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COMMUNITY NEWS AND UPDATES
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HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS ISSUE
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Please invite relevant colleagues to join the KBA Community, using the below QR codes.
Currently, two platforms are used (FaceBook and Google Groups) to engage with KBA Community members. You will receive news flashes, newsletters, and invitations to join webinars, and be able to exchange lessons and resources with like-minded KBA colleagues
from around the globe.
 
Google Group
Face Book Group
BirdLife International and the KBA Partnership are pleased to launch a beta version of the
World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas (WDKBA), a comprehensive, robust, up-to-date and accessible data management system for Key Biodiversity Areas, the most
important sites in the world for nature.
Developed with the generous support of the
Garfield Weston Foundation and the
Bezos Earth Fund, the platform now allows users to register and log in, to access more information on KBAs, propose new sites as KBAs, and update information on the biodiversity importance of existing sites. It applies
various data validation rules to determine if a site qualifies as a Global KBA and under which KBA criteria. The system allows individuals to participate in identifying sites, supports the KBA review and confirmation process, and now enables the KBA programme
to track all developing proposals for sites worldwide. Through these developments, the WDKBA increases the speed and efficiency with which KBA National Coordination Groups can engage all relevant stakeholders and update their KBA inventories, thereby reducing
the work involved, enhancing collaboration, and strengthening the robustness of the dataset.
The improved efficiencies afforded by this new database will improve the effective use of KBAs in guiding the implementation and achievement of targets in the
Global Biodiversity Framework due to be agreed upon by the Convention of
Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2022, including the proposed
‘30 × 30’ commitment to expand the global network of effective protected and conserved areas, as well as proposed commitments to retain intact ecosystems, restore degraded habitats, prevent extinctions and recover the
abundance of species’ populations.
Image: The login screen of the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas (credit: A. Plumptre)
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By Amy McDougall, Global Biodiversity Policy Coordinator, Birdlife International
The road to the CBD COP15 has been long and arduous. The latest phase of the Open-ended working group, the negotiations on the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which took place in June in Nairobi, proved equally so. The high point is the announcement
of the COP15 dates (7-19 December), which provides a clear rallying point around which to build political momentum for an ambitious framework to address the biodiversity crisis. There is a lot to do before then.
Debate on the key targets addressing threats to ecosystems, covering spatial planning, restoration, and areas-based conservation measures (the so-called ‘30x30’ target) went on well into the early hours of the final Saturday of the negotiations. One moment
of light in the dark night was provided by the Kenyan delegation who led a chorus of support for recognizing KBAs as essential in delivering the 30x30 target. Kenya inserted ‘Key biodiversity areas’ into the text of the target itself. This inclusion in the
target, whilst bracketed, raises the profile of KBAs and provides us with a strong basis for bringing other governments and stakeholders along. This circumstance was further boosted by including KBAs in the indicator tracking implementation of the 30x30 target.
Circumstances which we should use to our advantage.
There is further work to galvanize support for KBAs across the framework. As we enter the final phase of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework negotiations getting the word out on the importance of KBAs will be critical. More importantly than that,
we need to capture the imaginations of those in power to bring ambitious commitments to the table. To avoid these negotiations, which will determine the future course of biodiversity conservation, ending in failure. That is a low-ambition framework that lacks
the international appetite of cooperation needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss for a nature-positive future.
You can support the push for the inclusion of KBAs within the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework by engaging with your CBD national focal point and sharing the following links:
Image Credit: Earth Negotiations Bulletin
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The
project titled “Key Biodiversity Areas – establishing the blueprint for 30x30” was approved for funding by the Bezos Earth Fund at the end of 2021 and started in 2022. The project aims to establish KBA National Coordination Groups (NCGs) and identify a comprehensive
network of KBAs in seven countries, three of which (Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Gabon) are in Central Africa, and four (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) in the Tropical Andes. The project also includes substantial funding towards
the costs of the KBA Secretariat, including Regional Focal Points in Latin America and Francophone Africa, and for the further development of the KBA database and website. Throughout the project, KBAs will be promoted to decision-makers at the national, regional,
and international levels. The project is managed by BirdLife International on behalf of the KBA Partnership and will run until the end of 2023. The project will provide information about newly identified KBAs to other projects funded by the Bezos Earth Fund
to guide the expansion of the network of protected areas in these countries.
