Welcome to the NBSAP Journey

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Review previous NBSAP

Planners should review previous NBSAPs against the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and against national sustainable development and biodiversity goals.

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GET ORGANIZED

Form team
Form advisory group
Develop work plan
Manage data

A multi-disciplinary team, and a multi-sectoral advisory group

A multi-disciplinary team and a multi- sectoral advisory group can include many different interests and stakeholders, depending on the key issues within the country. In addition to the technical skills required to revise the NBSAP (e.g., organizational skills, data management skills, financial skills, legal skills), some key interest groups include those related to biodiversity (e.g., environmental ministries and agencies, environmental NGOs, science and research groups), those related to various natural resource use (e.g., forestry, fisheries, agricultural, grazing, water, invasive species), those related to key sectors (e.g., mining and materials, waste management, transportation, infrastructure, tourism, industrial manufacturing, energy and energy exploration), those related to key social issues (e.g., women and youth groups, poverty-alleviation groups and agencies, local and indigenous communities); and those related to finance (finance ministries, private finance groups, charitable donors).

ensure broad support for the planning process and for implementation. Effective planning and data management are critical at this stage.

IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS

Identify potential stakeholders
Conduct stakeholder analysis

Key NBSAP stakeholders may have a legal responsibility for managing biodiversity, have an impact on biodiversity, be affected by new policies, and/or may possess relevant biodiversity knowledge.

Resources

Ensuring Inclusive Social Engagement in the Development, Implementation and Updating of NBSAPs

COMMUNICATE PROCESS

Develop communication plan
Build political will

A communication plan should clearly identify key stakeholders, and identify the specific interests and methods for engagement for each stakeholder group in the NBSAP revision process. An effective communication plan can also help build political support for implementation.

Thematic Link

Biodiversity awareness

Resources

IDENTIFY BIODIVERSITY STATUS AND TRENDS

Identify key species
Key species include species that are rare, threatened or endangered; play a disproportionate role in ecosystem functioning; and/or have high social or economic importance.

Thematic link
Species and extinctions
Resources
Identify key ecosystems
Key ecosystems maintain critically important ecosystem services related to water, food, fiber, energy and disaster risk reduction, among others. They also include vulnerable ecosystems, particularly marine ecosystems.

Thematic link
Vulnerable ecosystems
Resources
Identify key biodiversity areas
Key biodiversity areas include areas that are critical for preventing extinctions, for maintaining life cycles of species, such as feeding, breeding, dispersal, staging, mating and migration; and/or for maintaining viable population sizes.

Resources
- IUCN Key biodiversity areas website
Assess status and trends
Some important status and trends to assess in the NBSAP revision process include:
- Extent of land and water under sustainable production
- Extent of use of sustainable practices within various sectors
- Population, spatial distribution, threats, protection status of key species
- Extent, ecological integrity, threats and protection status of key ecosystems and key biodiversity areas
- Changes in the stocks and flows of essential ecosystem services
- Protected area extent, distribution, governance, representativeness and management effectiveness
- Impacts of key threats and drivers of change
Thematic links
Identify drivers of change
Drivers of change include a large number of
direct drivers
- Environmental stress
- Large environmental disturbances
- Extreme conditions
- Severe limitation of resources
- Geographic isolation
that result in the loss, impairment, diminishment or degradation of biodiversity. Most of these direct drivers can be attributed to a set of distinct
causal factors
- Residential and commercial development
- Unsustainable agriculture and aquaculture
- Energy production and mining
- Transportation and transportation corridors
- Overharvest
- Human disturbance, recreation
- Natural system modifications
- Invasive species
- Pollution
- Climate change and severe weather
, and many of these in turn can be linked to a set of
indirect drivers.
- Political will, political leadership
- Financial and economic lobbying by powerful interest groups
- Public media, free press, communication, perception and attitudes
- Principles of good governance
- Inter-sectoral coordination, steering group, communication
- Public participation in decision making
- Development of local and national non-governmental organizations
- Information and understanding about biodiversity values, threats
- Inter-agency alignment
- Utilization of available biodiversity funding
Resources
- Conservation Measures Partnership
- Using Conceptual Models to Document a Situation Analysis

IDENTIFY LINKAGES BETWEEN SOCIETY AND BIODIVERSITY

Identify key ecosystem services
The Global Biodiversity Outlook Report, the Living Planet Report and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment all highlighted the implications of the loss of biodiversity on human wellbeing: the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems results in the diminshment of ecosystem services -the benefits, goods and services upon which humanity depends. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment underscored the decline of ecosystems and ecosystems services around the world, and provided a global framework for defining
different categories of ecosystem
- Marine: Ocean, with fishing typically a major driver of change
- Coastal: Interface between ocean and land, extending seawards to about the middle of the continental shelf and inland to include all areas strongly influenced by the proximity to the ocean
- Inland water: Permanent water bodies inland from the coastal zone, and areas whose ecology and use are dominated by the permanent, seasonal, or intermittent occurrence of flooded condition
- Forest: Lands dominated by trees; often used for timber, fuelwood, and non-timber forest product
- Dryland: Lands where plant production is limited by water availability; the dominant uses are large mammal herbivory, including livestock grazing, and cultivation Island: Lands isolated by surrounding water, with a high proportion of coast to hinterland
- Mountain: Steep and high lands
- Polar: High-latitude systems frozen for most of the year
- Cultivated: Lands dominated by domesticated plant species, used for and substantially changed by crop, agroforestry, or aquaculture production
- Urban: Built environments with a high human density
services, for categorizing the different types of
direct and indirect benefits
- Direct use benefits: The direct use benefits of ecosystems include activities such as recreation, tourism, natural resource harvesting, hunting, gene pool services, education and research. These activities can be commercially marketed or they can be non-commercial, meaning there is no formal or regular market on which they are traded (e.g., fuel wood collection and cattle grazing).
- Indirect use benefits: The indirect use benefits include the ecosystem's ecological functions, such as watershed protection, breeding habitat for migratory species, climatic stabilization, pollination and carbon sequestration, among others. Indirect use values are often widely dispersed and thus are difficult to measure.
- Option benefits: Option benefits of ecosystems are derived from the option of using the ecosystem for another purpose in the future. These future uses may be either direct or indirect, and may include the future value of information derived from the ecosystem. Options benefits in the form of future information is often cited as particularly, since untested genes may provide future inputs into agricultural, pharmaceutical or cosmetic products. Wild crop diversity would fall within this category.
- Existence benefits: Non-use benefits of ecosystems are benefits that humans gain which are not linked to the use of the ecosystem itself, such as knowing that others will benefit from the ecosystem, or knowing that ecosystems exist.
of ecosystems that constitute total economic value, and for describing the main
areas of human wellbeing
- Security: The ability to live in an environmentally clean and safe shelter and to be buffered by ecological shocks and stresses;
- Basic materials: The ability to access resources to earn an income and gain a livelihood
- Health: The ability to be adequately nourished, be free from disease, have adequate drinking water, have clean air, and have energy to keep warm and cool;
- Good social relations: The opportunity to express aesthetic, recreational, cultural and spiritual values associated with ecosystems and to observe, study and learn about ecosystems
affected by ecosystem services.
Resources
Identify trends in stocks and flows
A country has different types of wealth and capital, including manufactured capital (such as buildings, infrastructure, roads, etc.), financial capital (total financial assets, gross domestic product), social and cultural capital (language, arts, knowledge), and natural capital. Natural capital, which is often not included in national accounting procedures, includes minerals, soil, water, agriculture, forests, grasslands and other assets that provide goods and services. Resource economists can measure changes in stocks and flows, using standard metrics, in order to measure changes in a country's overall natural capital.

Resources
Identify key uses and beneficiaries
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment describes four broad types of ecosystem services. These four different types of services help define the vast numbers of uses and beneficiaries of biodiversity and ecosystems:
- Supporting services: Services necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services, such as the formation of soils and nutrient cycling, upon which productive sectors such as forestry and agriculture depend;
- Provisioning services: Products obtained from ecosystems, including food, fiber, building materials, water, medicine, genetic resources;
- Regulating services: Benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes, including the regulation of hydrological systems, of climatic extremes, of disease control, and of natural processes, such as regeneration;
- Cultural services: Nonmaterial benefits obtained from ecosystems, including artistic inspiration, spiritual values, education and recreation.
Resources
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis
Assess economic and social values
Humans depends upon biodiversity and ecosystems, and upon the goods and services they provide. National economies nearly always view these benefits as `free,' and rarely integrate the costs and benefits of biodiversity into economic and policy frameworks. By recognizing the full suite of benefits that biodiversity and ecosystems provide, and by incorporating these benefits into economic and policy frameworks, countries can set a course for halting and even reversing the loss of biodiversity.

Resources
Assess resource use and consumption
The unsustainable use of natural resources is one of the main drivers of the loss of biodiversity and the impairment of ecosystems. Current levels of natural resource production and consumption are not sustainable in many countries. Issues include the depletion of forest stocks, the use of water beyond carrying capacity, the degradation of soil fertility, and the collapse of species resulting from overharvesting. In order to manage natural resources within
safe ecological limits

Safe ecological limits are defined by boundaries along biophysical parameters that determine whether the Earth will maintain a state that is stable and resembles the past 10,000 year in which human civilization has flourished. These biophysical parameters include: climate change, ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol load, ocean acidity, freshwater consumption, chemical pollution, agricultural land use, biodiversity loss, nitrogen flow and phosphorous flow.

