Tracking important site safeguard through different approaches to measuring the indicator of protected area coverage of Key Biodiversity Areas

A new study led by Dr. Konstantina Spiliopoulou and co-authored by Kostas Triantis has been published in the journal Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. The research explores five formulations of the indicator used to measure how well protected areas and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) cover Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs).

A major highlight of the publication is the introduction of a new formulation: the "completeness of KBA coverage." Notably, this is the only formulation that also accounts for the spatial configuration of protected areas.

To more accurately reflect progress in safeguarding these critically important sites, the authors recommend that countries report a complementary set of three metrics in their National Reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as for other multilateral environmental agreements. These proposed metrics are: Completeness of KBA coverage (Icompleteness), Percentage of KBAs completely covered (Icovered), and Mean percentage coverage of KBAs (Imean).

Finally, to streamline global communication and reporting, the study proposes renaming the broader indicator of protected area KBA coverage to the "Important Site Safeguard Index."

Find out more here https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2026.101205

Publication:

Spiliopoulou, K., Triantis, K.A., Brooks, T.M., Leroi, A.M., Kokkoris, G.D., Scott, T., Stoumboudi, M.T. and Butchart, S.H., 2026. Tracking important site safeguard through different approaches to measuring the indicator of protected area coverage of Key Biodiversity Areas. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, p.101205.