Achieving Target 1 through effective spatial planning underpins the long-term success of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework

Hedley Grantham, Vanessa Adams, Natalie Ban, Maria Jose Martinez-Harms , Andrew Skowno, Piero Visconti, Jorge G Álvarez-Romero, Jedediah F. Brodie, Nigel Dudley, Mike Heiner, Kendall Jones, Suman Jumani, Annika Keeley, Christina Kennedy, Jen McGowan, Madhu Rao, Vanessa Rathbone, Robert J. Smith, Fabrice Stephenson, Michelle Ward, James Watson

The first target of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) mandates signatory nations of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to address biodiversity loss across all regions within their national jurisdictions by 2030 by implementing Participatory, Integrated, and Biodiversity-Inclusive Spatial Planning (BISP). Delivering Target 1 through coordinated, inclusive spatial planning is foundational to the majority of KM–GBF targets, directing restoration (Target 2), optimising protected area networks (Target 3), and enabling actions to prevent extinctions (Target 4). BISP will also improve decisions to address biodiversity threats (Targets 6–8) and guide sustainable use across production systems and urban landscapes (Targets 5, 9–12). By being participatory and inclusive, such spatial planning also advances equity objectives such as fair benefit-sharing and the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and influencing all levels of decision-making (Target 14, 21-23). While some case studies successfully capture all components of Target 1, the central challenge is to move beyond siloed approaches—where protected areas, restoration, and sustainable use are planned separately—and integrate these into a unified spatial planning framework that improves coherence, maximises benefits, and reduces trade-offs. We argue that the ambitions of the KM-GBF will only be achieved if Parties to the CBD prioritise Target 1 as an enabling, keystone target. The future challenge is not conceptual innovation but integration—aligning existing planning elements, tools, and approaches into coherent spatial strategies capable of systemically halting and reversing biodiversity loss.