Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans: Learning from the Global LBSAP Studios 2026
Background
In 2010, the 193 Parties (192 national governments and the European Union) who were signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted Decision X/22 at the tenth meeting of the CBD Conference of the Parties in Aichi/Nagoya, Japan. Adoption of the Decision also meant endorsement of a “Plan of Action on Sub-National Governments, Cities and other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2010-2020)”. Local Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (LBSAPs) are a mechanism for implementing the CBD. Initial guidelines were developed in 2013 with support of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, The United Nations University (UNU-IAS), and the Secretariat of the CBD (SCBD) together with a network of cities and experts and the first Global LBSAP Studios. However, these guidelines were based on Aichi Biodiversity Targets at the local level, through alignment with National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) (https://cbc.iclei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/LBSAP-Guidelines.pdf). However, these guidelines need to be revised and adjusted to the new the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), launched in 2023, particularly target 12:
The practical guidelines have the objective of “how to” develop LBSAPs placing strong emphasis on alignment with national NBSAPs, and sub-national BSAPs, where they exist, and provide local governments and cities with step-by-step information for organizational planning, the construction and content of the strategies and action plan, and pragmatic solutions for mainstreaming and implementing the LBSAP. This city-biodiversity studio is an important mechanism to develop conceptual and practical approaches to better integrate biodiversity into the local planning process and provide inputs to the revision of the previous guidelines to adjust them to the the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
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Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Acopian Center for the Environment, The University of Manchester, Manchester Mtropolitan University, University of Salford Manchester, Tongji University, Ateneo de Manila, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal, School of Planning an Architecture Bhobal, University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Universidade Federal do Pará, Univerisade Federal da Bahia. Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans: Learning from the Global LBSAP Studios 2026. Policy Brief #3.
