Much of the land relevant to Target 3 is not separate from production. It is farmed, grazed, inhabited, and governed through existing institutions and relationships.

OECMs may provide a way to recognize conservation in such landscapes. But this does not remove the trade-offs between conservation, production, livelihoods, and other land uses. It makes the conditions under which recognition takes place especially important.

Kenya and Madagascar are both advancing national conversations around OECMs, although at different stages.

In Kenya, work in the Laikipia–Isiolo–Samburu landscape is opening discussion around recognizing conservation outside formal protected areas. In Madagascar, national discussions are exploring how OECMs could recognize and support forms of community-based conservation already present across the country.

These processes raise practical questions about shared land use, decision-making, the distribution of costs and benefits, and the policies and institutions needed to support conservation over time.

The session will examine what OECM recognition could mean in agricultural and pastoral landscapes and what it takes for conservation to coexist with farming, grazing, and other productive uses without assuming that their interests automatically align.

Participants will discuss local governance and community stewardship, national standards and verification, food production and biodiversity, and the institutional conditions needed to sustain outcomes over time.

A panel discussion with government representatives and technical and research partners, moderated by the Wyss Academy for Nature, followed by audience questions and a networking coffee.

Government representatives, technical and research partners, and practitioners working on OECMs, agricultural and pastoral landscapes, biodiversity policy, and the implementation of Target 3.

Co-organized with the Government of Kenya – Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry; Government of Madagascar – Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable; and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).