Site-level tool for identifying other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs)
Many sites make a vital contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, even though they are not protected areas. The identification of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) offers a way to recognise these sites, and to engage a diversity of stakeholders in their conservation. IUCN WCPA has published a tool which enables an assessor to follow a step-by-step process to determine if a site is an OECM, based on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) definition and principles of consent and equity.
Many sites make a vital contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, even though they are not protected areas. In 2018, the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognised the importance of these places, when they adopted a definition and criteria for other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). In 2022, OECMs were included among the ways that parties could fulfil their commitment to conserve 30% of the Earth under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
To assist government officials, land managers and conservationists, IUCN WCPA has published a step-by-step site level tool for identifying OECMs, which allows an assessor to determine if a site meets the CBD definition and criteria of an OECM. For sites which do not currently meet all the criteria, the tool serves to highlight areas where further information or improvements in governance and management are required.
OECMs may be owned and managed by governments, private sector, Indigenous peoples, local communities, individuals, or a combination of these. They may be managed for conservation, or for another purpose, but whatever the objective, the result is that they conserve important biodiversity, in the long term, through effective and equitable governance arrangements. OECMs are meant to be at least equivalent to protected areas in their conservation of biodiversity. Identification of OECMs is voluntary, and can only be done with the consent of the site’s governing authority, and with respect for Indigenous peoples’ and local rights. Once identified, OECMs are recorded on the UNEP-WCMC World Database of OECMs.
Please visit the IUCN WCPA Specialist Group on OECMs website for more information:
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