- Firm
- Provisional
- Coming soon
- Revised
- Firm
- Provisional
- Coming soon
- Revised
How well are we doing?
Editor's note: We have recently refreshed and updated our data for all countries on the platform, as we revised the 21 policies we cover.
Our economies and societies are fundamentally reliant on nature, so building policies to protect the environment on land and in the ocean is very important. A well-designed Ocean and land conservation plan will link to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and set targets, establish responsibilities, and provide funding for preserving forests, fisheries and other important ecosystems that provide essential goods, services and natural spaces.
Support for ocean and land conservation was amongst the strongest of all our policy areas (second only to national green economy planning and tied with cross-sectoral planning). With the majority of scores in the mid-to-high range, all countries reviewed have at least some form of conservation strategy in place though to varying degrees of development. Lagging behind in this policy area are Serbia, which has only a partial strategy in place for terrestrial conservation, and the United States, which continues to prioritise national sovereignty and economic interests in the timber and fossil fuel sectors, rather than advancing protective measures for land or marine biodiversity.
Showcasing our highest levels of ambition are a large group of countries with South Africa, Rwanda, and Canada leading the way. For both South Africa and Rwanda this represents their best-performing policy area. In Rwanda this marked improvement is driven in part by the 2025 National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan which sets 22 national targets underpinned by a strong legal foundation.
With capacity for further development, but making notable progress are Brazil and China. For China this has been showcased through a combination of long-standing national strategies, the establishment of five national parks, and the legally binding Ecological Conservation Redline policy.
...We must realise that to achieve the SDGs, we must get the natural world right. Our wetlands are our water treatment plants. Our forests are our air purifiers. Our insects and birds are our food pollinators.
About this policy
There are many international frameworks that try to provide joined-up targets and support national conservation efforts on land and sea. Arguably the most important and comprehensive are the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by 193 countries in 2015, which combine ambition on sustainability with targets for economic development and shared prosperity. Of the 17 goals, SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) are particularly important for ocean & land conservation, although all 17 are vital to building a comprehensive and inclusive blue and green economies.
Policy action has been enhanced by commitments under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), most recently with the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The actions needed to safeguard nature will vary by country, but the strongest policy approaches will have a comprehensive plan for meeting SDGs 14 and 15, and credible National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAP).
Regular progress assessments - alongside clear funding commitments and regulatory changes - and intermediate targets help to separate out moderate levels of conservation ambition. A joined-up, national approach to delivering the SDGs and GBF is key, but decreasing detail and delivery clarity how SDG 14 and 15 will be managed point to countries with the weakest policy - limited strategy or targets in place, and little serious engagement with the SDGs at all.
Case Study: Canada
Following formal adoption of the SDGs in 2015, Canada published the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy for Canada (FSDS) 2016–2019 the following year, with targets for 2020, clear development priorities, and identified actions to achieve them, including a clear consultation phase with civil society. By framing these interventions around 13 aspirational goals most relevant to Canada, and the multiple SDGs that they link to, the approach is crosscutting while also providing clarity on commitments related to specific goals. Plans for meeting SDG 14 and 15 are addressed in the aspirations for ‘Healthy coasts and oceans’, ‘Sustainably managed lands and forests’, and ‘Healthy wildlife populations’.
Case Study: Uganda
Unlike Canada, the Ugandan government’s approach to planning for nature conservation has been to integrate the SDGs directly into its main economic planning document, the Second National Development Plan 2015/16-2019/20 (NDPII). This followed an initial review report into Uganda’s readiness to implement the SDGs, which identified some minimal targets and commitments for each SDG, including SDG 14 and 15. This joined up approach, which allows monitoring and evaluation of annual progress against SDG relevant targets in line with regular annual national development reporting and sectoral reports, is a strong implementation approach – though dependent on increasing the ambition and detail of current targets.