibition with events showcasing research and innovation, the IUCN Members’ Assembly—IUCN’s highest decision-making body—elected the Union’s leadership for the next four years and adopted 140+ policy motions. It also approved the Abu Dhabi Call to Action and IUCN’s 20-year Strategic Vision and 2026-2029 Programme focused on halting and reversing the compounding crises facing the planet. Additionally, the WCC emphasized the important role that youth leaders play in conservation.

With just five years left until the 2030 deadline for countries to meet commitments under several international agreements—including the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—this WCC aimed to drive immediate and bold actions across all lands and waters.

Sharing Solutions and Celebrating Milestones

Many WCC attendees spent time visiting, presenting, and participating at more than 1,000 thematic Forum Events and Exhibition Pavilions. During these events they engaged in discussions about leading science, policy, practice, and innovation  focused on themes such as scaling up resilient conservation action and transitioning to nature-positive economies and societies.

Contributing toward the overall WCC theme “Powering transformative conservation”, CLLC and partners organized and participated in a diversity of these events. Some highlights included:

• Launch of the newest Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Ecological Connectivity and Land Restoration. With contributions from CLLC staff members, the Report introduces the guiding principle of ‘Connect to restore; Restore to connect’ for large-scale landscape conservation.
• Presentation of the now fully operational Global Partnership on Ecological Connectivity (GPEC) bringing organizations together from around the world to strengthen collective and coherent action across landscapes and seascapes.
• A Youth Summit kicked-off a series of events over the course of the Congress focused on gathering and increasing contributions from young people around the world. CLLC’s Gabriel Oppler served on IUCN’s Youth Advisory Committee throughout the last four years and supported events at a dedicated Pavilion highlighting career opportunities in conservation leadership for young professionals.

Providing Hope for the Future

For CLLC, this gathering brought back memories of all the people that have devoted their time, expertise, and passion to IUCN over its nearly 80 years of existence.

In Abu Dhabi, the Union came together to take stock of accomplishments, setbacks, and priorities, while setting out ambitious plans to address international to local issues through scaled-up action and transformative change.

Before the close of the WCC, IUCN Members approved the Abu Dhabi Call to Action, concluding that:

From Abu Dhabi, we reaffirm our collective commitment to defending life on Earth. We are the voice of nature and we stand united – One Nature, One Humanity, One Future – a global movement of individuals, communities, organisations, and nations determined to turn the tide for a just, resilient and nature-positive world. Together and united in action, we will move from promises and commitments to action.

Yes, together we can – and together, we will!

CLLC commends IUCN for its ongoing leadership and inspiration and will remain persistent in its pursuit of a world where nature and people thrive across connected, resilient landscapes and seascapes.

Photos: All photos by CLLC unless otherwise indicated

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When lynx, elephants, markhors, bears or elk move in search of new water or food sources, they don’t stop to show their passports at the border or pause to consider which areas are designated as protected and which are private lands. Wildlife goes where it needs to survive, and as climate change modifies landscapes and an increased human population adds pressure to ecosystems, conflict arises. 

In 2024, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation worked across five continents to reconnect fragmented landscapes and foster partnerships across borders. Three projects in particular illustrate the challenges and opportunities of preserving wildlife movement and habitat connectivity across international boundaries. This collaborative work is taking place in the Mountain Ecosystems of Koytendag in Central Asia, the Transboundary Region of Kenya and Tanzania and the landscapes of Northeastern North America. 

Conserving the Mountain Ecosystems of Koytendag

Along the shared border of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan runs a tall, craggy ridgeline separating the two countries. While this southern spur of the Pamir-Alay mountain range may present a physical barrier for human travel, many animals and crucial sources of freshwater can still move freely through this landscape nestled in the heart of the Mountain Ecosystems of Koytendag (MEK). 

The MEK represent one of the most biodiverse landscapes in Central Asia. However, the region faces threats to endemic plant and animal species including agricultural expansion, overgrazing, illegal hunting and human development. Since 2020, the Center has been working in MEK as part of a project funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, and since 2024 by the Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative to help stakeholders in both countries come together to strengthen cooperation across two protected areas, including improving monitoring and data-sharing practices. 

“Sharing common natural resources, ecosystems, and species, this project for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reinforces how international and transboundary cooperation can enhance conservation across Central Asia,” said Aaron Laur, International Connectivity Program, Policy and Partnerships Manager with the Center.  

To combat the challenges faced by wildlife, rangers in Koytendag State Nature Reserve in Turkmenistan and Surkhan State Nature Reserve in Uzbekistan are collaborating to use Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool data gathering, or SMART monitoring, to track populations of markhor, urial sheep and lynx as well as other wildlife in the region. This data will help both countries make informed management decisions and enable them to deploy limited resources and rangers wisely across this vast landscape. For example, if a camera trap happens to capture an instance of poaching or other wildlife-human conflict, rangers will know exactly where incidents are happening and be able to better patrol and enforce management plans in the future.

“Better data and more sharing of that data allows managers to make proactive decisions based on information they may have from the other side of the border,” said the Center’s International Connectivity Program, Policy and Partnerships Specialist, Gabriel Oppler, who traveled to Uzbekistan in 2024 to facilitate a workshop focused on enhancing collaboration and connectivity planning between the two reserves. 

These monitoring efforts will also establish baseline information on migration and movement trends and population size and health that could then serve as future indicators of the effects of climate change. In addition, it will be helpful in supporting a transboundary nomination of both reserves as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site. 

“A great deal of work went into building stakeholder surveys and our partners talking to people in the local community,” Laur said. “They sat with national and international experts and rangers on mountain tops for days at a time, gathering scientific information, and documenting natural, cultural, and geologic sites because that’s what goes into a World Heritage nomination.” 

World Heritage status can be valuable in helping a country, or in this case countries, be recognized for stewarding their unique heritage and can help attract more international funding. Additionally, Laur said, this designation can help spur the governments of receiving countries to prioritize and better conserve the sites. 

Oppler emphasized the importance of maintaining and enhancing connectivity between both reserves and the surrounding landscape and the shared interest of both countries in protecting the same wildlife populations and ecological processes. Though an international border runs through the heart of these mountains, for the local wildlife, it’s all one home range. 

Connecting the Transboundary Region of Kenya and Tanzania

In the transboundary region of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, or SOKNOT, there are protected areas on both sides of the border: the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro and Amboseli National Parks and Tsavo National Park. The challenge in this region is to define, monitor and conserve wildlife corridors across international boundaries. 

“There are a lot of wide-ranging species in the African landscape,” said Annika Keeley, Senior Conservation Scientist with the Center. “If you don’t care about connectivity between the countries, you damage populations on either side. Those countries depend on the species for tourism, and so if they want to sustain this business opportunity, they have to think about cross boundary connectivity for the species.” 

Tanzania has delineated corridors that are recognized by the government but Kenya has yet to put any corridors on the map. The plan is for the two countries to collaborate, delineate corridors for the entire region and then monitor them. 

“The goal is really to safeguard these corridors from being developed, to keep them open for wildlife movement,” Keeley said. 

Working with WWF and the Wildlife Connect Initiative, Keeley and Bakari Mtili with the Center led and facilitated a two-day workshop in Tanzania focused on the shared goal of maintaining a connected landscape. The group discussed which indicators to use when monitoring these corridors and gathered input from local experts to make sure future work built upon existing efforts. Moving forward, both countries will share census and movement data to help researchers understand how species are using the corridors. 

WWF also wants to monitor any delineated corridors to see if they are changing and use that data as an early-warning system. The human population of Tanzania is predicted to double by 2050 meaning lots of potential new development in these wildlife corridors. The new set of indicators laid out in a report from the Center will provide information on how the corridors are changing over time and inform future work. 

According to Keeley, the Center’s recommendation is to create a framework for implementing the ecological corridors in this region following guidelines produced by the Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. For each delineated corridor, there would then be a group of local stakeholders that meets to write and execute a management plan, as well as monitor and adapt actions for the long-term stewardship of the corridor. 

Collaborating to Protect Turtle Island

Many Native American communities use the term Turtle Island to describe the North American continent. The name stems from various creation stories describing the world being formed on the back of a giant turtle. This land stretched unbroken covered in lush forests, tranquil lakes and roamed by all manner of wildlife. 

This vision is not reflected in contemporary maps, which are crisscrossed with roads, private property lines, state borders and international borders that even cut right through the middle of lakes. The concept of Turtle Island, however, is more than just an uninterrupted landmass; it represents a deep respect for and connection to nature. 

At the first-ever Northeastern North America / Turtle Island Landscape Connectivity Summit in June of 2024, this concept of connected landscapes was at the forefront of presentations, panels and discussion groups focused on transboundary conservation efforts in this region. The Summit focused on the five eastern-most Canadian provinces, seven northeastern-most US states, and Indigenous territories of the region. Attendees included tribal leaders, representatives from provincial, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations, among others, who all came together to collaborate across international boundaries. 

The region in focus represents a biodiverse, ecologically-rich carbon sink of utmost importance. Deb Kmon Davidson, Chief Strategy Officer with the Center, said there is a trend in species moving north, such as sugar maples, which she says are dying off in places like Massachusetts, Connecticut and southern Vermont. The solution, according to Davidson, is to work together across borders and with managers of different lands both public and private. 

“There’s an increased recognition that this is an interwoven landscape,” Davidson said. “Each state and province is not an individual entity, there’s a collective impact.” 

At the summit, road ecology and wildlife migration issues were front and center resulting in much more sharing of information across international borders and efforts to collectively put forward proposals. In September of 2024, Canadian Premieres and American Governors signed a landmark resolution representing a commitment from those provinces and states to work collectively on ecological connectivity.  

Moving forward, the hope is that all stakeholders view conservation from an eco-regional perspective that ignores boundaries, according to Davidson.  

“There’s power in, for example, people who live within Vermont, understanding that they are part of a larger regional movement, too,” Davidson said. 

In April 2025, the coordinating committee that formed around the summit will release a Pathways document that summarizes the findings of the summit and some high-priority action items that were identified. It will be important to ensure that ecological processes and wildlife in the region are able to move and flow as they need to, unimpeded by borders they don’t recognize.  

