Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia.CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organization employs nearly 1,000 people and works with more than 2,000 partners in 29 countries. CI has helped support 1,200 protected areas and interventions across 77 countries, protecting more than 6 million square kilometers (2.3 million square miles) of land and sea.
A global standard for the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) was published 10 years ago to provide a unified set of criteria for identifying 'sites of significance for the global persistence of biodiversity'. We review the initiative's origins, the KBA identification process, characteristics of the current network, threats, policy uptake, private sector applications and future priorities. KBAs are identified using criteria with quantitative thresholds relating to threatened or geographically restricted species or ecosystems, ecological integrity, biological processes, or irreplaceability. These criteria can be applied in terrestrial, inland water, marine and subterranean environments, and to all taxonomic groups. A total of 16,596 KBAs covering 22.1 million km2 has been identified, with 29% of these sites in marine and 26% in freshwater ecosystems. KBAs range from 0.001 km2 to 712,457 km2 in extent, with a median size of 141 km2 and a mean of 1,364 km2. Most (63%) qualify due to the globally threatened species they support, with 48% being important for biological processes and 39% for geographically restricted species. KBAs have been identified for 18,365 qualifying species in total, of which 37% are plants and 32% are birds. The most prevalent threats are biological resource use (hunting, logging, fishing, etc., impacting 40.8% of sites with available data), unsustainable agriculture (40.7%), human intrusions and disturbance (38.4%) and natural systems modifications (water management and fire; 33.4%). KBAs are important for delivering ecosystem services to people, both locally and globally. KBAs have had widespread impact in informing protected area designation in all regions. In total, 10,054 sites (62%) are covered completely or partially by protected areas. Hence, KBAs are highly relevant to Target 3 (and other targets) in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and to Sustainable Development Goals 14.5, 15.1, and 15.4. Indicators based on KBA data are therefore being used by the Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations to track progress towards these targets. Many companies and financial institutions use KBAs to assess their exposure to nature-related risks and to identify opportunities for site-level, nature-positive actions. Future priorities include expanding and updating KBA assessments, and strengthening efforts to protect, conserve and safeguard these sites effectively.
Abstract Market-based voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) that aim to incentivize sustainable practices in fisheries - such as certifications, improvement projects, and ratings - have proliferated over the past decade. However, with an explicitly narrow focus on environmental outcomes, it is unclear how these programs have affected social equity, and where, and to whom, the costs and benefits of participating in these initiatives accrue. In this project, we conduct a comparative case study using an empirical, mixed methods approach combining interviews, group discussion, and quantitative supply chain analyses to better understand how some VSS (Marine Stewardship Council, Fair Trade, Fishery Improvement Projects) enable, or hinder, equitable outcomes in seafood production. We examine three small-scale fisheries (SSF) in India, Maldives, and Indonesia that differ in size, species focus, and supply chain characteristics, to identify key equity issues (both perceived and realized) and ways in which they can be addressed. For each fishery, we focus on understanding how different dimensions of social equity are impacted by VSS and their interaction with a) international market dynamics and other regional fisheries, b) government policy and contextual or structural issues (e.g., debt, poverty), c) engagement with fishers and fishing communities, and d) the values of seafood organizations operating in a place as they relate to equity. For each fishery and supply chain, we discuss how these dynamics challenge the VSS theory of change and implications for equity. As VSS grow in small-scale fisheries in low-and middle-income countries, it will be crucial for these models to learn from successful strategies and respond to place-specific equity concerns if they are to result in fair and durable conservation outcomes in the long term.
Freshwater ecosystems regulate the water cycle, support biodiversity and enhance resilience, yet they remain largely overlooked in global climate policies, and most national commitments lack clear, spatially defined targets for their protection and restoration. Here our global map-derived from 30-m land-cover classification, hydrological networks and floodplain models-reveals around 51 million km2 of rivers, wetlands, headwaters, riparian buffers and floodplains that are critical for water security and disaster risk reduction. Overlaying this map on country members of the Freshwater Challenge, we discuss pathways for integrating freshwater ecosystems into nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation. Furthermore, by analysing areas where forest would naturally occur within our mapped categories, we show that reforesting degraded croplands and short vegetation could sequester 1.07 and 3.41 gigatonnes of CO2 per year, across 355-484 million hectares. These results provide a practical foundation for aligning global climate goals with regional freshwater targets.
The Timor green pigeon Treron psittaceus, endemic to Timor, Rote, and adjacent satellite islands (eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste), is declining because of severe hunting pressure and forest conversion. During 2002-2025, we conducted > 1,400 field days of surveys throughout the species' range. Prior to 2000, most records were from Indonesian West Timor. Since 2000, most records (93%) and nearly all individuals (98%) have been observed in Timor-Leste, primarily within Lautem District. The scarcity of recent records throughout much of the species' range, including Camplong (last record 1991), Bipolo forest (last record 1999), elsewhere in West Timor (last record 2005) and Rote (four records of 1-2 birds during 2004-2013), suggests that only a small, declining population persists. The population in Indonesia is possibly nearly extinct (and probably functionally so), and that in Timor-Leste is predicted to be lower than current estimates suggest. We conservatively estimate the global population to be 100-500 individuals distributed across eight sites, and consider it plausible that the population size lies towards the lower end of this estimate. A population of > 50 birds is likely restricted to a single site, Nino Konis Santana National Park, underscoring the species' precarious status. We advocate for a reassessment as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Effective action plans are required in both Indonesia and Timor-Leste. In Lautem, community-based conservation efforts will be crucial to reduce hunting pressure. Further surveys should focus on Mount Timau (West Timor), and Lautem, Manatuto and Manufahi Districts (Timor-Leste).
