Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) has created an unprecedented global commitment to conserve and effectively manage at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030.

As countries move to implement this ambition, however, an important question needs to be asked: What does 30x30 mean for the people and territories that have conserved biodiversity for generations?

Across different ecosystems, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have developed diverse systems of conservation and stewardship rooted in customary laws, knowledge, institutions, responsibilities and relationships with their territories. These include customary forests and sacred landscapes, Indigenous and Traditional Territories, ICCAs – Territories of Life, customary marine territories, community fisheries and other forms of community-led conservation.

These experiences demonstrate that there is no single way of conserving biodiversity. Across marine, coastal and forest/terrestrial contexts, conservation is closely connected to tenure security, governance, knowledge and the ability of people to make decisions about their territories.

Yet these systems remain insufficiently recognized within formal conservation frameworks. Indigenous and community territories may overlap with protected areas or areas being considered as OECMs. While such overlaps may reflect their important contribution to biodiversity conservation, they can also occur without adequate recognition of customary tenure, collective rights, governance institutions, traditional knowledge or the free, prior and informed consent of rights-holders. In such cases, conservation measures can restrict customary access, undermine local institutions and generate conflict.

This raises a fundamental question for 30x30:

Will area-based conservation strengthen existing systems of stewardship, or reproduce a model in which decisions are made about territories without the people who govern them?

At the same time, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are actively strengthening their own governance and making their territories, knowledge and contributions more visible. Indigenous-led initiatives such as Indigenous Peoples Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (IPBSAPs) in the Philippines and Myanmar, the People’s Biodiversity Outlook (LBO) in Indonesia, and the Territory of Life Self-Strengthening Process demonstrate how communities can document their territories, assess and strengthen governance, articulate priorities and generate their own evidence for biodiversity planning and decision-making.

These processes represent more than tools for visibility and advocacy. They are forms of self-determined governance strengthening, reinforcing the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as rights-holders, knowledge holders, decision-makers and conservation actors in their own right.

This perspective is directly connected to Target 22 of the KMGBF and Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which call for the recognition of rights, meaningful participation, access to information and justice, and respect for traditional knowledge relevant to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

Target 3 therefore cannot be implemented in isolation from questions of rights, tenure and governance.

The 30x30 agenda offers an opportunity to move beyond measuring conservation primarily through hectares and toward recognizing and strengthening the diverse governance systems and knowledge that make conservation possible.

This side event will bring together Indigenous Peoples and local communities, governments, conservation practitioners, researchers and other partners to share lessons across marine, coastal and forest/terrestrial contexts, examine experiences of territories overlapping with protected areas and OECMs, and explore how community-led governance strengthening can contribute to a more equitable and effective implementation of Target 3.

2. Objective

1. Explore the enabling conditions for effective 30x30 implementation, including tenure and rights, legal and conservation status, relationships with protected areas and OECMs, and the quality of governance.
2. Share Indigenous and community-led conservation experiences across marine, coastal and forest/terrestrial contexts, including Territories of Life and Indigenous and Traditional Territories.
3. Highlight community-led approaches to strengthening governance, including the Territories of Life Strengthening Process, community documentation, knowledge generation and self-assessment.
4. Develop practical messages for implementing Target 3 together with Target 22 and Article 8(j), ensuring that conservation strengthens rights, governance, participation and decision-making power.

3. Expected Outputs

1. Shared understanding of the enabling conditions for successful 30x30, including the importance of tenure, rights, conservation status and governance.
2. Cross-context lessons and good practices on recognising and respecting Indigenous and community territories, including where they overlap with protected areas and OECMs.
3. Greater visibility of community-led governance strengthening approaches, including the Territories of Life Strengthening Process and other forms of community-generated evidence and knowledge.
4. Key recommendations for equitable 30x30 implementation, linking Target 3 with Target 22 and Article 8(j), and recognising Indigenous Peoples and local communities as rights-holders and conservation actors.

Agenda

90 minutes

 

Time	Agenda	Person In Charge
5’	Welcome, Opening and introduction	Moderator : Jessica Campesse
10’	Setting the context of 30x30 at the Crossroads	Neema Paatak Broome
20’	Learning from Territories — Experiences from marine, coastal and forest/terrestrial contexts	Latin America ICCA, African ICCA members
10’	When Conservation Meets Territory — ITTs, ICCAs overlap with Protected Areas and OECMs	Cristina Eghenter
10’	Capturing Diverse Practices, Contribution and Challenges – Launching Peoples’ Biodiversity Outlook Indonesia	Cindy Julianty- WGII
10’	CBD Secretariat *tbc	Capaj Conde Choque
20	Reflection and Q and A
5’	Closing	Moderator

Learning from Territories

Indigenous Peoples and local communities from different contexts will share experiences of conserving and governing their territories:

• Marine: customary marine tenure, community fisheries and Indigenous marine governance;
• Coastal: mangroves, islands, estuaries and interconnected land-sea governance;
• Forest/terrestrial: customary forests, sacred landscapes, ICCAs – Territories of Life and Indigenous territories.

Rather than presenting these simply as examples of conservation, the session will explore what makes these systems work: who holds tenure, who governs, what institutions are in place, how knowledge is generated and shared, and how external conservation designations interact with existing governance.