_{Top photo: Reserve rangers and collaborators from the Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan environmental ministries and the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences discuss data entry using the SMART system – CLLC/Gabriel Oppler}

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The recent UN Biodiversity Conference was held under the theme “Peace with Nature.” This 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/CoP-16) attracted an unprecedented 23,000+ delegates attending official negotiations and side events inside the security perimeter of the “Blue Zone,” while the public “Green Zone” drew approximately 40,000 visitors each day. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation was honored to send four team members to participate at the conference in Cali, Colombia to further strengthen efforts for connectivity conservation around the world.  

It is important to point out that negotiations did not deliver all the results that were hoped for, and governments were unable to adopt all decisions before many delegates had to depart for home, as reported by The Guardian in ‘Cop16 ends in disarray and indecision despite biodiversity breakthroughs’. Nonetheless, the negotiations and related events still demonstrated a strong sense of urgency, dedication, and growing actions across society and among the 196 country Parties to the Convention to implement its objectives and halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030.

Of great significance, CoP-16 focused on how countries can meet their commitments to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), adopted in 2022. Ecological connectivity is explicitly included in Goal A and Targets 2, 3, and 12 of the KMGBF as a key element for achieving the aims of the Convention. Following our Action Plan for 2030, the Center is helping drive actions around the world to accelerate progress across the Framework.

In the latest development since departing Cali, the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat has announced that resumed sessions of CoP-16 will be held on 25-27 February 2025 in Rome, Italy, with the anticipation of adopting all pending decisions. 

Our Participation 

The Center, represented by Gary Tabor, Deb Davidson, Aaron Laur, and Fernanda Teixeira, contributed leadership throughout the conference to advance the science, policy, and practice of connectivity, landscape, and seascape conservation with numerous presentations, matchmaking to pursue new projects with countries, and collaborative efforts. Over the course of more than two weeks, CoP-16 attendees became well acquainted with the generosity of the Colombian hosts, the interest and kindness of Cali residents, the natural beauty of the country, and the energy and endurance required to make it to and through such a large and lively conference.  

With partners, such as the new Global Partnership on Ecological Connectivity, the Center helped further advance understanding and inspiring activities that were prominent in 10+ official side events and numerous presentations covering diverse topics and geographies such as mammal migration in Central Asia, marine corridors in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and flyways for birds around the world. Together, the growing connectivity conservation community was well-represented in Cali and emphasized the importance of “well-connected” protected and conserved areas as part of 30×30 efforts, as well as promoting diverse solutions across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. 

This international gathering represented the third consecutive CBD/CoP that the Center attended as an accredited NGO Observer since 2018. By utilizing this official status to participate in the Convention, our focus continues to be on elevating understanding of individual and collaborative actions for connectivity conservation to stimulate collaboration across sectors for conserving biological diversity.  

Progress Made in Cali 

With the loss of biodiversity continuing unabated, Parties to the Convention worked through an ambitious agenda in Cali to meet the urgency of the issue at hand. This included reviewing progress toward achieving the KMGBF, demonstrating alignment in National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plans (NBSAPs), further developing the KMGBF monitoring framework—with multiple indicators for connectivity—and advancing mobilization of resources.  

Some of the highlights include: 

• At least 20 countries and the European Union having submitted revised or updated NBSAPs that address connectivity; 

• Release of the Protected Planet Report 2024, assessing the global status of protected and conserved areas, with Chapter 6 addressing the “well-connected” element of KMGBF Target 3 focused on achieving 30×30; and 

• Adoption of a decision on plant conservation efforts to align with the KMGBF monitoring framework, with an Annex of voluntary complementary actions with indications of how connectivity conservation can be applied. 

In parallel, hundreds of side events drove home how countries can meet their commitments under the KMGBF. Notably, the  official event on ecological connectivity led by the Center featured presenters from five countries and five collaborative efforts, and our contributions to events about avoiding and mitigating the impacts of linear infrastructure emphasized the great diversity of related initiatives, projects, and activities already underway that are driving implementation of the KMGBF around the world.

Why Does This Matter? 

The take-home message from CBD/CoP-16 is that governments, institutions, and communities around the world are ramping up activities to match commitments under the KMGBF. Although robust financial resources and technical capacities need to urgently improve, cooperation is growing and enabling whole-of-society approaches that are mainstreaming biodiversity within and across sectors at national and subnational levels. This includes the numerous examples of innovative coordination happening among conventions, ministries, agencies, and organizations taking more comprehensive approaches to halt environmental degradation, save biodiversity, and increase resilience to climate change.  

With landscape, seascape, and ecological connectivity conservation increasingly recognized and applied as a key cross-cutting solution, its incorporation into relevant policies, strategies, and plans is supporting alignment of programs, initiatives, projects, and activities around the world.  

What’s Next?

Looking toward CBD/CoP-17 now scheduled for the last quarter of 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia, the Center will continue its leadership engaging in discussions and planning across its networks of experts and institutions to inspire and take actions that support lasting connectivity conservation gains on the ground. 

To learn more, the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group has published a detailed news post with more information about CBD/CoP-16 developments, official outcomes, and side events. 

Grupo MaViChi playing the public “Green Zone” during the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia:

_{Top photo: A view of the Cali River from the public “Green Zone” and the Iglesia La Ermita Church constructed from 1930-1948 in the background – CLLC/Aaron Laur}

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In the 738 biosphere regions worldwide* (also called biosphere reserves outside of North America), lands and waters are designated into three zones: Core areas comprise strictly protected ecosystems where only research and education activities are permitted. National parks are often at the core of biosphere regions. Activities in buffer zones should promote sustainable use and conservation, while also providing benefits to local communities. They may include, for example, sustainable agriculture and forestry, ecotourism, and traditional practices. People live in the transition zones, which generally support the greatest use and activities, and foster socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable development.  

To promote the sharing of lessons learned, biosphere region managers worldwide organize themselves in regional networks. Sharing the focus on large landscapes, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation serves as the fiscal sponsor for the U.S. Biosphere Network (USBN), which fosters national and international connections among the 28 biosphere regions in the continental United States, the US Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawai’i. 

Managers of North American and European biosphere regions meet every year to discuss different topics and exchange lessons learned. The conference hosted at the Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve in Germany in June of this year was an opportunity for the Center to stimulate a discussion around ecological connectivity because counteracting fragmentation is vital for sustainability and resilience of all landscapes.  For example, in the Crown of the Continent biosphere region, which straddles the US and Canada, maintaining habitat connectivity for large mammals such as grizzly bears is a key concern. In the Congaree Biosphere Region in South Carolina—home to the largest, contiguous, intact expanse of old-growth forest remaining in North America—free-flowing watersheds are crucial to sustaining the forest. These same watersheds and forests also provide ecosystem services, such as clean air and clean water. 

Together with Jeremy Dertien with the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, and Ancuta Fedorca at the National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry in Romania, Annika organized a half-day workshop to share guidelines and insights about connectivity conservation and discuss challenges and opportunities of establishing ecological corridors in biosphere regions. To introduce the topic, she presented the IUCN connectivity guidelines as best practices to consider for biosphere regions. Jeremy also shared the new Guidelines for Connectivity Conservation in Europe and progress towards modeling connectivity for all of Europe.  

Two case studies illustrated aspects of connectivity planning and implementation in biosphere reserves, highlighting challenges and solutions. Ancuta shared that in Romania, genetic data on brown bears help scientists plan for the locations of movement corridors and crossing structures to mitigate the fragmenting effects of roads. 

Ruth Simons explained that in British Columbia, Canada, an initiative led by the Squamish Environment Society, the Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society, and a coalition of local and regional planning authorities support land managers in safeguarding and restoring pathways of wildlife connectivity that are needed to increase ecosystem resilience to climate change in two biosphere reserves.  

During a lively discussion, participants shared insights on efforts to establish ecological corridors, socio-cultural challenges and opportunities for planning and establishing corridors, and technical challenges around planning for connectivity conservation. 

In 2025, the global biosphere conference will take place in China with the goal of passing the biosphere reserve strategy and action plan for the next 10 years. The workshop participants formulated a recommendation for the global biosphere reserve community to consider for inclusion in the strategy and action plan:  

“The “Post-2025 Strategy and Action Plan” should support Biosphere Reserves in planning and implementing ecological corridors in addition to core areas, buffer zones, and transition areas, in order to maintain or restore effective ecological connectivity, reduce fragmentation and increase resilience.”  

We will keep you updated on the matter as we learn whether ecological corridors will become a tool widely promoted in biosphere regions globally. 

_{*Biosphere Reserves are designated under the intergovernmental MAB Programme by the Director-General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and their status is internationally recognized. Member States can submit sites through the designation process.}

_{Top photo: Participants of the 2024 conference of the American and European Biosphere Regions, Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve, Germany. Credit: ©Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission/Stefanie Wetzel}

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Stretching from the rolling Appalachian Mountains to the rugged Atlantic coastline, the landscapes of Northeastern North America feature bustling population centers, recreational havens and productive farms and timberlands as well as vast forests, abundant freshwater and impressive biodiversity. These are some of the most socio-ecologically complex landscapes in the world, increasingly recognized as critical for ecological integrity and climate adaptation at the continental and even global scale.

The Indigenous peoples who have lived here since time immemorial refer to this region as “Turtle Island” after a shared creation story. On maps it appears divided by the national border between the United States and Canada. Yet as Indigenous peoples remind us, these lands and waters are healthiest when we define them not by built barriers and political borders but by ecological connectivity—the unimpeded movement of species and flow of natural processes that sustains life on Earth. Northeastern North America/Turtle Island is more accurately, and more importantly, an interconnected network of mountains, forests, rivers and wetlands that transcends our human-made boundaries.

With this view in mind, and at a time when we find ourselves increasingly imperiled by biodiversity loss, climate change and political divisions, the Staying Connected Initiative (SCI) is doubling down on efforts to conserve and restore connected land and waterscapes in this cross-border region to ensure a livable, healthy future for all.

Co-convened by SCI partners the Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF) and Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) on behalf of the Staying Connected Initiative partnership, the Northeastern North America / Turtle Island Landscape Connectivity Summit (June 11-13, 2024) marked a watershed moment for connectivity conservation efforts in this region.

More than 170 individuals gathered in Montreal / Tiohtià:ke, Quebec, Canada, the unceded territory of the Mohawk Nation / Kanien’kehá:ka, for this first-ever cross-boundary gathering focused on advancing landscape connectivity conservation and restoration in the five eastern-most Canadian provinces, seven northeastern-most U.S. states, and Indigenous territories of the region. Attendees included a diverse mix of representatives from provincial, state, and federal agencies; Indigenous groups; non-governmental organizations and academic institutions, and public and private funders.

Opening and closing ceremonies, featuring Mohawk elder Sedalia Kawennotas and dancers Owen Mayo and Kwena Bellemare-Boivin, grounded the event in place and reminded all present that effective and equitable conservation and restoration is only possible through genuine partnership with the original inhabitants and stewards of this place.

Remarks from government officials underscored renewed commitment from elected leaders. Representatives from the Biden and Trudeau administrations expressed resolve to further forefront landscape connectivity in national efforts to reach “30×30”—a global effort to protect and connect 30% of the planet by 2030—while states and provinces voiced support for the principles of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers’ (NEGECP) Resolution 40-3 on ecological connectivity, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation, adopted in 2016.

Headline speakers included:

• Steven Guilbeault, Minister, Environment and Climate Change Canada (recorded)
• Brenda Mallory, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality (recorded) 
• Benoit Charette, Minister for Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Parks, Quebec Ministry of the Environment, Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife, and Parks (recorded)
• Julie Moore, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources

View Full Summit Program

Connectivity conservation is a wide-ranging topic with many facets. The Summit wove together diverse themes such as connectivity and climate science; Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing (weaving Indigenous knowledge and western science); linear infrastructure; land use; and policy and funding. Through plenary presentations and panels, as well as breakout discussion groups, participants traded insights based on their expertise and shared thoughts on how to work across borders and communities.

Particularly exciting for many participants was the opportunity to connect local projects, programs and initiatives to global conservation priorities (i.e., the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and other international policy mandates) and vice versa. Representatives from globally focused entities (e.g., the International Union for Conservation of Nature) brought to bear illuminating examples of large landscape conservation success and lessons learned from far afield.

Perhaps most importantly, the Summit afforded all an opportunity to broaden and strengthen relationships. Many in this field abide by the mantra of “connecting people to connect landscapes.” Whether in the hallways and elevators, over lunch, or around town, some of the Summit’s most valuable conversations surely took place outside the formal program.

In fact, one of the most dynamic parts of the week was a “Connectivity Films” evening hosted by the Québec Ecological Corridors Initiative. Attendees were treated to short films from around the region, all of which demonstrated the profound importance of communicating conservation work in an accessible way to the public.

As the Summit wrapped up, handshakes and hugs preceded pledges to stay in close contact and to increase coordination and collaboration through the Staying Connected Initiative and other partnerships. On a practical level, outcomes from the Summit will contribute towards the development of a high-level, regional connectivity “road map” that identifies key opportunities, strategies, and potential actions by each sector to connect and restore ecological connectivity across Northeastern North America / Turtle Island.

Less tangibly, but perhaps just as importantly, all can agree that the Summit provided inspiration to return to the desk, the field, or the classroom more resolved to sustain and restore ecologically and culturally well-connected landscapes for a healthy and resilient future.

Check out some photos from the Summit:

_{All slideshow photos courtesy of Audrey Huffman
Top photo: Montreal from Mont Royal – courtesy of G. Oppler/Center for Large Landscape Conservation}

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In December 2022, representatives from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation were present in Montreal, Canada when 188 countries made an historic commitment adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). As a main outcome of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 15th Conference of the Parties, the GBF is now the most significant agreement to date for bolstering global cooperation to conserve and restore nature. Since then, the Center has been engaging in discussions and planning across its networks of experts and institutions to best coordinate actions to support lasting conservation gains on the ground. With the importance of connectivity and landscape- and seascape-scale approaches emphasized in the GBF, it is clear that the Center has a significant role to play in its implementation.*

Achieving large-scale conservation requires joint efforts among the scientific community, resource managers, local communities, policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders. In alignment with international policy mandates and commitments, the Center therefore continues to increase its global leadership role in maintaining, enhancing, and restoring ecological connectivity of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems within and across boundaries.

Now, with its sights set on supporting the GBF’s commitment to “broad-based action to bring about a transformation in our societies’ relationship with biodiversity by 2030,” the Center will focus its efforts across all sectors. With an emphasis on the fundamental contributions that ecological connectivity makes to healthy functioning ecosystems and species, and its benefit to people, the Center’s strategies are:

• • Increase understanding and development of ecological connectivity science, policy, and practice by supporting the alignment of national biodiversity action plans, execution of projects, measurement of progress, and reporting on implementation toward improving the status and trends for structural, functional, and migratory connectivity. Examples of this work includes the dissemination of the IUCN Guidelines for conserving connectivity through ecological networks and corridors, inclusion of the Protected Areas Network metric (ProNet) as a complementary indicator in the GBF monitoring framework, and information for identifying opportunities and funding projects through the Global Environment Facility.

• • Provide educational opportunities and advisory, technical, and capacity-building expertise on how best to approach connectivity standards, frameworks, incentives, and planning for the durable design, governance, and management of ecological networks and corridors such as the Corridor and Connectivity Training and Capacity Building Initiative. This also includes a specialized focus on mainstreaming biodiversity and connectivity safeguards to avoid and mitigate the impacts of linear transport infrastructure (LTI) such as roads, railways, canals, powerlines, and pipelines. Examples are the A.P.E. Project aimed at addressing threats of rapidly expanding roads, rails, and power lines in three key great ape and gibbon habitats in Africa and Asia, the FOCUS-BRI Project assessing 12 countries for potential impacts and capabilities to safeguard LTI as part of national and international investments, and the USAID-funded project Asia’s Linear Infrastructure safeguarding Nature (ALIGN).

• • Continue engagement in international fora to further advance connectivity policies and implementation, including at leading institutions like the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and United Nations General Assembly (UN/GA). Examples include contributing toward and monitoring implementation of related international policies, participating in development of a global partnership to support achievement of Target 3 of the GBF, serving on an expert working group under the Convention on Migratory Species for addressing impacts of linear infrastructure development.

• • Lead, mobilize resources for, and deploy international networks of practitioners, policymakers, scientists, and institutions to ensure best practices, consistent approaches, replication, and scaling-up of connectivity conservation through research, original science, knowledge transfer, and collaboration including ongoing and new projects. Examples include the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group and its working groups, the project Connectivity, Capacity, and Cats, the Infrastructure and Nature Coalition, and the Wildlife Connect Initiative.

*Related goals and targets of the framework include:

• Goal A: Connectivity as a fundamental requirement for the functionality of ecosystems;
• Target 1: Connectivity is a key criterion for achieving “participatory, integrated and biodiversity inclusive spatial planning,” especially for determining which areas to establish as protected and conserved areas, where to delineate ecological corridors and networks, and/or as areas of priority for restoration.
• Targets 2: Connectivity is part of maximizing the benefits and outcomes of restoration for entire landscapes and seascapes;
• Target 3: “Well-connected” protected and conserved areas (aka Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs)) to achieve 30×30 objectives of land, freshwater, and marine areas being effectively protected, conserved, and managed;
• Target 12: Connectivity for increasing benefits from “green and blue spaces” in urban/densely populated areas; and
• Target 14: Connectivity contributing toward “the full integration of biodiversity and its multiple values into policies, regulations, planning and development processes, poverty eradication strategies, strategic environmental assessments, environmental impact assessments and, as appropriate, national accounting within and across all levels of government and across all sectors…”

_{Photos, top to bottom: Fitz Roy River, Los Glaciares National Park, Patagonia, Argentina – Mary Collins; Herd of caribou near the Denali Highway, Alaska – Adobe Stock; Two elephants In Mondulkiri, Cambodia – Adobe Stock; Coral reef, Solomon Islands – Adobe Stock.}

The post Our International Connectivity Conservation Action Plan for 2030 appeared first on Center for Large Landscape Conservation.

All around the world, ecosystem fragmentation caused by human activity continues to disrupt habitats, threatening biodiversity and impeding climate change adaptation. While Protected Areas are the foundation of nature conservation by preserving ecosystems, retaining ecological connectivity is essential and more so in a time of climate change. In response, more and more projects are seeking to better conserve ecological connectivity, i.e. the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth—including critical linkages between natural areas—that can support wildlife movement, gene flow, free flowing rivers, and other natural processes essential to healthy landscapes.

Both the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program (ASL) and the Global Wildlife Program (GWP), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the World Bank, support national efforts by participating in projects to improve landscape connectivity in their regions, and responding to their needs for guidance, tools, and best practices to ensure efficient and successful results.

On-the-ground efforts to improve connectivity and establish or maintain corridors take many forms. For example, an ASL national project in the Colombian Amazon is working with communities and institutions to promote low-carbon development and forest connectivity to enhance resilience of people and wildlife to climate change. Another ASL project in Ecuador is improving ecological connectivity by establishing two ecological corridors and associated management mechanisms to ensure the conservation of biodiversity and surrounding ecosystems over the long-term.

In Botswana, a GWP project is promoting integrated landscape approaches for improving drylands ecosystem resilience, and reducing human-wildlife conflict through recognition and management of ecological corridors for migratory animals such as elephants. And a GWP project in Indonesia is strengthening management of multi-use landscapes for community livelihoods and the conservation of globally threatened species, including designing ecological corridors between existing protected and conserved areas for the daily and seasonal movements of individual and groups of species.

Starting in April 2022, ASL and GWP commissioned a series of workshops to promote the exchange of knowledge among their national projects and the use of the latest knowledge about connectivity and corridors. Dr. Annika Keeley from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) and Diego Juffe Bignoli, Biodiversity Conservation Expert, brought their expertise to lead the sessions. The “Corridor and Connectivity Training and Capacity Building Initiative” workshop series brings together project teams from 40+ countries to understand successful interventions and share common challenges on planning for and managing corridors. With this training the ASL and GWP take an ambitious approach to bringing stakeholders from three continents together to accelerate local and regional solutions for conserving biodiversity, preserving landscapes, and achieving inclusive development.

