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Social considerations are crucial to success in implementing the 30×30 global conservation target

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 784–785 (2023)Cite this article

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Following intense negotiation over several years, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework1 — adopted in December 2022 — includes an ambitious target for area-based conservation as part of the global effort to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Target 3 of the framework aims to increase the global coverage of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures to at least 30 per cent by 2030 (sometimes referred to as ‘30×30’), such that this increase delivers benefits for biodiversity and human society, while “recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, including over their traditional territories”1. We seek to emphasize that achieving target 3 requires new knowledge about the social implications of different scenarios by which it might be implemented. Generating this knowledge will require innovative collaboration across disciplines and sectors.

Target 3 has the potential to be transformative for the long-term future of nature and the benefits it provides to people. However, as might be expected for a global target, the exact wording allows diverse interpretations of how it might be implemented in different contexts. For example, the text of target 3 gives a broad specification of where area-based conservation should take place: “at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services … through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures”. An approach that emphasizes the protection of the most species possible would produce a very different set of protected and conserved areas to one that emphasizes the delivery of benefits to people2. Similarly, the target does not specify how the 30% should break down in terms of the area under different governance arrangements or how strict the rules that govern human presence and activities in protected and conserved areas should be.

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Acknowledgements

This work resulted from the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) Social Impacts of 30×30 Working Group. SNAPP is a partnership of The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The work is a contribution to the Global Land Programme: https://www.glp.earth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Chris Sandbrook & Javier Fajardo

  2. The Nature Conservancy, Caribbean Division, Nassau, Bahamas

    Shenique Albury-Smith

  3. Independent researcher, Nairobi, Kenya

    James R. Allan

  4. UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK

    Nina Bhola, Heather C. Bingham & Javier Fajardo

  5. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ICREA, Barcelona, Spain

    Dan Brockington

  6. Nature Uganda, Kampala, Uganda

    Achilles B. Byaruhanga

  7. The Nature Conservancy, Carlton, Victoria, Australia

    James Fitzsimons

  8. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia

    James Fitzsimons

  9. International Institute for Environment and Development, Edinburgh, UK

    Phil Franks

  10. Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Forrest Fleischman

  11. Rights and Resources Initiative, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Alain Frechette

  12. Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala, Uganda

    Kagumaho Kakuyo

  13. Pawanka Fund, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua

    Edna Kaptoyo

  14. Geography Department, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tobias Kuemmerle

  15. Integrated Research Institute for Transformations in Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tobias Kuemmerle

  16. Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda, Kampala, Uganda

    Pauline Nantongo Kalunda

  17. Micaia Foundation, Chimoio, Mozambique

    Milagre Nuvunga

  18. Campaign for Nature, Durango, CO, USA

    Brian O’Donnell

  19. National Environment Management Authority, Kampala, Uganda

    Fred Onyai

  20. School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    Marion Pfeifer

  21. Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Rose Pritchard

  22. IUCN Commission on Environment, Economic and Social Policy, Gland, Switzerland

    Ameyali Ramos & Thomas Worsdell

  23. IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, Gland, Switzerland

    Madhu Rao

  24. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Casey M. Ryan

  25. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA

    Priya Shyamsundar

  26. Global Youth Biodiversity Network, Baguio City, Philippines

    Josefa Tauli

  27. Makerere University Biological Field Station, Fort Portal City, Uganda

    David Mwesigye Tumusiime

  28. Department of Environmental Management, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    David Mwesigye Tumusiime

  29. The Nature Conservancy, João Pessoa, Brazil

    Mônica Vilaça

  30. Doctorate Program in Sociology, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil

    Mônica Vilaça

  31. School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Gary R. Watmough

  32. Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria

    Gary R. Watmough

  33. Amazon Frontlines, Nuava Loja, Ecuador

    Thomas Worsdell

  34. Wyss Academy for Nature, Centre for Development and Environment & Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Julie G. Zaehringer

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  23. Madhu Rao
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  27. David Mwesigye Tumusiime
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Correspondence to Chris Sandbrook.

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Sandbrook, C., Albury-Smith, S., Allan, J.R. et al. Social considerations are crucial to success in implementing the 30×30 global conservation target. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 784–785 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02048-2

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