A new paper coauthored by staff members from American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and published in Biological Reviews reveals that the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) network has grown to be the most comprehensive global map of critical biodiversity sites since the framework was formalized in 2016. There are currently 16,596 KBAs covering more than 13.7 million square miles (22.1 million square kilometers). KBAs represent the most significant places for biodiversity on the planet, which collectively support more than 18,000 species. ABC is a member of the KBA Partnership.
After several decades of different organisations using different approaches for identifying important sites for nature, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) unified these by publishing the Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas in 2016. This landmark document provides a unified set of criteria for identifying “sites of significance for the global persistence of biodiversity.” Now, almost ten years on, a newly published paper by over 50 authors from 19 countries provides the first global audit of the KBA approach. It synthesises the lessons learned and outcomes of applying the global standard, documenting the scale, and characteristics of KBAs, their use by governments, intergovernmental bodies and the private sector, as well as future priorities for the KBA approach.
The origins of KBAs can be traced back to the 1970s, when the concept of Important Bird Areas was defined and the approach was used to map key places for birds. Over time, similar initiatives emerged for plants, freshwater systems, butterflies, and other species groups. However, to respond to the increasing need for a globally unified standard, KBAs were born. With them, the KBA Partnership was formed with the goal of ensuring the correct application of the standard, the identification of a comprehensive KBA network and the protection and safeguarding of these sites.
By 2024, as many countries comprehensively assessed their sites of biodiversity importance, the KBA network expanded to encompass a staggering 16,596 sites, covering 22.1 million square kilometers. Lead author of the paper, Dr. Stuart Butchart, Chief Scientist at BirdLife International, points out that “These KBAs range from tropical rainforests to coral reefs, spanning terrestrial, freshwater, marine, and even subterranean systems. Based on the KBA criteria, most sites (63%) qualify because they support globally threatened species, and nearly half (48%) are important for biological processes such as large congregations or migration.”
KBAs have been identified as significant for 18,365 species — from plants and birds to mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, invertebrates and fungi. These locations are also crucial for human persistence. The array of ecosystems within them provides important contributions to people: climate mitigation, freshwater provision and purification, flood mitigation, coastal protection, tourism, and cultural identity.
Dr. Andrew Plumptre, Head of the Key Biodiversity Secretariat and a coauthor of the paper, said, “The identification of these sites is critical, but only the first step. To ensure KBAs are conserved, the current pressures affecting them need to be addressed.” One of the major threats affecting these sites is the unsustainable use of biological resources, such as logging, fisheries and hunting (impacting 40.8% of these sites), followed by agricultural expansion and intensification (40.7%), human disturbance (38.4%), and modification of natural systems through fire and water management (33.4%). Driven by such threats, deforestation remains a major concern — terrestrial KBAs have lost on average 8.2% of their tree cover between 2001 and 2020, with accelerating rates in many regions.
