Penny Langhammer

Biodiversity loss is accelerating at genetic, species and ecosystem levels with signi cant negative consequences for human well-being. There is great demand from across society to know, with precision, which places on the planet contribute signi cantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. The Convention on Biological Diversity, in its Aichi Target 11, recognized the importance of ensuring that protected area networks include “areas of particular importance for biodiversity.” Addressing the challenge of how to identify such areas has been a primary objective of an IUCN Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas, jointly convened by the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the World Commission on Protected Areas. Over the past several years, the Joint Task Force has mobilized the input of hundreds of experts to consolidate the quantitative criteria and methodology for identifying Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). The output of this consultation process is a new IUCN Standard for the Identi cation of Key Biodiversity Areas, which builds on more than 30 years of experience in identifying sites for different taxonomic, ecological or thematic subsets of biodiversity, such as BirdLife International’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.

This presentation will provide an introduction to KBAs and the new IUCN Standard, and discuss how they are being used to achieve biodiversity outcomes globally. It will also highlight a new collaboration between the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and IUCN, through a SNAP working group, focused on documenting, measuring and valuing ecosystem services and human well-being bene ts delivered by KBAs.