, countries will need to assess the type and magnitude of pressures facing biodiversity and ecosystems within their own boundaries; and understand how resource consumption and use patterns affect biodiversity and ecosystems within and beyond their national boundaries, including
waste management
Key principles of sustainable waste management include:

Waste is sorted into compostable and non-compostable streams

Toxic waste is separated and stored safely

Illegal dumping is prevented, including in coastal areas, illegal landfills and waterways;

Municipal septic systems prevent solid septic wastes from contaminating waters or soils;

Gases produced from decomposition (e.g., methane) are prevented from entering the atmosphere;

Heavy metals and contaminants are prevented from entering aquifers and ground water;

Waste streams are minimized through product life cycle analysis, and excessive packaging, use of toxic materials, use of non-biodegradable materials and use of materials with excessive environmental footprints are discouraged;

Comprehensive waste policies and enforcement prevent the establishment of illegal dumping sites and practices.

Resources

Sustainable Solid Waste Management
,
industrial manufacturing and processing
Key principles of sustainable industrial manufacturing and processing include:

Avoid the use of environmentally harmful materials by replacing with less damaging alternatives;

Replace unsustainably produced products with sustainably produced products, and increase use of renewable and recycled products;

Reduce all unnecessary waste, including packaging, inefficient energy use, inefficient water use; inefficient processing;

Minimize, avoid and eliminate sources of air and water pollution

Establish comprehensive recycling program to recycle all materials that can be recycled, including the creation of repurposing and reprocessing waste material;

Improve on-site biodiversity and habitat management;

Reduce greenhouse gases through use of renewable energy;

Ensure proper disposal of waste generated through processing and manufacturing;

Conduct comprehensive life-cycle analyses and `cradle-to-grave' analyses to reduce impacts across all aspects of product manufacturing, including the assessment of broader environmental, water and carbon footprints.
Resources
- Sustainable Manufacturing Toolkit: Seven Steps to Environmental Excellence
,
transportation and infrastructure
Key principles of sustainable transportation and infrastructure include:

Integrate landscape-scale conservation planning into transportation planning

Coordinate with multiple agencies when developing transportation plans

Use conservation banking and offsets to mitigate the impacts of transportation

Avoid fragmentation of large natural ecosystems, and areas important for seasonal migration

Minimize transportation infrastructure through existing protected areas except as part of the protected area plan, including shipping lanes through marine protected areas

Avoid sensitive biodiversity areas, such as wetlands

Avoid areas of key biodiversity importance, especially key areas of breeding, feeding, migration

Build wildlife crossings to restore and maintain habitat connectivity.

Use native species in roadside vegetation management.

Avoid alterations to hydrological regimes, including changes in groundwater, stream flows and flooding regimes.

Take measures to avoid the introduction of invasive alien species.

Minimize secondary impacts, such as light pollution, and manage stream runoff from roads to reduce soil erosion and water pollution.

Minimize use of chemical pesticides for roadside vegetation control.
Resources
,
tourism
Key principles of sustainable tourism include:

Interactions with wildlife are carefully controlled and do not produce adverse effects on the viability of key species

Areas for recreation (e.g., hiking, camping) are clearly delineated, and are sited to avoid sensitive areas, such as nesting areas

Motorized recreational activities are carefully controlled and monitored, and do not negatively affect species populations, soil quality or water quality

Levels of visitation are monitored, and kept well within the ecological carrying capacity of the area

Siting of permanent tourism infrastructure avoids key sensitive areas

Impacts from lighting, sound, travel are carefully monitored, and do not adversely affect key species

Waste water and sanitation, including of coastal hotels, does not adversely affect water quality

Management practices for sport fishing (e.g., fish stocking practices) do not endanger native species

Tourism and recreation within protected areas is in full accordance with the protected area management plan

There is a national tourism plan that is aligned with biodiversity goals, and aligned with the national protected area plan

Measures are taken to minimize use of scarce resources (e.g., fuel wood, water) in sensitive areas

The introduction of invasive alien species is prevented

There is ongoing monitoring and adaptive management of tourism and recreation impacts
Resources
- Threshold of Sustainability for Tourism within Protected Areas
- Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria
,
energy and mining
Key principles of sustainable energy and mining include:

During exploration, construction and operations, impacts to biodiversity are minimized, including contamination of soil or water, introduction of invasive alien species, road infrastructure, sedimentation, soil erosion, noise impacts, habitat fragmentation and disturbance (particularly of sensitive areas and during key periods, such as migration, nesting and mating);

Comprehensive environmental impact assessments are conducted and adhered to fully;

Full commissioning and restoration plans are in place and fully executed, including replacement of top soil, revegetation with native species, remediation measures, restabilization of slopes, removal of all non-native material;

Transportation of gas and oil, including ocean freights and terrestrial pipelines are managed to prevent spills;

Significant mining, exploration, extraction of energy, minerals or other abiotic materials from key biodiversity areas, including protected areas, is avoided;

Illegal mining operations are rapidly detected and removed, and prevented where possible.
Resources
- Good Practice in the Prevention and Mitigation of Primary and Secondary Biodiversity Impacts
- Good Practice Guidance for Mining and Biodiversity
, and
land use planning
Key principles of sustainable land use planning include:

Clearly establish, and give priority funding and incentives, to established growth areas;

Include specific goals for sustainability in the areas of concentrated urban growth centers, and provide guidance on the development of urban and ex-urban areas;

Incorporate a strategic environmental assessment at the earliest stages of project planning, permitting and approval;

Incorporate protected areas, connectivity corridors and buffer zones as a core component of land use plans;

Include natural climate change resilience and adaptation plans in land use planning (e.g., natural buffer areas against storm surges);

Account for the maintenance of key ecosystem services in land use plans, including water provisioning, agricultural productivity and other services;

Ensure long-term maintenance of water quality by establishing riparian buffers;

Avoid development in sensitive areas, such as areas prone to soil erosion, flooding, natural disasters, storm surges; and promote instead natural infrastructure to strengthen climate resilience
Resources
- Sustainability and Land Use Planning: Greening State and Local Land Use Plans and Regulations to Address Climate Change Challenges and Preserve Resources for Future Generations
- A Review of International Best Practices in Planning Law
. Countries will also need to develop plans for sustainable production and consumption that fall within safe ecological limits, including for
forestry
Key principles of sustainable forestry include:

Clear forest management unit boundaries;

A legal framework that protects forest resources and access, and application of all relevant laws

The maintenance of biodiversity in managed forests, including the maintenance of landscape patterns, community guild structures, richness and diversity of species, decomposition and nutrient cycling

Use of native species in enrichment planting and avoidance of genetically modified organisms;

Maintenance of ecosystem functioning, including protection of sensitive areas, rare or endangered species.

Conservation of forest genetic diversity;

Maintenance of soil productivity, and avoidance of erosion and soil degradation;

Limit of annual allowable harvest levels that are sustainable over time;

Protection of water resources through riparian buffer zones;

Use of a clear and rational forest management plan;

Landscape-level management to maintain connectivity

Avoidance of conversion of natural forests to plantations, and avoidance of damage to high conservation value forests.
Resources
- FSC, 2012. Forest Stewardship Council Principles and Criteria, Revised version. Available at
- Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management: New Findings from CIFOR's Forest Management Unit Level Research.
,
agriculture
Key principles of sustainable agriculture include:

Avoid the creation of agricultural systems through the conversion of natural habitat, such as forests and grasslands;

Effective and sustainable management of water, including the selection of crops and species that are well-adapted to local weather extremes, the use of efficient water management, storage and irrigation systems that avoid salinization, and the use of mulch and cover crops, and the reduction of runoff of pesticides, fertilizers

Physical removal of weeds, including effective timing of weed removal, early detection and prevention, especially of invasive alien species;

Maintain soil fertility and productivity by following best tillage practices, rotating crops, leaving crop residues, adding organic matter and targeted amounts of fertilizers, and periodically growing legume crops and to fix nitrogen;

Where possible, grow perennial crop plants with low or no-till

Avoid erosion by using wind breaks to hold soil and by protecting soil from water runoff;

Attract beneficial predators, including bats, birds and insects by maintaining or creating predator habitat;

Avoid genetically modified organisms

Integrated pest management to control pests, including crop rotation, pest-resistant crops, use of beneficial insects, crop rotation aimed at reducing disease, and limited use of targeted pesticides;

Measures to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in all stages of cultivation, harvest, storage and distribution
Resources
- International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements
- Gold, M. 2009. What is Sustainable Agriculture? Washington DC: USDA. Available at
,
fisheries
Key principles of sustainable fisheries include:

Fish catch levels maintain high productivity of target populations, and fishing practices do not alter trophic structures to the degree of impairing productivity;

Maintenance of structure, productivity, function and diversity of ecosystem upon which fisheries depend

By-catch is greatly reduced or eliminated, including through use of fishing gear and practices;

Fishing methods minimize adverse impacts on habitat, especially in critical spawning and nursing areas;

All local and national laws and international standards are followed, including the provision of incentives, licenses and agreements, monitoring of biological status of target species, setting of catch levels;

The establishment of no-take zones and marine protected areas, in particular in ecologically and biologically significant areas;

Avoid destructive fishing methods, such as use of poisons or explosives;

Avoid pollution through careful control of wastes, fuels

Adequate monitoring and research, especially of species of key interest

Use of precautionary principle when dealing with scientific uncertainty

Use of incentives to promote sustainable practices
Resources
- The OECD Handbook for Fisheries Managers: Principles and Practice for Policy Design.10.1787/9789264191150-en
- Ecologically and biologically significant marine areas
- Marine Stewardship Council Principles and Criteria. Available at
,
grazing
Key principles of sustainable grazing include:

Conserve and maintain soil and water resources, including maintenance of high organic matter, soil productivity functioning of groundwater systems and water quality; and reduction of extent of bare ground, erosion and channelization of streams;

Conserve and maintain biodiversity and key ecological processes, including maintenance of natural fire regimes, riparian systems, number and distribution of key species and communities; and reduction of fragmentation, road density, and invasive alien species;

Maintain productive capacity, including maintenance of biomass, annual rangeland productivity, optimal density of livestock and wildlife functional groups; and sustainable annual removal of non-forage plant materials, such as edible and medicinal plants;

Maintain and enhance multiple economic and social benefits, including maintenance of the value of forage, recreation and tourism, employment and educational value; the reduction of threats to cultural resource values; and the presence of permanent conservation easements;

Ensure legal, institutional and economic frameworks for rangeland conservation and sustainable management, including frameworks that promote clear, rational laws and property rights, effective institutions and organizations, effective landowner education and assistance, rational land-use planning, and effective monitoring and research programs;
Resources
- Pastures: Sustainable Management
- Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Rangeland Management
,
aquaculture
Key principles of sustainable aquaculture include:

Use of plant-based feeds that originate from sustainable agriculture practices;

The reduction or elimination of fishmeal or fish-oil-based feeds from unsustainable fisheries;

Ensuring that there is no net loss in fish protein yield in the life cycle of the fisheries;

Avoidance of the use of wild-caught juveniles;

Prevention of negative environmental impacts from discharges and effluents to the surrounding areas;

Prevention of negative effects to local wildlife (plants as well as animals), including avoiding risks to local wild populations;

Avoidance of the use of genetically engineered fish or feed;

Minimizing the risk of disease outbreaks and transmission (e.g., by controlling stock densities);

Avoiding the depletion of local water resources (e.g., drinking water supplies);
Resources
- Advancing the Aquaculture Agenda: 10.1787/9789264088726-en
and water management
Key principles of sustainable water management include:

Develop a comprehensive plan that integrates water use and management, and watershed management;

Create cross-jurisdictional partnerships as required to manage water systems equitably across political boundaries;

Integrate land use planning with water management plans;

Promote widespread efficiency and conservation in water use across all sectors;

Incorporate storm water management throughout urban environments;

Minimize or eliminate non-point source pollutants;

Discourage the use of water of drinking quality for non-potable uses, such as industrial or agricultural uses;

Reduce unintended losses in municipal water distribution systems, such as through leakages and evaporation;

Use water treatment technologies that limit environmental impacts, such as the use of bio-treatments and ozonation;

Limit wastewater production by promoting practices that reduce the amount of pollutants entering the wastewater system

Apply standards to ensure the removal of pollutants and pathogens from wastewater treatment by-products. (Sustainable Cities Institute, 2013)
Resources
- Sustainable Cities Institute:
.

Societal links to biodiversity include

impacts and dependencies

Biodiversity impacts are the overall impacts that an individual or institution has on key biodiversity, whether directly (e.g., through negative impacts) or indirectly (e.g., through policies). Biodiversity dependencies are the degree to which an individual or an institution is dependent upon the benefits of biodiversity (e.g., ecotourism companies are frequently dependent upon biodiversity found within protected areas; agricultural producers are frequently dependent upon water supplies from intact, protected forests).

of natural resource uses (e.g. agriculture, fisheries, grazing, and forestry) and of various extractive and productive sectors (e.g. energy, mining, tourism, transportation, waste and manufacturing) on biodiversity. Assessing the social and economic values of biodiversity can help planners make a political and economic case for increased investment in biodiversity, and demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of ecosystem-based solutions.

Thematic Links

Resources

ASSESS LEGAL, INSTUTIONAL AND POLICY ENVIRONMENT

Assess key laws
Assess key policies
Identify key institutions
Assess capacities
Assess key opportunities

Key laws and policies are those that do or may have an impact, positive or negative, on the sustainable use, conservation and/or equitable benefits sharing of biodiversity. Key institutions include those institutions responsible for setting and enforcing laws and policies, such as governmental agencies, ministries and departments. Key capacities important in the NBSAP revision process include the abilities to:

Gauge potential impacts of large trends and forces, including climate change
Develop and compare biodiversity and development scenarios for the future
Gauge long-term tradeoffs between multiple development scenarios
Understand and effectively communicate the long-term benefits of ecosystems
Influence the highest levels of government to invest in biodiversity
Mobilize private and public finance for biodiversity investment
Counteract powerful and well-funded lobbyists and interest groups

