Interim Assessment of Revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs)

National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) are the key instrument for translating the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) into national action. The role of NBSAPs was reinforced in 2010 by the adoption of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets at the Tenth Meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10). Target 17 states that Parties shall develop and start implementing an updated NBSAP by 2015. The updated NBSAPs are meant to be the key tools for translating the other Aichi targets into national action, including through national targets, integration of biodiversity across sectors, legal and institutional preparedness and allocation of adequate financial resources.

 

This interim assessment of post-2010 NBSAPs undertakes a preliminary review of how countries have considered the Strategic Plan of the CBD and the readiness to achieve the Aichi Targets at national level. Although the assessment is based on a limited number of NBSAPs developed after 2010 (25 by May 2014), indications are that most NBSAPs use the Aichi Targets as an overall framework to set national targets and/or national priorities for action. However, as was the case for pre-2010 NBSAPs, issues of a cross-cutting nature beyond the direct drivers of biodiversity loss have received limited attention. This also applies to legal preparedness and resource mobilization for biodiversity