An introductory meeting was held virtually on April 28, to kick off the workshop series. With nearly 100 participants representing many of the 47 national projects, the group was introduced to key concepts in connectivity conservation. This workshop included an interactive, brainstorming session where GWP and ASL national projects met their peers and shared their challenges and experiences. 

The training and capacity building activity included a two-day workshop held during the summer of 2022 under the title “Planning for Connectivity Conservation.” Approximately 60 participants came together with speakers from the Center’s staff and members of the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group. With hands-on training and featured presentations by ASL and GWP project teams from Bhutan, Botswana, Colombia, and Ecuador, the workshop covered priority topics such as corridor planning experiences, spatial planning for mapping current and potential movement corridors, and governance for connectivity. Conservation scientist Dr. Amrita Neelakantan, a consultant with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, and Lucy Waruingi, executive director of the African Conservation Center, shared their experience from India and Africa on governance in connectivity. They provided valuable insights into the importance of inclusive stakeholder engagement to ensure effective and enduring connectivity conservation.

After this key event focused on planning, the team prepared two more events on managing and monitoring connectivity and participation in connectivity conservation. Read the Guidance Note that resulted from the workshops: Lessons learned in planning and implementing corridors and connectivity conservation. It is now available in English and Spanish!

More Information:

Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program

Global Wildlife Program

View the recording of the Planning for Corridors and Connectivity workshop

Photo, top: Tropical ecosystems are losing their connectivity values as they are transformed by land clearing to make way for oil plantations. Photo credit: Rodrigo Botero/FCDS.

A version of this article also appears on the website of The World Bank.

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Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy

BOZEMAN, MT (September 22, 2022) ─ This week the U.S. Geological Survey and other federal agencies released a report showing a staggering 1.3 million acres of sagebrush habitat are being lost annually. Called “A Sagebrush Conservation Design Framework to Proactively Restore America’s Sagebrush Biome,” this new body of science uses some of the latest mapping tools to identify healthy and degraded sagebrush areas, where and how it’s being lost, and lays out a path to slow the loss.

“These new findings make crystal clear how serious the situation is – how much we, humans and wildlife, will lose if we fail to act,” said Sara Brodnax with National Audubon Society. “But the report also provides a way forward. The researchers have developed a powerful tool for our collective toolbox, where leveraged with on-the-ground commitments, we can make a real difference for all those that depend on a healthy sagebrush country.”

The Sagebrush Conservation Design focuses on large natural areas in order to benefit: fish and wildlife species, healthy land, air, and water, as well as working ranches. In addition to the important work being done by conservation groups and agencies, there is a need for a more diverse coalition, including private landowners, to change the trajectory of sagebrush rangelands. Of the major threats identified for sagebrush rangelands, 75% are ecosystem problems like invasive annual grasses and fire. These problems impact, and can bring together, diverse stakeholders including conservation groups and ranchers.

“There has been a huge investment in the conservation of sagebrush country over the last two decades in terms of on-the-ground work, partnership development, and scientific research,” said Matt Cahill with The Nature Conservancy. “We know that we can’t slow down on any of those efforts and this framework shows the top tier sagebrush habitats where we need to invest our best resources right now. This is the Defend the Core, Grow the Core concept.”

“Defend the Core, Grow the Core” is a proactive conservation strategy that involves first protecting intact “core” habitats and then growing them by working outward to more degraded areas (rather than addressing the worst areas first). The Sagebrush Conservation Design can identify areas where investments of resources will be most impactful, and should be used alongside other management tools to reach holistic conservation solutions. 

“Sagebrush country now occupies less than half of its historic range and half of the remaining landscape is considered degraded. Rural communities across the West depend on the sagebrush ecosystem for ranching, hunting and other recreation, so when the landscape is at risk so too are those rural economies,” said David Willms, senior director of Western wildlife and conservation at the National Wildlife Federation. “This new report will be an invaluable tool for federal, state and local land managers, elected officials, community leaders, and conservationists to determine the best way to reduce rangeland fires, control cheatgrass and other invasive species, improve watershed health and generally restore these sagebrush lands that are vital to the survival of more than 350 species of plants and wildlife of conservation concern.” 

Sagebrush was once the most widespread vegetation type in western North America, spanning one third of the continental United States. Today it is one of the most imperiled. The Sagebrush Conservation Design documents that over two decades, large amounts of healthy sagebrush have been degraded and are no longer functional. Scientists aim to use the Sagebrush Conservation Design as a conversation starter between various partners working within the sagebrush ecosystem, utilizing its findings to set and meet shared goals for sagebrush habitat conservation. Many of these conversations are already underway, especially with the upcoming release of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, Part II. This will provide methods for how state, federal and tribal agencies, NGO, industry, and private landowners collectively can conserve the sagebrush biome.

The Sagebrush Conservation Design is an adaptive product that will be updated annually, providing managers with the most current information. “Given the pressures on this landscape resulting from climate change and unexpected events like large wildfires, this approach will allow managers to be more effective in their responses,” said Zack Wurtzebach with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. “And it’s important to note that this tool is also meant to be integrated with other datasets and tailored to meet specific needs at state and local levels, which needs to happen for any of this to work.”

