Notification 2026-011

Dear Sir or Madam,

In decision 16/16, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requested the Secretariat to develop voluntary guidelines on peer-review processes for the description of areas meeting the criteria for ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) and other relevant compatible and complementary scientific criteria, for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. In response to this request, the Secretariat prepared a draft version of these guidelines, which are hereby being made available for peer review. 

Parties, other Governments, indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant organizations are invited to review the draft guidelines, which are available here. A background document (available here) has also been prepared to provide further information on the issues addressed in the guidelines. 

Comments must be submitted by 26 February 2026 using the template provided in the annex to this notification. Only comments using this template will be accepted. The template may be uploaded through the clearing-house mechanism (CHM), using this link, or sent by e-mail to the Secretariat (secretariat@cbd.int) if technical problems prevent the use of the CHM. Comments received will be publicly available on the CHM. 

Please accept, Sir, Madam, the assurances of my highest consideration.  

(Signed) Astrid Schomaker

Executive Secretary

Annex: Template