Advancing bird conservation and the 30x30 Initiative through new Caribbean subnational protected areas

A central strategy to the recently approved Global Conservation Framework is the designation of 30% of Earth’s land and ocean area as protected by 2030 (referred to as the 30x30 Initiative). According to UNEP’s ProtectedPlanet database, existing protected areas only cover an average 19.5% of land area and 17.0% of ocean area across all Caribbean countries and territories. Thus, a substantial gap in protections remains to be filled in just six and a half years. Protected areas are a proven nature-based solution not only for safeguarding birds and biodiversity, but also for mitigating climate change and improving food and water security. Recent studies indicate that only about 40 percent of critical bird habitat enjoys some form of protection, and that existing protected areas adequately cover the ranges of only nine percent of declining North American breeding migratory bird species in the Americas. Our ability to protect additional habitat over the next 5-10 years will determine whether viable populations of the Caribbean’s 64 globally threatened bird species and millions of North American breeding birds that migrate to and through the region each year will survive – important reasons for why this session is highly appropriate and very timely at the 2024 conference.

Organizers: Sebastian Herzog and Marci Eggers, Audubon Americas, National Audubon Society. Emails: sebastian.herzog@audubon.org, marci.eggers@audubon.org


Purpose: The purpose of this roundtable is to analyze the potential, opportunities, challenges, and geographic priorities for the implementation of a Caribbean-wide initiative that would preserve essential habitat for birds and biodiversity over the next 5-6 years by catalyzing local leadership in the creation and sustainable management of new local protected areas through a request-for-proposal process tailored to each country or territory. This initiative (Conserva Aves) is already being implemented successfully in South and Central America by a consortium of hemispheric conservation leaders. Given the unique attributes of Caribbean geographies, insights and recommendations from the Caribbean bird conservation community will be crucial for an effective and impactful implementation of Conserva Aves in the Caribbean.

Overview: A central strategy to the recently approved Global Conservation Framework is the designation of 30% of Earth’s land and ocean area as protected by 2030 (referred to as the 30x30 Initiative). According to UNEP’s ProtectedPlanet database, existing protected areas only cover an average 19.5% of land area and 17.0% of ocean area across all Caribbean countries and territories. Thus, a substantial gap in protections remains to be filled in just six and a half years. Protected areas are a proven nature-based solution not only for safeguarding birds and biodiversity, but also for mitigating climate change and improving food and water security. Recent studies indicate that only about 40 percent of critical bird habitat enjoys some form of protection, and that existing protected areas adequately cover the ranges of only nine percent of declining North American breeding migratory bird species in the Americas. Our ability to protect additional habitat over the next 5-10 years will determine whether viable populations of the Caribbean’s 64 globally threatened bird species and millions of North American breeding birds that migrate to and through the region each year will survive – important reasons for why this session is highly appropriate and very timely at the 2024 conference.

Objectives: