WCS at CBD COP17
October 19-30, 2026
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Piece By Piece: Enacting 30x30
What are WCS’s priorities at CBD COP17?
Fundraising to Protect Oceans, Forests and Other Key Nature Sites Falling Short Ahead of UN Summit
UN Chief Urges End to War on Nature
Meet the WCS Delegation to COP17
In Armenia, the Convention on Biological Diversity Measures Progress on Commitments for 2030
Governments from around the world are meeting in Armenia this month to confront a difficult question. They’ve made major promises to protect nature. Are they delivering? Wild Audio speaks with WCS Vice President for International Policy Dr. Susan Lieberman about the biodiversity summit in Yerevan, what WCS hopes to achieve, and why international meetings this year on grasslands, biodiversity, and climate are so closely connected.
Reporting: Nat Moss
Guest: Dr. Susan Lieberman
What Is the Global Biodiversity Summit and Why Does It Matter?
Biodiversity Promises: From Recognition to Action to Safeguard Life and Well-Being
WCS at Medium
High Fens in Flames
Belgium faces the urgent need for coordinated global action, writes WCS’s Arnaud Goessens. “The world needs multilateralism more than ever.”
WCS Welcomes New IUCN Report Calling for Ecological Integrity to Be at the Heart of Global Conservation Efforts
Several Issues of High Importance to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Pending at UN Biodiversity Conference 2026
Success at CBD CoP17 Must Be Measured by Results for Nature
Are the world’s commitments actually delivering results for biodiversity? With just four years remaining to meet the world’s 2030 biodiversity targets, the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference, CBD CoP17, must be measured by this fundamental question.
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Five Days Until CBD COP17: Global Conservation Organizations Call for a Step Change in Nature Action
There is work to be done to achieve the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, says WCS President and CEO Adam Falk. “Much more is needed to mainstream biodiversity into wider policy landscapes,” he says, “to protect and conserve ecological integrity, and to achieve our shared goal of reversing nature loss.”
Act Now
How is WCS helping advance Target 3 (30x30)?
The governments of the world have set a goal of protecting 30% of the planet by 2030. At WCS, we are working across the globe on both the creation and the effective management of protected and conserved areas. In our history, we’ve worked with governments, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities to help create over 580 protected and conserved areas. We are currently working on the creation of 500+ new protected and conserved areas. We also currently support the effective management of over 1000 existing protected and conserved areas that collectively cover over 1,800,000 square kilometers.
580+ protected and conserved areas
In our history, we’ve worked with governments, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities to help create more than 580 protected and conserved areas.
1000+ existing protected and conserved areas
WCS currently supports the effective management of areas that collectively cover over 1,800,000 square kilometers.
WCS 30x30 Ocean Accelerator
The goal of the accelerator, launched in 2023, is to help governments and communities turn 30x30 ocean commitments into action.
- Expand direct access to financing for Indigenous Peoples and local communities
- Ensure the full, equitable, inclusive, effective and gender-responsive representation and participation in decision-making of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women and youth.
- Explicitly recognize the contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to global restoration and conservation goals keeping in mind territories traditionally owned, occupied, used, or acquired by Indigenous Peoples and local communities consistent with UNDRIP and international human rights standards respectively
- For Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation or initial contact governments should establish no-go zones, halt permits and extractive activities guided by principles of no contact, intangibility, and precaution
- Protect environmental and Indigenous defenders
- Sustainable management of wildlife explicitly should be guided by free, prior and informed consent processes
- Decide on the modus operandi of Article 8(j) - the new permanent body devoted to Indigenous Peoples and local communities under the biodiversity convention. Representation should lead to genuine co-leadership with governments, not symbolic participation.
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