At the national level, the following organizations are leading the project implementation:
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Bolivia – Asociacion Armonia
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Colombia – Instituto Alexander von Humboldt
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Congo Republic – Wildlife Conservation Society
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Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) – WWF
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Ecuador – Fundacion Jocotoco
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Gabon – Missouri Botanical Garden
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Peru – Asociacion Ecosistemas Andinos
The National Coordination Group has been officially established in Gabon and DR Congo. In Colombia,
Ecuador, and Peru, various meetings have taken place with stakeholder organizations and it is expected that KBA NCGs will be formed during July-August, in the Congo Republic probably later this year.
The first of the KBA training workshops took place in Lima, Peru on 11-13 July with more than 30 participants, mainly from the Natural History Museum of Lima, which is leading the process of identifying and reassessing KBAs. Similar workshops are planned for
August in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and DR Congo while in the Congo Republic and Gabon they will take place later in the year. To support these training events and to build capacity for KBA identification, various key documents, including the KBA Guidelines,
will be translated into Spanish and French.
Relevant data sets have also been shared with the countries, including lists of globally threatened and restricted-range species, data on Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, and the results of a scoping analysis using the KBA Scoping Tool. A webinar was
organized for the Tropical Andes countries to help them interpret the results of the Scoping Tool.
We will provide regular updates on this important project in the KBA Newsletter. For further information, please contact the global project coordinator Zoltan Waliczky (Zoltan....@birdlife.org),
or Andrew Plumptre (aplu...@keybiodiversityareas.org).
Image: KBA technical workshop in Lima, Peru-credit to Maria Toscano
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By Bronwyn Maree (BirdLife South Africa), Simeon Bezeng (BirdLife South Africa and KBA Focal Point
for Western and Southern Africa), Daniel Marnewick (KBA Community Chair and IUCN ESARO Regional Coordinator, Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas)
Nearly 3000 delegates recently gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, at the inaugural IUCN African Protected Areas Congress
(APAC2022), which was held from 18-13 July 2022. The main objective of APAC was to position Africa’s protected and conserved area network within Africa’s broader social and economic imperatives. It also aimed to ensure
that key African stakeholders understand and agree on the importance of protected areas in conserving biodiversity and delivering ecosystem services for human welfare and livelihood. It was the first-ever continent-wide gathering of African leaders, local
communities, youths, NGOs, and citizens to discuss safeguarding Africa’s biodiversity and one of the first opportunities to meet face-to-face, following two years of online meetings owing to the onset of Covid19. This meeting provided a fantastic opportunity
for networking, experience sharing, and constructive discussion.
Many discussions focused on halting biodiversity loss and effectively managing Africa’s protected and conservation areas. The congress had three key focus
streams 1) Promoting Effective & Well-managed Networks of Protected & Conserved Areas in Africa; 2) People: Championing Community-Led Conservation in Africa; 3) Unlocking the opportunities for biodiversity conservation in Africa.
Many important lessons have been learned from the implementation of the UN CBD 2011-2022 strategic framework for biodiversity conservation, including that the different approaches to identifying and mapping areas important for biodiversity have not been effective
in directing conservation efforts. The proposed post-2020 CBD Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for 30 percent protection of the planet by 2030, including the most important places for biodiversity; this theme cuts across all focal areas at APAC. To
achieve this ambitious global target, African countries can play a significant role since the continent is home to many of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, including many endemic and range-restricted species. Additionally, mechanisms are now available that
harmonize existing approaches to identifying the most important places for all components of biodiversity, thereby improving how biodiversity (i.e., species and ecosystems) can better inform the identification and expansion of protected and conserved areas.
One such mechanism is identifying sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity – Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). Simeon Bezeng, Daniel Marnewick, and Bronwyn Maree hosted two KBA events at APAC. First, to showcase how various
African countries are implementing the KBA programme of work, and second, KBA training hosted at the IUCN pavilion.
The KBA community in Africa is growing faster than any other continent in the world, and various African countries are at different stages of implementing
the KBA programme of work.
Several African countries shared their KBA experiences at APAC, including:
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Andy Plumptre (BirdLife International): Key Biodiversity Areas guiding where to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030 (U.K – Online)
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Paul Gacheru (Nature Kenya): How governments can benefit from and use and assessment of KBAs at a national level (Kenya)
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Simeon Bezeng (BirdLife South Africa & IUCN SSC): The Role of Key Biodiversity Area National Coordination Group and the KBA Community in Africa (South Africa)
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Lize von Staden (South African National Biodiversity Institute, pre-recorded): Identifying KBAs in a megadiverse country (South Africa - Online)
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Afonso Madope (Wildlife Conservation Society, Mozambique): Identifying KBAs in a data-scarce country (Mozambique)
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Joseph Onoja (Nigerian Conservation Foundation): Progress with KBA National Coordination Group establishment and identification in Nigeria (Nigeria)
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Harrison Nnoko Ngaaje (Ajemalebu Self Help): How the KBA status of Ebo Forest helped save the forest from the threat of logging (Cameroon)
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Daniel Marnewick (IUCN ESARO): KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS: How they can help achieve 30x30 (South Africa)
A key outcome of APAC was the drafting of the
Kigali Call to Action, which draws attention to the need for further efforts to identify all areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services that are neither protected nor conserved and to build
these into conservation plans and programmes and ensure ecological representativeness while ensuring that any proposed targets are not achieved at the expense of people. The adoption of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework is critical to ensuring people
live in harmony with biodiversity (CBD 2050 Vision). During the KBA events at APAC, we showed how identifying a network of KBAs can help achieve the CBD 2050 vision by strategically expanding protected and conserved areas in the right places because of their
biodiversity value. This can be achieved if governments include KBAs as text or an indicator in the CBD GBF Target 3, their national biodiversity strategy and action plans (NBSAPs) and prioritize KBAs when expanding protected areas and identifying other effective
area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
 
Images: KBA presentations at the IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress, credit to Bezeng Simmy
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WCS Mozambique continues to invest on identifying Key Biodiversity Areas and supporting Red List
Assessments that will inform biodiversity assessments, prioritization and planning, and support the implementation of the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in the country.
Image: Landscape of the Chimanimani National Park KBA, central Mozambique. Credits Jen Guyton
In 2019, Mozambique started one of the first KBA assessments worldwide which was applied to the whole country, including terrestrial and marine realms, assessing
ecosystems, flora and fauna, including invertebrates. Important results were achieved like the establishment of the National Coordination Group for KBAs and the identification of 29 terrestrial KBAs, formally recognised at national level (inclusion in National
Territorial Development Plan, Marine Spatial Plan, Birds and Biodiversity Offsets legislation). The project reports are available
online and the experience was exchanged with other countries. At least 15 additional areas were listed as potential KBAs but further assessments require specific fieldwork to collect quantitative data on the trigger species/ecosystems. In coordination with
the National Directorate of Environment (DINAB), WCS was able to gather funding to implement two projects which will allow us to collect additional data and continue supporting KBA work in the country.
One of the projects is funded by SPEED (a USAID project), for a total of 400k USD, and is being implemented between February 2022 and April 2024). It focuses
on three main topics: i) mainstreaming Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), ii) piloting Blue Carbon, and iii) strengthening coral reef fisheries in Mozambique. This work will contribute to potential coastal and marine KBAs identification and mapping, additional
Red Listing assessments for fauna and flora, including marine species, improve the NCG capacity, guarantee the long-term sustainability of KBA and Compile information on the conservation status of coral reef ecosystems throughout Mozambique.
Image: Coral Reef in the Vamizi Island KBA, Northern Mozambique. Credits, Erwan Sola
The other project is funded by AFD and FFEM (in a total of 6M EUR) and is led by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). This regional project
will be implemented in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and Malawi and is focused on Spatial Biodiversity Assessment, Prioritization, and Planning. The project will run for five years between June 2022 and June 2027. Project objectives include in-country
assessments of a wide range of different species and ecosystem types that are facing pressure from infrastructure and agricultural development, the over-utilization of natural resources, pollution, biological invasions, and climate change. In Mozambique,
WCS will be co-leading the project with DINAB and about 220K EUR will be used to hire local research institutions to conduct expeditions to collect field data that may trigger new terrestrial KBAs. Mapping the occurrence and status of species and ecosystems
in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and Malawi will produce information that assists in the development of national strategies and action plans to ensure biodiversity is integrated into the planning and decision-making processes
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As communicated in the previous newsletter (Issue 11, June 2022), the Lake Tanganyika Authority
(LTA), The Nature Conservancy and IUCN have been leading a process to define in-lake freshwater KBAs for Lake Tanganyika. Draft KBAs were previously presented at a workshop at the African Great Lakes Conference in Entebbe, Uganda in May 2017. They were then
refined based on expert feedback, submitted to open review through an online microsite, and final drafts were developed at a 2-day workshop in Dar es Salaam in June 2018. However, these proposals were not submitted for review due to the need for further stakeholder
consultation and supporting data, namely evidence on species’ minimum Reproductive Units.