“The loss and degradation of sagebrush habitat is something hunters have been witnessing for far too long, and we’re committed to implementing solutions with our partners to restore these critical landscapes and address impacts that we’re seeing to a wide range of wildlife species,” said John Gale, conservation director for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “We can – and must – do more, and this analysis and mapping data gives us a way to apply limited resources to the places that need them the most.”

The Sagebrush Conservation Design was initiated and coordinated by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and brought together 21 leading scientists in the sagebrush biome representing 12 different federal and state agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations. Click here to access the following: 

• Full Report: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20221081
• Data Release: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/62d57e89d34e87fffb2dda62
• View Data: https://gs-portal-fws.hub.arcgis.com/pages/sagebrush 

Contacts:

Christine Weinheimer, Communications Manager, Center for Large Landscape Conservation, communications@largelandscapes.org

Kevin Doherty, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lead Author on Sagebrush Conservation Design, kevin_doherty@fws.gov

Lief Wiechman, U.S. Geological Survey, Sagebrush Expert on Landscape Scale Conservation, wiechman@usgs.gov

_{Photo: Montana development in sagebrush habitat – courtesy of Hannah Nikonow}

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History was made this past summer at the first-ever Africa-wide gathering to discuss the role of protected areas in conserving nature. Hosted in the city of Kigali, Rwanda, the 1^st IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) brought together 2,400 participants from across the continent and the world from July 18-23, 2022, under the theme “For People and Nature.” Staff from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and partners were present in Kigali to highlight the contribution that connectivity conservation is already making, and can make in the future, toward bolstering conservation actions in Africa.

The overarching objective of the inaugural event was to increase the understanding of how parks contribute to biodiversity conservation and delivering ecosystem services, while underpinning human welfare and livelihoods. In addition to giving a number of presentations related to this objective and attending a diversity of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops, Center staff contributed to the preparation and adoption of the Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature (read more below). 

Highlights of the Center’s contributions to APAC 2022 are as follows:

The Center co-sponsored an event entitled Connectivity Conservation for Africa: At the Forefront of Conservation Challenges and Solutions at the WWF Pavilion:

• • Margaret Kinnaird (Practice Leader for Wildlife at WWF-International) provided opening remarks;
  • Megan Parker (the Center’s Conservation Project Director) presented on “Connectivity Conservation for Interconnected Networks of Protected and Conserved Areas”;
  • Nyambe Nyambe (Executive Director of the Secretariat for the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) highlighted the area as a model for implementation and adaptive management;
  • Lucy Waruingi (Executive Director of the African Conservation Centre) conveyed the importance of Southern Kenya-Northern Tanzania cross-border wildlife movement and future work of the Kenya Corridors Task Force;
  • Kristeen Penrod (the Center’s Connectivity Specialist) and Dr. Fortunata Msoffe (Wildlife Division of the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism) detailed the forthcoming launch of the Tanzania Wildlife Assessment, Prioritization, and Action Plan;
  • Anne Raimat (Director of Biodiversity at Climate Chance) presented a pilot project working to conserve chimp corridors in Guinea through innovative funding mechanisms; and
  • Noah Sitati (Wildlife Species Expert at WWF Tanzania) provided insights from the Kenya-Tanzania transboundary Kilimanjaro Landscape.

The Center participated in preparations and events for one of the Congress’ most innovative themes focused on avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating the impacts of infrastructure on the environment. Specific sessions included:

• • Infrastructure and Biodiversity: Resilient landscapes – ensuring no net-loss of biodiversity due to infrastructure;
  • Infrastructure and People: Sustainable infrastructure for increased benefits to local communities; and
  • Infrastructure and Protected and Conserved Areas: Reducing the impact of physical infrastructure on ecosystems and biodiversity in key African landscapes.

The Center co-organized an event at The Nature Conservancy’s Pavilion entitled 30×30 – Connectivity Guidelines and Implementation: Tanzania Case Study that provided a more detailed presentation by Fortunata Msoffe, Kristeen Penrod, and Exper Pius (Deputy Chief of Party for USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili) about the development of the Tanzania Wildlife Corridor Assessment, Prioritization, and Action Plan.

Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature

On the final day, APAC closed with adoption of the aforementioned Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature, which includes a call for:

“Restoring fragmented and degraded ecosystems and avoiding or mitigating the impacts of climate change, new infrastructure and environmentally destructive activities, thereby maintaining ecological connectivity through networks of protected and conserved areas, including OECMs and transboundary areas.”

As a consolidation of key messages delivered during the Congress, the Call is a commitment by governments and stakeholders to jointly and urgently address the biodiversity, climate change, and health crises through nature-positive outcomes for human development and well-being across Africa. This includes:

• Communicating and implementing the recommendations widely;
• Engaging more with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, as well as youth, to collaborate;
• Conveying the recommendations and commitments to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to enhance international policy integration;
• Requesting the Africa Union to declare the 18^th of July each year to be “Africa Protected and Conserved Areas Day”;
• Developing an African Protected and Conserved Areas Forum to guide implementation and monitoring of the commitments toward convening a 2^nd APAC in 4-5 years; and
• Taking action in individual and joint work in participants’ home countries and institutions.

The Congress was convened jointly by the Government of Rwanda, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).

Top photo: Green farmlands in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Adobe Stock photo.

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