With the adoption of a new global biodiversity framework in 2020, there is a critical opportunity to set the world on a path to a sustainable future for biodiversity. Area-based conservation, both in terrestrial and marine realms, is an important element of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and there is no doubt that it will also be essential to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

However, the proliferation of terms used to describe approaches to area-based conservation has created confusion, at times hampering discussions on their role in the post-2020 framework. This discussion document seeks to reduce this confusion by proposing a categorisation of terms commonly used for approaches to area-based conservation.

The CBD thematic workshop on area-based conservation measures for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (1-3 December 2019) offered a key opportunity to facilitate focussed discussions on key priorities for area-based conservation, thereby informing the development of the framework. This document was intended to inform this discussion.