Kathmandu / Asia — The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is set to significantly enhance regional cooperation and technical support for biodiversity conservation across Asia and West Asia following a new agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Under the agreement, the IUCN Asia Regional Office and the IUCN Regional Office for West Asia have been officially designated as Subregional Technical and Scientific Cooperation Support Centres of the CBD. This designation marks an important step toward accelerating the implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) across the region.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by parties to the CBD, provides a global roadmap to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 through ambitious targets related to ecosystem protection, sustainable use of nature, equitable benefit-sharing, and strengthened governance. Effective implementation of the framework, however, requires strong regional coordination, science-based planning, and technical capacity-areas where IUCN is expected to play a pivotal role.
With the new mandate, IUCN will support countries in Asia and West Asia by providing scientific knowledge, policy guidance, and technical expertise tailored to national and subregional contexts. The support centres will also facilitate cooperation among governments, research institutions, civil society, and other stakeholders to translate global biodiversity commitments into practical, on-the-ground action.
According to IUCN, the designation reinforces its long-standing partnership with the CBD and strengthens its role as a bridge between global biodiversity policy and national implementation. By leveraging its extensive regional presence, expert networks, and evidence-based tools such as the IUCN Red List and ecosystem assessment frameworks, IUCN aims to help countries overcome implementation gaps and scale up effective conservation solutions.
The initiative comes at a critical time for Asia, a region that hosts some of the world’s richest biodiversity but is also experiencing rapid habitat loss, climate impacts, and increasing pressure on natural resources. Enhanced regional technical support is expected to assist countries in aligning national biodiversity strategies and action plans with the Kunming–Montreal framework, while ensuring inclusive and locally driven conservation approaches.
The collaboration underscores a shared commitment by the CBD and IUCN to move from pledges to action, ensuring that biodiversity conservation efforts in Asia and West Asia are coordinated, science-driven, and capable of delivering measurable results for nature and people alike.
