Conservation beyond protected areas

Conservation often happens in some of the world’s most remote places, from tracking rhinos in Namibia’s dry riverbeds to supporting sustainable fishing in Northern Patagonia. And sometimes conservation takes place in very ordinary environs, like a workshop in a hotel conference center.

For three days in September, more than 80 people gathered in Lima, Peru to map a future for ocean conservation. Participants included representatives of Indigenous organizations, NGOs like WWF, UN Agencies, and a few funders. The focus of this participatory workshop was “other effective area-based conservation measures”—usually referred to by its acronym OECMs—in Latin America and the Caribbean.

OECMs focus on biodiversity and conservation impacts beyond protected areas. In the face of the continuing destruction of nature and destabilization of the world’s climate, OECMs have gained momentum as the world strives for ambitious biodiversity and climate goals.

An area that is not already protected might be an OECM if it conserves biodiversity and ecosystem functions, is managed and governed, and its existence respects local cultural, spiritual, and socio-economic values. So, a designated wildlife corridor within a forestry concession might be recognized as an OECM, but the larger concession likely wouldn’t be. Nuance is paramount, and not all superficially similar sites will meet the same criteria. OECMs can only be identified on a case-by-case basis.

Why OECMs matter

OECMs are explicitly mentioned, along with protected areas and Indigenous territories, in Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework which calls for conservation of at least 30% of land, waters, and seas. To date, nearly 6,500 sites have been reported as OECMs across 15 countries, covering an area about the size of Mexico.

“If we want to achieve the target of conserving 30% of the planet by the end of this decade, we need to work in partnerships, we need to work collaboratively, and we need to ensure that the agendas are inclusive, effective, and equitable,” says Lucia Ruiz, conservation areas director for WWF. “OECMs offer a big opportunity to change the conservation paradigm to advance this ambitious target.”

OECMs include a potentially broad swath of conservation efforts, and so the conversation in Lima was understandably similar. What are the potential benefits of OECM recognition? How do we ensure Indigenous peoples and local communities’ rights are not only respected but reinforced through this approach? What do we want to achieve through OECMs in the region?

Voices from that workshop were captured on video, illustrating the collective commitment to conservation and the need for tools like OECMs to achieve biodiversity, climate, and sustainable development goals.

And what was the result of all those discussions in Lima? Participants developed a collaborative agenda through 2030 on OECMs in the region—essentially a commitment to work together on nine topics including legal frameworks, non-financial incentives, and safeguards to ensure this comparatively new approach to conservation delivers tangible benefits for nature and people—and presented it at COP16 in Cali, Colombia. These conversations and commitments are an important part of conservation action, ensuring a future where people live in harmony with nature.