IUCN World Conservation Congress Resolution Calls to Include Ecological Connectivity in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
IUCN World Conservation Congress Adopts Resolution calling for inclusion of Ecological Connectivity in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
Bonn, 17 March 2021 - Ahead of its session planned for September 2021, the International Union Conservation Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC-2020), adopted Resolution (073) on Ecological connectivity conservation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework: from local to international levels which has already entered into force as part of the body of the IUCN's general policy.
The resolution promotes the importance of ecological connectivity and international cooperation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and other relevant processes, such as the Agenda 2030 and the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. It also recognizes the role of connectivity in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
It recommends that goals, targets, and indicators on ecological connectivity be included in the post-2020 framework and that connectivity is addressed effectively at all levels through existing tools.
Originally submitted as a motion by BirdLife International and supported by the CMS Secretariat, in line with the Gandhinagar Declaration adopted at CMS COP13, and numerous other partners, the resolution was approved by IUCN Members via electronic vote last October.
The resolution was one of 109 motions adopted by the electronic vote in October 2020, all of which, are already operative as Resolutions or Recommendations.
At present, IUCN, with the agreement of the French Government, plans to hold the IUCN WCC 2020 from 3 to 11 September 2021, in Marseille. The Congress, originally scheduled for June 2020 and postponed due to the ongoing COVID 19-pandemic, is a quadrennial event that allows policymakers to determine the most pressing issues in nature conservation and the actions to address them. The IUCN Congress will play a key role in the development of the IUCN's future agenda, and in doing so, it will strongly influence other processes such as the development of the Post-2020 global biodiversity framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Resolution 073 is complemented by several other resolutions with global scope addressing ecological connectivity and/or recognizing the importance to reflect it in the post-2020 framework. These are:
- WCC-2020 Res 008 Protecting rivers and their associated ecosystems as corridors in a changing climate – it calls for protection and restoration of rivers and their ecological connectivity and encourages their inclusion in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;
- WCC-2020 Res 034 Ecological Integrity in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework – it highlights that ecological integrity depends on intact ecosystems and connectivity between them, and calls for increased international cooperation for intactness, connectivity and species migration and for addressing them through the new global biodiversity framework;
- WCC-2020 Res 071 Wildlife-friendly linear infrastructures – it recognizes the need for an integrated approach to avoid and mitigate adverse impacts of linear infrastructure to be considered in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and it requests spatial plans, incorporating the needs of wildlife and ecological connectivity;
- WCC-2020 Res 081 Strengthening national spatial planning to ensure the global persistence of biodiversity – it calls for the development or updating of spatial conservation plans taking into account connectivity and for applying guidelines for connectivity;
- WCC-2020 Res 101 Addressing human-wildlife conflict: fostering a safe and beneficial coexistence of people and wildlife – it urges the establishment of development plans which maintain functional and ecological connectivity, minimize Human-Wildlife Conflicts, and optimize opportunities for benefit creation from sustainable wildlife management and it calls for the issue to be addressed by relevant fora, including the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
All Resolutions and Recommendations adopted are available in the IUCN library portal.