The new Lake Tanganyika KBA project, implemented by IUCN with support from The Nature Conservancy, was kicked off in Kigoma, Tanzania in July. Thomas Starnes
from IUCN delivered a presentation at the Species in Ancient Lakes (SIAL9) conference, which took place at the Lake Tanganyika Hotel from 18 – 21 July, and a poster was presented at the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) office in Kigoma on 18
July. After the conference, the Lake Tanganyika Conservation Science meeting on 22 July included a session dedicated to reviewing the 2018 KBA proposals.
During this workshop, biodiversity knowledge holders came forward with new data to support the proposals. Feedback on KBA site delineations was obtained from representatives of the four riparian countries; Tanzania, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
and Burundi, including members of the Lake Tanganyika Science Advisory Group (LT-SAG), the Lake Tanganyika Authority Director of Fisheries Beatrice Nyakorema Marwa, and stakeholders involved in the development of community-based fisheries Co-management Institutions
(CMIs).
Expert feedback from the workshop will be incorporated into the working KBA proposals in the new online WDKBA for submission later this year or early 2023. The online microsite (https://tinyurl.com/laketkbas)
will continue to be used to capture additional feedback, especially from stakeholders who were not present at the workshop in Kigoma. The project team will work with the newly formed DR Congo KBA National Coordination Group on the current Lake Tanganyika KBA
proposals in DR Congo.
Contact: thomas....@iucn.org
Image: Lake Tanganyika Conservation Science Workshop in Kigoma Tanzania: credit Nathaniel Robinson
Image: Participants of Lake Tanganyika Conservation Worskhop discuss provisional KBAs: credit Nathaniel Robinson
Image: Lake Tanganyika provisional KBAs, TAFIRI in Kigoma: credit to Thomas Starnes
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How do you introduce KBAs in a short, concise, and light way to those who are not so familiar with
the concept? You could use these four videos just published by BirdLife International (Africa) through its YouTube channel. Each short video of about 5 minutes introduces a different theme around KBAs. Produced in Ghana, they are an output of a project to
help establish and strengthen NCGs in 5 countries of West Africa. The project was funded by CEPF and implemented by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds with national BirdLife Partners in each country. While targeted at a West African audience, they
should provide a handy general resource for introducing KBAs anywhere in the world.
To view any of them follow the links below:
Part 1: Overview of Key Biodiversity Areas.
https://youtu.be/D17-HI7RiFk
Part 2: Overview of Ghana’s Key Biodiversity Areas.
https://youtu.be/wnhstFlgX6k
Part 3: Overview of stakeholder engagement within the Key Biodiversity Areas process.
https://youtu.be/JJpAr5fN65c
Part 4: Identifying Key Biodiversity Areas and the site monitoring framework.
https://youtu.be/zyosHCCdvqY
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By Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne
KBA Canada, the Canadian National Coordination Group (NCG), will be launching its national KBA registry in October 2022. The NCG has been engaged in outreach to partners and potential KBA information users for several years, with the result that KBAs are gaining
an important foothold in conservation and biodiversity communities across Canada. Long-standing partnerships around the KBA initiative among all national conservation NGOs, federal government departments, provincial and territorial governments, as well as
Indigenous Nations and scientists, have resulted in great demand for KBA data and information to feed into a range of stewardship and conservation initiatives.
There is a need for a national registry because Canada is identifying both global and
national KBAs, and data and information for the latter category will be accessible only through the national KBA registry. To date, regional coordinators working with WCS Canada across the country have identified
450+ new sites that will meet KBA criteria at either the global or national level. These new KBAs have been identified for rare and threatened species from a great diversity of taxonomic groups, for rare and threatened
ecosystems, and for species aggregations. By now, thousands of scientists and knowledge holders across the country have contributed to the work of KBA assessment and delineation. Work is also ongoing to identify KBAs for sites of the highest ecological integrity
(Criterion C) in a collaborative manner, with leadership from Indigenous knowledge holders in the north of Canada. We expect this work to take some time. The 450+ new sites are in addition to the
400+ existing IBAs that will meet KBA criteria, work being led by Birds Canada. The new national KBA registry will bring all the bird and non-bird KBAs together finally, and
provide an index of all Canadian KBAs, with searchable maps, downloadable data and links to additional data and information provided by partners, such as NatureServe Canada.
While KBA Canada has known where many KBAs are likely to be across the country for some time now, the process to gather the best data and expertise, delineate
the sites, and have all KBAs undergo both a technical and a general (for non-expert stakeholders) review process has taken a long time. KBA Canada recently hired a new staff person to oversee the stakeholder review of KBAs moving toward acceptance. In the
Canadian model of KBA work, regional coordinators are responsible for reaching out to biodiversity experts to help develop KBA proposals and then identifying external experts who can provide peer review of the proposals. We have found that the work of identifying
and reaching out to stakeholders and rights holders who have an interest in each KBA is very time-consuming and the new staff member has been key in allowing us to do this job well. Once the proposals are in good shape and have undergone a technical review,
the KBA proposal is then shared with governments, NGOs, land trusts, Indigenous communities (if they have not already provided technical input), and others. All reviews occur within an online review tool that captures and stores all comments for the Canadian
team to respond to. The review period can take a long time, as we ensure that all interested parties have the opportunity to participate in the process and contribute information. Larger numbers of completed KBA proposals are starting to flow toward public
release now.
Other news
KBA Canada is presenting at the Ecological Society of America conference in Montreal in August. Chloe Debyser will discuss our continued exploration of how the collection of KBAs identified through a top-down, data-driven process compares to the KBAs identified
using a bottom-up, expert-driven process. This analysis has implications for how KBAs can be identified around the world, as well as for other large-scale analyses that rely on available biodiversity data.
This spring saw the first in-person KBA workshop in Canada in over two years, as the Québec KBA team based at Université de Sherbrooke hosted over 15 experts to discuss and identify KBAs in southern Québec for fish, invertebrates, plants, and more. Other virtual
expert workshops across the country for Arctic plants, maritime lichens, and Newfoundland species added even more potential KBAs to the list of sites in-progress.
WCS Canada, Birds Canada and additional partners have also held a number of outreach webinars in various regions across the country. About a year after the last Ontario provincial KBA webinar, the Ontario KBA coordinators presented an update on work in the
region. In the last year, Birds Canada has continued the reassessment of the 51 presumptive bird-KBAs, while over 90 sites for non-bird species have been scoped with proposals in various stages of development or review. Watch the
full webinar here. KBAs for ecosystems are expected to be identified in Ontario in the coming year. A recent webinar on the KBA work in Québec gave an overview of the over 75 KBAs currently in progress there.
Watch the webinar here. Additional outreach webinars were held for KBA work in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The recordings for all past KBA Canada webinars can be found on our
website.
Image: Hello from two-thirds of the KBA Canada Secretariat! In preparation for the integration of bird and non-bird KBA data in joint KBA proposals and
for information storage, KBA Canada staff from WCS Canada and Birds Canada met in person in the beautiful Long Point Peninsula and Marshes KBA this spring.
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Piping Plover Gains Ground in The Bahamas, by Audubon Americas
Three sites in the Bahamas are recognized as Key Biodiversity Areas and international conservation
priorities for the endangered piping plover. Audubon Americas celebrates the result of this collaborative effort to map these critical sites.
Image: Piping Plovers in Joulter Cays in the Bahamas. Credit, Walker Golder
A new initiative to identify and map Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in The Bahamas using historical bird population data led to the recognition of three sites
by the KBA Secretariat in March 2022. This achievement is the result of a collaborative network of national and international organizations and volunteers, among them the National Audubon Society (NAS), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the United
States Geological Survey (USGS), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Bahamas National Trust (BNT), who have been monitoring Piping Plovers and other shorebirds in The Bahamas
for more than ten years.
The compendium of a significant amount of survey data allowed for a comprehensive assessment of the three sites: Joulter Cays, Kemp Cay to Pigeon Cay, and Stafford Creek to Andros Town. These sites are now identified as critical for the global persistence of
Piping Plovers under the 2016 IUCN's Global Standard of KBAs. The recently updated and expanded KBAs cover an area of approximately 514 km2 of coastal, terrestrial, and marine habitat.
Over 33 shorebirds, alongside many important marine species, depend on the resources and habitat provided on The Bahamas coasts to survive. Sanderlings, American
Oystercatchers, Red Knots, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Least Sandpipers are some birds that come together in the updated KBAs. In addition, the Piping Plover has been recorded in the hundreds at these sites, making it the species that triggered the KBA criteria.
 Image:
Location of updated KBAs
The Piping Plover is one species that will benefit the most from these extender areas. Its range extends along the Atlantic coast from eastern Canada to North Carolina during the breeding season. It can also be found around rivers and wetlands of the northern
Great Plains. When winter comes, plovers migrate to coastal ecosystems from South Carolina to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean, spending most of the year on these grounds. But this little bird is one of the most endangered shorebirds in the United
States and Canada because of the loss and degradation of their habitat, human disturbance, and predation by wild and domestic animals.
Given the importance of The Bahamas in providing habitat for Piping Plovers and many other species, the Audubon Americas program coordinated the efforts to compile
historical shorebird surveys into a single database and use it to update The Bahamas KBAs portfolio. The compilation of data, analysis, and development of KBA proposals took about a year and involved consultations with multiple national and international researchers.
The results of this work include the global recognition by the KBA Secretariat of Joulter Cays, Kemp
Cay to Pigeon Cay, and Stafford Creek to Andros Town as KBAs based on the most up-to-date standard and criteria. It also includes the expansion
of the previously identified Important Bird Areas (IBAs) of Joulter Cays and Stafford Creek to Andros Town to incorporate critical roosting and feeding areas for Piping Plovers.
Piping Plovers in Joulter Cays in the Bahamas. Photo: Walker Golder
The recognition of these sites as KBAs highlights their role as international conservation priorities, and it emphasizes the need to continue developing effective
strategies to protect their species and habitats. The updated KBA status will serve as a decision-making tool; it will validate the need for conservation funding at these sites and encourage continuous shorebird population monitoring by researchers and local
authorities.
Having Joulter Cays and Kemp Cay to Pigeon Cay located within protected areas preserves them from unregulated development and destructive practices such as sand mining. This bold step by the Bahamian Government is critical for recovering this species and many
others.
It is important to highlight that the database used for this analysis is published in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), making it an open-access
downloadable data product. This database reflects the efforts of more than ten years of challenging field research, which allowed recording data for 62 bird species, including 24 shorebird species, in The Bahamas between 2006 and 2020.
Audubon Americas invites the scientific community and all bird lovers to access the open shorebird monitoring data in The Bahamas to learn more about these birds and inform research and conservation efforts.
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On 22 June 2022 in Beijing China, the China Key Biodiversity Areas National Coordination Group (KBA
NCG) was formally established with support from IUCN China and the SEE Foundation.
Identifying important and critical biodiversity areas is the fundamental first step in carrying out natural and ecological conservation and restoration. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity,
are gaining increasing recognition in that effort. KBAs are increasingly being used to guide protected area expansion in countries around the world. China, as President of the COP15, will be finalising a new Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes ambitious
text to expand protection to 30% of the planet by 2030. KBAs can help guide where this 30% should be best placed to maximise the biodiversity conserved.
In China, IUCN has been actively introducing the KBA standards to its members and partners since 2018, with a goal to contribute to the growing conservation and restoration efforts, and the ecological civilization development of China. A series of activities
such as translation of the KBA Standard and guidelines, and training and workshops have been delivered to raise awareness of the Key Biodiversity Areas approach and its relevance to their Ecological Redlines programme.
On 22 June 2022, IUCN China held an online launch meeting of the KBA China National Coordination Group (NCG), marking the formal establishment of the KBA
China NCG and the official launch of KBA work in China. At the meeting, Andrew Plumptre, Head of the KBA Secretariat, introduced the global progress of KBA, the KBA standards, KBA identification, and the nomination process, and provided suggestions for the
KBA China NCG. IUCN China then introduced the progress of KBAs in China and the preparation work for the China NCG. Extensive and good discussions took place among the KBA NCG members to review and agree on a Terms of Reference for the KBA China NCG, and to
elect the first executive team including the Chair, Co-Chair, Liaison and Secretary.
“We will focus on further familiarizing with the KBA standards, collating and analyzing relevant information and results, formulating operational procedures and processes, and starting KBA identification across the country”, said Dr. Weihua XU, the Chair of
the KBA China NCG and professor at Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Consisting of 24 members from government think tanks, research institutions, universities, NGOs, KBA partners, the KBA China NCG will launch pilot work as early as possible, including assessing the existing KBAs against the KBA standard, carrying out KBA identification,
reviewing proposals from external experts and institutions, and supporting the publishing of new sites in the World database of KBAs.
Mr. Yan ZHANG, Head of IUCN China noted “IUCN China provides secretariat support for the KBA China NCG and works closely with SEE Foundation and other IUCN Members to jointly support the development of the KBA China NCG and the KBA work in China.”
For more information,
please contact info....@IUCN.org.
Image: China NCG online meeting
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