Publications

Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are sites outside of protected areas that deliver the effective, long-term conservation of biodiversity. Both protected areas and OECMs contribute to the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework‚'s Target 3, which calls for the conservation of 30% of marine, terrestrial and inland water areas by 2030. This paper provides the first global assessment of the contribution of OECMs to GBF Target 3. Between 2019 and 2023, 820 sites in nine countries and territories were reported to the World Database on OECMs, covering 1.9 million km² of the Earth‚'s surface and, in the terrestrial realm, contributing over 1% to the 30% coverage target. Notably, over 50% of reported OECMs are under governance by governments and less than 2% are governed by Indigenous peoples and local communities. In countries and territories that have reported OECMs, a far greater proportion of OECMs than protected areas are under shared governance (40.9% compared to 2.5%), and collaborative governance is the most common governance sub-type among reported OECMs. This paper finds that almost 30% of the 820 reported OECMs overlap with identified Key Biodiversity Areas, which are one global classification of areas of particular importance for biodiversity. With Target 3‚'s pressing deadline of 2030, there is an urgent need to scale up understanding and local to national engagement with the OECM framework, ensuring that it fulfills its potential to recognize diverse forms of equitable governance and effective conservation.

This guide is for farm businesses to help them assess the amount of crop that becomes surplus or waste instead of reaching its intended market. It covers the in-field stage of a grower‚'s operation as well as other on-farm stages such as grading, storage, and processing. This document will help you to plan and undertake measurements, as well as assist you in entering your data into the WWF Farm Loss Tool so you can identify opportunities to reduce food loss and improve the volume of saleable produce and profitability.

Bhutan‚'s National Red Panda Survey Report 2023 summarizes its first population survey for this endangered species , providing valuable insights into genetic diversity, population stability, and potential challenges facing the red panda population in the region.

Using non-invasive fecal sampling across all potential red panda habitats in the country, the survey identified a surprisingly high number of red pandas - 302 unique individuals within a limited area covering just 6% of the country's total area. Despite surveying only a small fraction of Bhutan's potential red panda habitat, the results offer a glimpse into a potentially thriving population and a potentially much larger red panda population distributed across Bhutan.

In 2022‚ – the year this report examines‚ – approximately 1.9 million acres of grasslands were converted to croplands across the US and Canadian portions of the Great Plains region. This figure, while significant, represents a slight improvement from the previous 10-year average of 2.6 million acres per year. In the Northern Great Plains region, which represents one of the world‚'s four largest intact temperate grasslands, 480,000 acres‚ – an area 2x the size of New York City‚ – were converted in 2022. This is lower than the 10-year average of about 630,000 acres per year, but, as with conversion across the Great Plains, this is not an acceptable level of loss.

Engaging companies to contribute to nature positive in the energy transition

Tourism sector transformation to enable sustainable, inclusive, climate-resilient blue economies

Credible actions to avoid, reduce, and mitigate shipping impacts on ocean health