Biodiversity Conservation Governance: “30% by 2030”?

Background: The Montreal-Kunming Protocol as a result of the 2022 Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) calls for the dedication of 30% of sea and land area to protected areas to halt species extinction. This raises a multitude of questions over nature conservation policy, ethics and practices: what should protection look like and what activities should be allowed in protected areas, who should be involved in the planning of protected areas, how to implement effective implementation, and what role do agriculture and other land uses play? Which conflicts, which social disputes are associated with the stated goal?

Aim of the research: The aim is to research the potential for conflict, the governance mechanisms and the actual implementation of plans to create new protected areas especially on land previously used for agriculture. Regions in Germany and Europe, but also in East Africa or South Asia can be used as case study regions. Methodologically, a variety of qualitative methods from document analysis to expert interviews are conceivable.