Other Effective Conservation Measures in the Marine Environment: The Policy-Makers' Silver Bullet for Meeting Global Conservation Ambitions?

The concept of ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs) has recently gained traction, as they seem to offer an easier means to achieve area-based conservation targets than conventional protected areas, which can require greater stakeholder engagement, compromise and investment. Many existent area-based management measures – including traditional harvesting areas, indigenous sacred places and activity exclusion zones – may already offer some form of biodiversity protection, despite conservation not being their primary purpose, potentially meeting the OECM criteria. There is concern, however, that conferring OECM status to any such measure without consideration of all relevant aspects could result in an inflated sense of the proportion of area that is effectively protected. This paper investigates and reflects upon the legal basis of OECMs and assesses how governance frameworks may incorporate the concept to meet conservation commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.