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Manage Wild Species Sustainably To Benefit People

Target 9

Manage Wild Species Sustainably To Benefit People

Ensure that the management and use of wild species are sustainable, thereby providing social, economic and environmental benefits for people, especially those in vulnerable situations and those most dependent on biodiversity, including through sustainable biodiversity-based activities, products and services that enhance biodiversity, and protecting and encouraging customary sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local communities.

Following are the guidance notes prepared by the Secretariat for Target 9

Biodiversity is the source of many goods and services on which people depend. The maintenance, in quantity and quality, of the benefits provided by biodiversity offers an important incentive for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. It will not be possible to reach the 2050 Vision if the benefits provided by biodiversity, particularly those related to nutrition, food security, livelihoods, health and well-being, are not ensured.

The main focus of this target is ensuring that the management and use of wild species is sustainable for the benefit of people. The target further contains a number of elements that need to be considered:

  • Social, economic and environmental benefits – Wild terrestrial, freshwater and marine species contribute to human well-being in multiple ways, including by providing nutrition, food security, medicines and livelihoods. The use and management of wild species needs to consider the various social, economic and environmental benefits provided by wild species to people. The target further specifies that particular attention should be given to those people living in vulnerable situations and for whom wild species are particularly important to their well-being as they may be engaged in biodiversity-based economic activities, or rely on biodiversity based products and services.
  • Customary sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local communities – Actions to implement this target should take into account indigenous and local systems for the control, use and management of natural resources and seek to protect and encourage these. Customary use of biological resources includes spiritual, cultural, economic and subsistence functions.
  • Actions to reach Target 9 should take into account all of the considerations for implementation identified in Section C of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. 
  • This target is closely related to Target 5. Progress towards Target 9 will contribute to the attainment of goals A and B of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It will also help to reach targets 4, 5, and 11. Conversely progress towards targets 5, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 will help to reach this target.
  • Target 9 addresses issues previously addressed under Aichi Biodiversity Target 6.
  • Elements of Target 9 are also addressed in the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, including targets 12.2, 14.7 and 15.7.
  • What measures are in place to ensure the sustainable use and management of wild species? How effective have these been? How could their effectiveness be improved? How are the social, economic and environmental benefits provided by wild species accounted for in these processes? Which groups are particularly dependent on these benefits, and how are their needs accounted for? How is customary sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local communities protected and encouraged?
  • Which wild species are not currently being used or managed sustainably? Why is this the case?
  • What are the opportunities and constraints to enhancing sustainable use and management? What are the potential ecological, economic, and social costs and benefits of enhancing sustainable management? Who are the actors that may be affected? How can they be involved and their needs addressed?
  • What additional resources (financial, human and technical) will be required to reach the national target? How can additional resources be raised? What are the possible sources for these resources?

The monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework identifies the following indicators for this target:

Headline indicators: 

Component indicators:

  • Number of people using wild resources for energy, food or culture (including firewood collection, hunting and fishing, gathering, medicinal use, craft making)
  • Red List Index (species used for food and medicine)
  • Living Planet Index for used species

Complementary indicators:

  • Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels
  • Degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing 
  • Number of MSC Chain of Custody Certification holders by distribution country
  • Spawning stock biomass (related to commercially exploited species)
  • Number of plant and animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in medium- or long-term conservation facilities 
  • Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size

Assessments

Tools and guidance        

Note from the Secretariat: This guidance material provides an overview of the target by briefly introducing key terms, highlighting some of the implications for national target setting, and providing key points and guiding questions for consideration as part of national target-setting exercises. It also identifies the adopted indicators to monitor progress and resources that could assist with national target setting and implementation. This material should be considered a work in progress, and it will be periodically updated with inputs from Parties and partner organizations in the light of experiences with its use. This information is meant to serve as a resource that Parties and others may wish to consider as they implement the Global Biodiversity Framework. It does not replace or qualify decision 15/4 or 15/5.