In recent years, there have been calls to dramatically scale up area-based conservation and for large proportions of the planet to be protected in an interconnected way. Such views are providing an interesting and positive momentum to the debate and there is no doubt that protection for nature needs to be scaled up.
Post-2020, the level of ambition of protected area targets will need to increase, including those aspects that ensure the protection of areas of importance resulting in genuine gains for biodiversity.
Following IUCN's Resolution 6.096 and as part of the process to develop a post-2020 strategy, the symposium sought to:
- Review the science informing future area-based conservation targets
- Evaluate the implications of various policy options
- Provide balanced, evidence-based recommendations to Parties to the CBD and other policy processes
- Raise awareness of the need for a more ambitious, holistic and effective strategy to safeguard space for nature, incorporating protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.
The outputs of the meeting were into presented in the form of a report to the CBD’s 14th Conference of the Parties to ensure that nature conservation is at the heart of sustainable development