Thematic Link

Policies and legislation

Resources

ASSESS BIODIVERSITY FINANCE ENVIRONMENT

Review biodiversity expenditures
Biodiversity expenditures are all expenditures, either public or private, that have an impact on biodiversity. A biodiversity expenditure review tracks the amount and effectiveness of relevant biodiversity-related expenditures, both public and private, over a given period of time. This creates a baseline against which biodiversity costs can be measured.
Identify environmentally harmful incentives, negative incentives and positive incentives
Environmentally harmful incentives are incentives that lead to wasteful uses of natural resources, such as land-intensive development and water-intensive processing practices, or that lead to the unintentional loss of biodiversity. Examples include, fishing quotas that promote high by-catch levels, and subsidies that promote excessive chemical fertilizer and pesticide use. Negative incentives discourage environmentally harmful practices, typically through fees, fines and taxes. Positive incentives encourage sustainable use and conservation, typically though tax breaks, tax credits, payments for ecosystem services, and market mechanisms.

Resources
- Incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity
- Conservation Finance Alliance
Identify and analyze potential finance actors
Potential finance actors include any individuals and/or institutions who benefit from or who harm biodiversity, either directly or indirectly.
Identify and analyze potential finance mechanisms
Potential finance mechanisms include, for example:
- Official Development Assistance (ODA): Bilateral ODA, multilateral ODA
- Government funding: Annual budget; conservation trust fund
- Positive tax incentives: Tax credits and tax deductions
- Environmentally harmful tax incentives: Taxes on products, services that harm biodiversity
- Fiscal reform: Reduction of subsidies that harm biodiversity
- Procurement policies: Government and business procurement
- Cap and Trade: Limit on goods or services and traded in the marketplace
- PES schemes: Beneficiaries pay for the cost of maintaining ecosystems
- Market certification: Market premium, access for sustainably produced products
- Biodiversity offsets: Exchanges of biodiversity protection by business
- Fines and fees: Fees that discourage unsustainable practices
- Conservation easement: Compensation for long-term conservation
- Voluntary fees: Fees donated, such as contribution box, hotel fee
- Mandatory fees: Fees required by law, such as airport departure fees
- Other types of funding: South-south cooperation; NGOs, foundations, academia

Thematic Link

Resource mobilization

Resources

ASSESS PUBLIC AWARENESS

Assess awareness of biodiversity
Assess awareness of biodiversity values

Widespread awareness of the status and trends of biodiversity, the social and economic value of biodiversity and ecosystems, and the consequences of biodiversity loss, particularly on the poorest and most vulnerable society members, is essential in helping to change the trajectory of development toward a sustainable pathway.

ASSESS KNOWLEDGE GAPS

Assess key knowledge gaps

Assessing what is unknown is just as important as assessing what is known. Typical knowledge gaps include vulnerability of species and ecosystems to climate change; trends in ecosystem services; ecological integrity of ecosystems; and spatial distribution of key threats, such as invasive alien species.

DEVELOP VISION

Establish vision
Identify key priorities

The national biodiversity vision describes what the country would like to achieve in the future, or the relationship between society and biodiversity. Specific priorities and key principles help outline the shape and contours of the revised NBSAP, and guide the revision process.

SET NATIONAL TARGETS

Identify national targets
Establish indicators

A target is a specific goal that a country would like to achieve. An indicator is a verifiable and discreet unit of measurement that can be used to gauge progress. Targets and indicators help planners focus on a small set of criteria, and develop a robust snapshot of status and trends.

Thematic Link

Targets and Indicators

Reosurces

DEVELOP STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS

Biodiversity mainstreaming and sustainable resource use
Mainstreaming strategies include the integration of
biodiversity goals
Biodiversity goals are the desired end result. Examples include:
- Minimize or mitigate threats
- Restore, improve or maintain ecological integrity
- Improve protection status
- Ensure ecological resilience and adaptation
and
biodiversity components
Biodiversity components are the elements of biodiversity that are the focus on biodiversity mainstreaming efforts, including:
- Genetic diversity
- Species
- Species habitats
- Populations
- Ecological processes, functions
- Landscapes
- Ecosystems
into
natural resource
Natural resource plans include plans related to the use and management of biodiversity and ecosystems, including:
- Agriculture
- Forestry
- Fisheries
- Freshwater management
- Grazing, grassland management
- Wildlife management
and
sectoral plans and policies
Sectoral plans and policies include the range of production, development and economic sectors, including:
- Transportation
- Poverty alleviation
- Tourism and recreation
- Energy
- Climate adaptation
- Manufacturing
- Infrastructure
- Mining and minerals
through a variety of
policy and planning approaches
Policy and planning approaches include mechanisms that change how biodiversity is used or managed, including:
- Policy and legal reform
- Protected areas, corridors, buffer zones
- Management plans, practices and policies
- Strategic environmental assessments (SEA/EIA)
- Spatial planning and land use planning
and
economic mainstreaming mechanisms
Economic mainstreaming mechanisms are mechanisms that increase financial and other forms of support for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, including:
- Public-private partnerships
- Market-based certification
- Voluntary best practices
- Economic valuation
- Payment for ecosystem services
- Technical support
- Biodiversity offsets
. Sustainable use strategies include managing forests, grasslands, oceans, rivers and other ecosystems within safe ecological limits.
Thematic Links
Resources
Protection
Protection strategies include strategies to
improve the protected area network
Some specific strategies for improving the protected area network include:
- Revise protected area designations
- Create protected area zonation
- Create alternative governance models
- Create new protected areas
- Expand existing protected areas
- Create ecological corridors
- Restore protected areas
, to
improve protected area management
Some specific strategies for improving the protected policy environment include:
- Improve protected area administration
- Develop new protected area laws and policies
- Strengthen legal status of protected areas
- Improve protected area financial management systems and processes
, to improve the protected area policy environment, to improve
ex situ conservation
Some specific strategies for improving ex situ protection include:
- Create gene banks
- Reintroduction programs of captive-bred species
- Comply with 'non-detriment findings' required by CITES
- Prevent illegal trade outside of protected areas
- Control illegal poaching
.
Thematic Link
Protected areas
Resources
Restoration and resilience
Restoration and resilience strategies include a
wide range of actions
There are a wide range of potential restoration actions, including, for example, to introduce, to plant, to remove, to limit, to manage, to install, to use, to release and to eradicate.
, targeting a particular
biodiversity or environmental component
Biodiversity or environmental components include, for example plant and animal species (e.g., tree seedlings, seagrass seedlings, invasive species, animal groups); abiotic structures (e.g., dams, concrete, boulders, fences); biotic structures (e.g., large trees); processes (e.g., fire, flooding); and mechanical devices.
, to achieve a
specific restoration goal
Restoration efforts are aimed at specific restoration goal, including, for example, to:

Maintain genetic viability

Maintain connectivity

Mimic natural disturbance

Increase habitat

Recreate habitat

Eradicate or control invasive species

Restore connectivity

Improve ecological integrity
Thematic Link
Climate resilience
Resources
. Restoration is increasingly used to strengthen resilience to threats and pressures, such as climate change. Specific restoration strategies include
restoration of natural disturbances
- Restoration efforts that aim to mimic the frequency and intensity of natural disturbances, such as fires, floods, saltwater inundations
- Restoration efforts that aim to promote re-establishment of natural nutrient cycling
- Restoration efforts that aim to maintain or reinstate cultural practices that contribute to ecological integrity (e.g., grazing to restore grasslands or habitat)
,
control of harmful invasive species
- Restoration efforts related to invasive species are consistent with national invasive alien species plans and policies
- Restoration efforts that aim to remove invasive plant and animal species that threaten ecological integrity
- Restoration efforts that aim to identify native species as potential competitors with invasive species
,
management of over-abundant populations
- Restoration efforts that aim to identify and rectify the cause of over-abundant populations (e.g, altered food web)
- Restoration efforts that aim to duplicate the role of natural processes
,
recreation of native communities or habitats
- Restoration efforts that aim to allow areas to recover naturally where degradation is minor
- Restoration efforts that aim to stabilize soil surfaces, stream banks and shorelines through re-initiation of natural processes, and through use of natural materials
- Restoration efforts that aim to choose a mix of species and genotypes that will facilitate establishment of other native species
- Restoration efforts that aim to use native genetic material
- Restoration efforts that aim to create natural vegetation patterns at appropriate scales
,
species reintroductions
- Restoration efforts that aim to focus on restoring components of food webs that will foster resilience
- Restoration efforts that aim to use native species in re-introduction programs
- Restoration efforts that are consistent with individual species recovery plans
- Restoration efforts that aim to increase sufficient genetic diversity to maintain viable populations
,
improvements in abiotic environment
- Restoration efforts that aim to remove constructed features (e.g., roads, buildings)
- Restoration efforts that aim to amend soil with local, natural organic material
,
improvements in hydrology
- Restoration efforts that aim to maintain or restore natural hydrologic flow regimes
- Restoration efforts that aim to restore habitat features, such as floodplains, riparian systems, woody debris, gravel bars, pools
- Restoration efforts that aim to remove structures such as dams and artificial channels, and restore natural processes, such as flooding
- Restoration efforts that aim to restore stream connectivity
, improvements in
water and soil quality
- Restoration efforts that aim to use in-situ techniques (e.g., phytoremediation) where practical
- Restoration efforts that aim to restore quality of surface waters, groundwater and soil
and improvements in
landscape and seascape
- Restoration efforts that aim to foster ecosystem connectivity and reduce fragmentation
- Restoration efforts that aim to ensure redundancy at all trophic levels to foster resilience and stability
connectivity and functioning.
Access and benefits sharing
Access and benefits strategies include
strategies related to prior informed consent
- Identify the national competent authority, indigenous and local communities
- Determine ownership of genetic resources
- Establish consultation processes and information exchanges with key stakeholder groups
- Obtain prior informed consent
,
mutually agreed terms
- Gather information about all applicable laws and regulations regarding benefit-sharing in the country
- Establish mutually agreed terms
,
benefits sharing
- Develop a comprehensive menu from possible monetary and non-monetary benefits
- Determine benefit-sharing mechanisms
- Provide appropriate monetary benefits to research and conservation groups
- Identify opportunities for participation in commercialization and value-added processes
- Establish appropriate monitoring, tracking and reporting mechanisms
- Implement benefit sharing mechanism
,
traditional knowledge
- Establish a process to obtain traditional knowledge and promote participation of indigenous and local communities
- Ensuring that research activities and collection do not violate customary law and practices;
- Support documentation and registration requirements
- Establish appropriate contractual mechanisms regarding traditional knowledge
and
conservation and sustainable use
- Assess the current conservation status of the species and populations to be sampled or collected
- Assess current habitat status and any critical environmental concerns
- Assess genetic diversity of species of interest for domestication and cultivation
- Monitor the status of the resources to ensure harvest does not exceed sustainable yield levels
.
Thematic Link
Access and Benefits Sharing
Resources
Enabling strategies
Enhancing implementation strategies include strategies related to improving
education and public awareness
- Develop targeted communication strategy for each key stakeholder group
- Develop communication materials and messages (e.g., brochures, billboards, radio and television materials, posters, bookmarks, comics, exhibits, videos, newspapers, facebook and social media, among many others)
- Broadcast materials and messages through a variety of public awareness venues
- Develop and implement lobbying strategy for key stakeholder groups
,
developing capacity
- Assess key capacity gaps
- Develop core competencies and standards
- Develop training materials to address key capacity gaps (including education and teaching, biodiversity planning, project management, management effectiveness assessment, facilitation, financial resources management, human resources management, protected area policy and planning, recreation and tourism management, site management, enforcement, ecosystem assessment, gender sensitization, sustainable land management, among many others).
- Conduct key trainings
- Identify and map biodiversity-related responsibilities across all institutions
- Form and strengthen inter-agency groups and committees
, and
undertaking research
- Assess key research needs
- Establish and strengthen key research institutions (biodiversity center, ecotourism center, biodiversity training and livelihood center, botanical gardens, gene banks, refuge centers, information centers)
, among others.
Thematic Links
Resources

DEVELOP PLANS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Develop detailed action plan
Develop resource mobilization plan
Incorporate into policy frameworks
Incorporate into budgets
Finalize targets and indicators

In a detailed implementation plan, every strategy has a set of specific actions, and each action has a responsible actor, a clear timeline, and a set of specific indicators for gauging success. A resource mobilization plan outlines potential finance actors, mechanisms and opportunities for each strategy, and indicates how much revenue each mechanism is expected to generate. Incorporating NBSAPs into budgets and policy frameworks ensures that the strategies and actions are fully institutionalized and implemented.

IMPLEMENT NBSAP

Engage stakeholders
Build political will
Mobilize financial resources
Implement prioritized actions

It is easier to envision and plan change than it is to implement it. The implementation phase requires diligence and commitment if NBSAPs are to have a national and global impact. It is essential that planners continue to build political will for the outcomes of the revised NBSAP, and make implementation a priority.

MONITOR, ADAPT, LEARN AND COMMUNICATE

Report results nationally
Report internationally
Review progress
Adapt priorities

Monitoring and adaptation are critical components of the NBSAP revision process because they enable planners to adapt their strategies and priorities based on changing conditions. Communicating progress (including in the form of national reports) can help in measuring progress toward global targets, accelerating learning across countries, and building momentum and political will within a country.

Resources

CBD website on national reports, including 5th National Report

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Welcome to the NBSAP Journey

Welcome to the NBSAP Journey

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TAKE STOCK

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GET ORGANIZED

IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS

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COMMUNICATE PROCESS

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IDENTIFY BIODIVERSITY STATUS AND TRENDS

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IDENTIFY LINKAGES BETWEEN SOCIETY AND BIODIVERSITY

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ASSESS LEGAL, INSTUTIONAL AND POLICY ENVIRONMENT

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ASSESS BIODIVERSITY FINANCE ENVIRONMENT

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ASSESS PUBLIC AWARENESS

ASSESS KNOWLEDGE GAPS

DEVELOP VISION

SET NATIONAL TARGETS

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Reosurces

DEVELOP STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS

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DEVELOP PLANS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

IMPLEMENT NBSAP

MONITOR, ADAPT, LEARN AND COMMUNICATE

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