Multiple protected area management effectiveness (PAME) methodologies have been developed to assess how well protected and conserved areas are performing. The large range of tools makes comparisons across the various methods difficult, as there is no common language for interpreting the results. This also makes the collection of data for reporting towards global area-based conservation targets challenging.

The IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas Standard provides a framework for tracking the effectiveness of protected and conserved areas, and many other assessment methodologies align with at least some of the aspects assessed by the Green List Standard. UNEP-WCMC, in collaboration with IUCN, worked on a crosswalk analysis to determine how seven commonly used methodologies relate to the Green List Standard. This crosswalk allows any gaps or links between the various approaches to be identified. The results of the analysis show that there is strong alignment between the seven methodologies and the IUCN Green List Standard, particularly for Component 2 (‘Sound Design and Planning’) and Component 3 (‘Effective Management’) of the Green List. The assessment methods considered within this crosswalk provide the least coverage of Component 4 on ‘Successful Conservation Outcomes’. These findings help to clarify how conducting PAME assessments can support site managers to fulfil a number of Green List Standard criteria and indicators, as well as highlighting areas where there may be limitations.

Currently, the crosswalk approach has been applied to seven methodologies. Additional analyses may be conducted in the future. Further work will also be needed to align the crosswalk results with the ongoing process, led by IUCN, to develop the IUCN Green List Standard benchmarking tool (IBEX).