WCC 2016 Rec 111 - Progress Report

With regard to the first operative paragraph ("ENCOURAGES national governments, in accordance with national and international law, to establish – or strengthen existing – public policies and incentives that enable and stimulate scientific research on biodiversity and natural resource conservation, highlighting their benefits to society"), the primary mechanism available is Aichi Target 19 (https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/) of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

IUCN supports implementation of the second operative paragraph ("ENCOURAGES governments to consider conclusions and recommendations generated from scientific research as inputs for management and conservation strategies related to the protection of natural areas, including the establishment of new protected areas, management plans, and development of action plans for threatened species, as well as periodic updating of the official list of threatened species"), through, for example, mobilisation of knowledge products against IUCN standards such as: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (http://www.iucnredlist.org/), Red List of Ecosystems (https://iucnrle.org/), World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas (http://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/home), and Protected Planet (https://www.protectedplanet.net/)

These in turn are harnessed by governments as indicators towards the Aichi Targets and Sustainable Development Goal Targets, such as the Red List Index (http://www.iucnredlist.org/about/overview#biodiversity_indicator), Protected Areas coverage of KBAs (https://www.bipindicators.net/indicators/protected-area-coverage-of-key-biodiversity-areas), and Policy Responses to Invasive Species (https://www.bipindicators.net/indicators/adoption-of-national-legislation-relevant-to-the-prevention-or-control-of-invasive-alien-species), and served through the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool for Research & Conservation Planning (https://www.ibat-alliance.org/ibat-conservation/).

Finally, IUCN provides many guidelines in support of such work, for example "Guidelines for species conservation planning" (https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/47142).