By 2030, Solomon Islands will establish participatory, integrated and biodiversity-inclusive planning or effective management processes for priority terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine areas. Planning will bring together customary owners, communities, provincial governments and responsible national agencies to address land- and sea-use change and avoid the conversion of areas of high biodiversity importance.

The proposed national milestones are 80% of terrestrial areas and 70% of marine areas covered by qualifying planning or effective management processes, and 80% of mapped Key Biodiversity Areas and nationally defined special-use marine areas under appropriate management measures. Solomon Islands will also seek to reduce native forest loss against a verified baseline. The coverage figures, definitions and baseline will be confirmed through national mapping and consultation before they are reported as measured progress.

Main policy measures or actions
1. Establish national baselines and maps. Bring together available land cover, forest-change, habitat, customary-use, protected-area, fisheries and biodiversity data. Define the terrestrial and marine areas counted in each percentage and map Key Biodiversity Areas and special-use marine areas without double counting.
2. Develop plans with rights holders and provinces. Support customary owners, communities and provincial governments to prepare or strengthen land-use, watershed, coastal and marine plans, with meaningful participation by women and youth.
3. Integrate biodiversity into development decisions. Use environmental assessment, development consent conditions and relevant sector planning processes to avoid or minimise impacts in important habitats and ecological corridors.
4. Coordinate responsible agencies. Agree roles and information-sharing arrangements among MECDM/ECD, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, mining, provincial governments and other relevant authorities.
Prioritise areas facing conversion pressure. Apply planning and management measures first where logging, infrastructure, mining, agricultural expansion or coastal development present significant risks to biodiversity.
5. Monitor outcomes, not only plan coverage. Track the area covered by qualifying processes, implementation of those processes, changes in native forest and other natural habitats, and the condition of priority biodiversity areas. Review plans with communities as evidence improves.

These actions build on existing planning, environmental assessment and community management processes; their scale and timing will depend on agreed responsibilities and resources. The CBD identifies spatial planning and effective management as complementary ways to address land- and sea-use change.

These are taken into consideration through consultations(group work, reports and discussions).

The national target covers Target 1’s core elements: participatory planning; integration of biodiversity into land- and sea-use decisions; effective management processes; prevention of loss in areas of high biodiversity importance; and respect for customary owners and local communities. It applies to terrestrial and marine areas and should include inland waters and watersheds in the planning approach.

The proposed 80% terrestrial and 70% marine milestones provide national coverage measures, while the 80% milestone focuses attention on mapped areas of particular biodiversity importance. These figures do not mean that those areas are protected areas, nor does the existence of a plan alone demonstrate effective management. Solomon Islands will need agreed criteria, spatial baselines and evidence of implementation to report progress.

GBF Target 1 refers to all areas and seeks to bring loss of areas of high biodiversity importance close to zero by 2030. The proposed national percentages are therefore partial coverage milestones, not full achievement of every aspect of the global target. The final submission should explain how coverage will expand, how forest and habitat loss will be measured, and how customary rights and participation will be respected.

Non-state contributions to this target will be confirmed through consultation with customary owners, community management groups, civil society, research institutions and the private sector. Potential commitments include participatory mapping and planning, protection of locally identified biodiversity areas, community monitoring, technical data support, and biodiversity safeguards in business operations. MECDM will record each confirmed commitment with the responsible organisation or community, geographic area, agreed action, timeframe and evidence of progress.