Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)

Increasing interest in measuring, modelling and valuing ecosystem services (ES), the benefits that ecosystems provide to people, has resulted in the development of an array of ES assessment tools in recent years. Selecting an appropriate tool for measuring and modelling ES can be challenging.

These Guidelines on business and KBAs have been developed by the KBA Partners to support businesses in managing risk to biodiversity. They will be of use to business and certification scheme operators, financial institutions, civil society organisations, and public authorities. They are applicable to the businesses’ entire area of influence, as well as throughout the life cycle of the operation, from pre-feasibility to closure (and, where relevant, site rehabilitation).

The Lake Victoria Basin is internationally recognised for its high freshwater species diversity and endemism, which are of critical importance to local livelihoods and national economies within the basin. However, freshwater ecosystems within the region are highly threatened, with current safeguards proving inadequate and the focus of much past and ongoing conservation work in the region focussing on terrestrial ecosystems.

The inland waters of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands hotspot support a high diversity of aquatic species with high levels of endemism. The information presented in this report will help support implementation of multilateral Environmental Agreements in Madagascar, such as the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity, guiding conservation planning and priority setting at national level.

The Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot is known to be one of the most biologically rich and complex regions on Earth. The north-western part of the hotspot (the area that covers all of the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, most of Italy and Malta) supports important river, lake, karst and wetland systems critical for the survival of threatened and restricted range freshwater species.

Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are areas contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. KBAs need to be managed to ensure environmental flows are sufficient to support these fragile freshwater ecosystems. The information and data provided in this report will help guide conservation actions and management, development of policies and make informed decisions regarding development activities that may impact freshwater ecosystems in Canada