The contributions of biodiversity and ecosystems to human development and well-being have long been recognized. However, the world continues to lose its biodiversity as a result of both direct and indirect pressures, including habitat destruction, overexploitation, the spreading of invasive alien species, climate change and population pressure. National, bilateral and multilateral efforts to halt and reverse the loss have given rise to a number of legal, regulatory and policy regimes that are currently under implementation.
While the policy and regulatory regimes are intended to provide an overarching framework for action on the ground, legal regimes and instruments provide the interpretation and protection services necessary for ensuring that policy and regulatory regimes are effectively implemented. The implementation referred to in the present paper usually takes place at the national level.
This paper, Law and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, provides an overview of current thinking and the experience of countries in using legal frameworks to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity at the national level through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and provides options for enhancing legal preparedness in revising and implementing the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.