Why the future of conservation depends on communities

Countries around the world have committed to halting and reversing nature loss. Under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 3, governments agreed to conserve at least 30% of land and sea by 2030. While protected areas remain essential for achieving this conservation target, this framework allows countries to report OECMs, thereby creating an important pathway to acknowledge diverse conservation efforts outside protected areas.

Many countries, particularly in Latin America, have already established and expanded their national systems of protected areas, and are on track to achieve their national and global area-based conservation target. Yet, for these to be effective, they need to be part of a mosaic of interconnected corridors and conservation areas in broader landscapes.

WWF’s report, From Potential to Action: OECMs and Inclusive Conservation in Latin America shows that important efforts have been made to establish a complex of complementary conservation areas outside protected areas, and that local conservation efforts, while less supported, are significant. Across Latin America, lands and territories are managed by Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and private actors, which contribute to achieving long-term biodiversity conservation outside of formal protected areas, some of which overlap with the complementary conservation areas, thereby sustaining and amplifying conservation outcomes in practice.

These lands and territories are often conserved through long-standing management systems and practices rooted in local knowledge and cultural values. Yet they frequently lack legal recognition, secure tenure, and sustained financial support. Even more concerning, they suffer significant pressures and threats from extractive activities often enabled by governments (e.g. mining, oil extraction, intensive agriculture).

The report synthesizes findings from six countries and points to a common conclusion: Inclusive conservation is central to the future of biodiversity protection. As countries approach area-based targets, progress will increasingly depend on recognizing and strengthening conservation efforts beyond traditional protected areas.

What the research shows

Two challenges appear consistently across countries: tenure security and finance.

Without clear legal rights to land and territories, and the resources within them, Indigenous Peoples and local communities face uncertainty that can undermine long-term stewardship. Tenure security is often a prerequisite for conservation success.

Financing is also critical, but the issue is not simply increasing funding. It is about designing mechanisms that recognize and support local initiatives so they can be sustained. Tools such as tax breaks, PFP mechanisms, and payments for ecosystem services offer possibilities. But the report highlights the need to tailor these approaches to different local contexts and ensure that communities are meaningfully involved in decision-making and management of those resources.

Lessons from the ground

The synthesis is grounded in 28 case studies that show what this looks like in practice, including:

• In Peru, conservation concessions represent one of the most established models for safeguarding biodiversity within publicly owned forests. In the Madre de Dios region, the Asociación de Concesionarios Forestales Maderables y No Maderables de Madre de Dios (ACOMAD) brings together concession holders who manage designated forest areas under agreements with the state specifically aimed at conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services. Through coordinated forest monitoring and surveillance, ACOMAD has strengthened oversight and reduced pressures on these forests, despite operating with limited resources. The model demonstrates how organized concession holders can contribute to long-term conservation outcomes in public lands and offers lessons that could be adapted elsewhere in the country, particularly in coordination with Indigenous Peoples and with full respect for territorial rights.
• In Brazil's Lago Grande Agroextractivist Settlement and the Curuai Fishing Agreement, traditional floodplain communities in the Lower Amazon have combined collective land tenure with community-based fisheries management. The Lago Grande Agroextractive Settlement, established in 2005, secures territorial rights for thousands of residents who depend on forests and highly productive floodplain ecosystems. Building on this foundation, the Fishing Agreement approved in 2023 formalizes locally developed rules that regulate fishing seasons and practices. Together, these instruments link ecosystem conservation with social justice, reinforcing collective governance in one of the most biodiverse and productive regions of the Amazon.
  
• Ecuador’s Mancomunidad del Chocó Andino is a voluntary alliance of rural local governments working together to steward a landscape known for its extraordinary natural and cultural heritage, on the edge of Quito. Across six parishes, communities, farmers, and local authorities have built a shared territorial vision that links conservation with sustainable livelihoods. The result is a mosaic of conservation areas, community initiatives, agroecological farms, and restoration efforts coordinated across multiple levels and platforms. Born from local efforts to defend territories from extractive pressures, the MCA shows how locally led collaboration can protect biodiversity while strengthening rural economies and community well-being.
  
• In the southwestern slopes of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the community of Seykún is part of a broader Arhuaco strategy to reclaim their ancestral range by establishing “talanquera” communities in strategic areas of the mountain. Founded in 2008, Seykún helps recover and safeguard Indigenous territory through the peaceful purchase of land—enabled by partnerships with international supporters—and the restoration of forests, water sources, and sacred sites. Guided by the Law of Origin, these efforts reflect a conservation model rooted in spiritual guidance, territorial autonomy, and biocultural stewardship.

Across countries and contexts, a consistent pattern emerges, showing that biodiversity benefits when communities have rights, recognition, and resources.

Rethinking conservation

The findings also challenge lingering assumptions about how conservation is defined and measured. Protected areas remain vital, but they are only part of a broader landscape of stewardship. The report underscores the importance of bringing together scientific frameworks and traditional knowledge systems, and of developing monitoring approaches that reflect both ecological health and community well-being. This shift is closely tied to global biodiversity commitments. As countries work to implement Target 3 and related goals, inclusive approaches offer a pathway that advances conservation while supporting resilience and local livelihoods.

From Potential to Action: OECMs and Inclusive Conservation in Latin America makes clear that the foundation for this work already exists. Communities across Latin America are conserving nature at scale. A critical step is ensuring that national policies, financing mechanisms, and institutional frameworks recognize and sustain those efforts.

To learn more, the full synthesis report, country analyses, and case studies provide a deeper look at how inclusive conservation is taking shape and what it could mean for the future of biodiversity.