Asia Pacific > South Korea bets on OECMs in updated biodiversity plan to achieve marine conservation target

South Korea bets on OECMs in updated biodiversity plan to achieve marine conservation target

Published 14:17 on August 21, 2024  /  Last updated at 14:17 on August 21, 2024  / Sergio Colombo /  Asia Pacific, Biodiversity, South Korea

South Korea has published its updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), outlining actions to scale up nature conservation efforts, including expanding Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to bridge the country's huge gap in marine protection.

South Korea has published its updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), outlining actions to scale up nature conservation efforts, including expanding Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to bridge the country’s huge gap in marine protection.

As of 2022, only 1.8% of marine and coastal areas were managed as protected areas compared to 17.2% of the national terrestrial surface, which requires additional efforts to achieve the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) target of conserving at least 30% of land and sea by 2030, the plan said.

With the release of its NBSAP, South Korea joined a handful of countries and regions that have finalised their updated plans ahead of the COP16 UN biodiversity summit in October, when all nations must submit an outline for how they intend to align with the GBF.

South Korea’s NBSAP identified 21 targets grouped under three strategic goals – reducing threats to biodiversity, increasing sustainable use and benefit-sharing, and strengthening implementation and mainstreaming tools.

“In order to meet the 30 by 30 goal … it is crucial to expand nationally protected areas, which in turn requires support or acceptance by local residents,” said the document.

OECMS NEEDED

The plan targeted designating at least two new marine and coastal protected areas every year, as well as identifying well-conserved marine and coastal areas as OECMs.

These may include “environment and ecosystem management areas, research and education conservation areas, safety management areas, and self-management fishery areas”.

Defined as sites where nature is protected despite it not being their primary purpose, OECMs may be counted towards national conservation targets under the GBF agreement, with countries like Japan, China, and Australia already taking steps to include them in their strategy.

Under the newly published plan, South Korea intends to “institutionalise the identification and management of OECMs by making revisions to relevant legislation to define them and their types, specify the process to identify, list, manage them, and assess the effectiveness of their management”.

Following the identification of OECM candidate sites, these would be listed in the Korea Database on Protected Areas, said the document.

SPEEDING UP DISCLOSURES

The NBSAP contained several planned initiatives to advance corporate action on biodiversity, including drafting guidelines to hasten the adoption of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendation.

The aim is to increase the share of organisations disclosing their impacts and dependencies on nature to 50% in 2030 from 30% in 2027.

South Korea also vowed to identify environmentally harmful subsidies by 2025, and start phasing them out in 2026, as well as to improve the allocation and tracing of funding towards nature conservation and restoration activities.

“It is necessary to develop a system to track the flow of funds in the Republic of Korea (ROC) and a plan to raise funds to close the gap, and to mobilise financial resources from a variety of sources, including private funds,” it said.

Among the financial instruments that should be explored are the payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes, green bonds, and biodiversity offsetting, according to the NBSAP.

LACK OF ALIGNMENT

Additionally, the plan called for strengthening coordination between the government, ministries, and local authorities, in order to better align biodiversity-related policies across the country.

“In the ROK, several ministries have developed and are implementing statutory plans that affect biodiversity, but these plans lack alignment and consistency with the NBSAP,” it said.

Furthermore, since 2014, only 12 out of 17 metropolitan local governments in South Korea have established a local biodiversity strategy and action plan.

“[The] lack of groundwork for supporting local-level efforts is hindering the development of a biodiversity conservation framework that could cover the entire nation,” said the plan.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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