OECMs are an important pathway for reaching Target 3 beyond formally protected areas. But recognition on paper is only part of the challenge. Long-term conservation depends on how national standards connect with governance, stewardship, and decision-making in the landscapes concerned.

The session begins with a global perspective on progress toward 30x30 and what remains to be done before 2030. It then grounds that discussion in Kenya and Madagascar, where national conversations around OECM recognition are developing in different contexts.

In Kenya’s Laikipia–Isiolo–Samburu landscape, the discussion around OECMs is linked to community governance and ecological connectivity. In Madagascar, a parallel process is exploring how national recognition could support community-based conservation already taking place across the country’s landscapes.

These experiences raise questions that extend well beyond technical designation: how should national standards relate to existing governance arrangements? What role should communities play in deciding whether to pursue recognition? And how can credible verification work alongside rights, stewardship, and local benefits?

The session will consider where global progress toward 30x30 stands, what locally grounded OECM governance looks like in practice, and how national recognition can build on existing community stewardship.

It will also explore the relationship between OECMs and ecological connectivity, and the trade-offs involved in balancing community rights and local benefits with robust national standards.

A global framing of progress toward 30x30 will be followed by a panel with government, community, and technical representatives from Kenya and Madagascar, with time for audience questions.

Government representatives, technical and research partners, and practitioners working on OECM recognition, Target 3 implementation, and landscape-level biodiversity governance.

Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern

Co-organized with the Government of Kenya – Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry and the Government of Madagascar – Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable.