As part of the process to develop a post-2020 strategy, this symposium brought together international scientists, conservation practitioners, policy-makers, business leaders, civil society and donors to:   

• Review the science informing future area-based conservation targets 
• Evaluate the implications of various policy options
• Provide balanced, evidence-based recommendations to Parties to the CBD and other policy processes
• Raise awareness of the need for a more ambitious, holistic and effective strategy to safeguard space for nature, incorporating protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.

The symposium complemented and integrated the work of other groups reviewing this issue, such as the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Beyond the Aichi Targets Task Force. The outputs of the meeting were intended to feed into post-2020 negotiations in the run up to the CBD’s 14th Conference of the Parties and the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development of the UN’s Economic and Social Council later in 2018 and to help to ensure that nature conservation is at the heart of sustainable development.

The symposium was hosted by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and National Geographic Society (NGS), in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), BirdLife International/RSPB, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD).

The resulting information document is available in the 'related resources' below.