The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11 focuses on the conservation of areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services through protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM). Target 11 comprises two quantitative and seven qualitative elements that member countries are obliged to work on.

The South Asia sub-region includes nine member countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Effective coordination, communication, and knowledge sharing among the member countries in the sub-region is vital for the timely achievement of the targets and deliverables within the timeframe of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2020). The CBD Secretariat has assigned ICIMOD as a coordinator to help speed up implementation of all priority actions and achievement of the targets in the South Asia sub-region.

In November, we worked with UNDP India and the CBD Secretariat to organise a virtual regional policy dialogue for CBD focal persons and other government officials to review progress, share learnings, analyse challenges, and discuss a way forward prior to the 15th Conference of Parties (CoP15), to be held in Kunming, China in 2021. The CBD focal persons and other government officials presented on country-level progress and global Aichi targets reviewed, lessons learned, and good practices. The discussions also focused on the gaps, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening technical capacity and financing mechanisms and priority areas for action.

The policy dialogue also discussed the agenda for CoP15 and the way forward for protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) beyond 2020. It also discussed the needs and opportunities for technical and financial support and strategies to build alliances with donors and knowledge partners for capacity building and sustainable funding. Along with UNDP India, we are collating good practices in PA management and OECMs from countries in the South Asia network. These will be published as a compendium, to serve as a reference for CBD member countries and help replicate or scale up actions to meet the post-2020 targets.