The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) for Palestine must deal with the five main global threats: climate change, over-exploitation, habitat destruction, invasive species, and pollution, while enhancing the benefits to people from nature. In addition, we need to deal with a fifth threat to our environment: decades’ long Israeli occupation and colonization. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted issues of inequality and need to build reslient communities which adds to the urgency of this project. There have been positive developments, as articulated in the 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of SP. It is believed possible to use the opportunity of building a Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan that contributes to making genuine and lasting transformations in the Palestinian society and its interaction with the environment. To identify and achieve sustainable human development targets that respect and protect the environment requires maximum participation and support from all sectors of the Palestinian society. This includes central government, local authorities, NGOs, CSOs, academia, religious organizations, media, and the general public. There is a pressing need over the next ten years for commitment across the world to identify and finance conservation initiatives that halt, mitigate and provide adaptations to climate change. This is particularly important for developing countries. By producing this document, Palestinians show they can be leaders in both conservation and achieving environmental justice.
One important milestone in raising global awareness and organizing action in defense of the planet was the creation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992. The Convention was inspired by the world community's growing commitment to sustainable development. It represents a dramatic step forward in the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Convention brought nations together to identify best practices to address the main threats to biodiversity caused by climate change, overexploitation of resources, pollution, habitat destruction, and the negative consequences of invasive alien species. SP became a signatory to the Convention in 2015 and provided a submission to its 5th National Report but has since been excluded from major funding under the Convention. In 2021, SP provided its 6th National CBD Report noting some progress but also significant challenges. This is in line with most countries. The key areas globally identified for the failure to achieve the CBD’s approved Aichi Targets to 2020 (or even the UN SDGs, see Arab Sustainable Development Report, and UN ESCWA) are: 1) Inadequate national policy responses, 2) Funding shortages, 3) Science–policy knowledge gaps, and 4) Weak review processes. For SP, the 6th National Report showed these and other challenges (primarily the occupation). Indeed, most countries fell short of meeting the Aichi Targets. Additionally, SP is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Another key set of targets are those set in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The first National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) for SP was made in 1999. Its production coincided with adoption of an environmental law passed by the newly created Palestinian Authority. This NBSAP revision is a collective project that has involved the Environment Quality Authority (EQA) and Bethlehem University and has been assisted by the widest range possible of stakeholders. The project took place in two stages:
1) Submitting Palestine’s contribution to the 6th National CBD Report. This showed the progress made by SP in meeting the 2020 Aichi Targets. The contribution to the 6th National Report describes how Palestinians have responded to the challenging targets in spite of the negative consequences of the five main global threats and over five decades of Israeli occupation.
2) Secondly, producing an NBSAP that will “galvanize urgent and transformative action by Governments and all communities, civil society, and businesses, to achieve the outcomes it sets out in its vision, mission, goals and targets, and thereby to contribute to the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity,

Protocols, and other biodiversity related multilateral agreements, processes and instruments” (October 2021 – November 2022)
The post-2020 CBD framework: within the post-2020 frameworks of the Biodiversity Convention, the global community recognizes:
 Ecosystems and their biodiversity underpin the global economy and human well-being and need to be valued and protected,
 Damage to global ecosystem services and biodiversity is acute and accelerating (five major threats globally: climate change, overexploitation, pollution, habitat destruction, and invasive alien species; and a sixth local threat; Israeli occupation/colonization),
 Ecosystem damage carries economic and social dimensions and costs,
 Growing demand from an expanding population is a key cause of biodiversity loss,
 Investing in ecological infrastructure can offer greater returns than man-made alternatives and thus contribute to econmic stability,
Creating the NBSAP included over forty capacity-building workshops and associated activities that were used to assist in preparation of the strategy and action plan draft. Training was delivered on GIS, remote sensing and other forms of data recording. This included the collection and cataloguing of available cartographic, cognitive data and technical documentation. All information gathered has been archived and will be uploaded to a central CHM. The new NBSAP offers a vision of sustainable development and ecologically balanced communities in SP. It also provides a road map and set of outcomes that will contribute to global efforts to conserve our shared planet.
We used six guiding principles to produce this updated NBSAP:
1) The most important principle was grassroots involvement. While all levels of society have been involved in feeding into the planning and managing of natural resources, particular attention was given to participation by local communities. The intention was to ensure shared benefits from, and fair access to SP’s rich biodiversity.
2) Relying on post 2020 CBD frameworks coupled with the experience of other countries and local knowledge to create a strategy tailored for SP, and a practical and realistic plan for its implementation. The aim is to move beyond GDP indicators to measures of well-being, both in terms of human welfare and balanced ecosystems.
3) Empowerment through capacity building. Building human capacity requires restructuring educational systems at all levels. The role of schools and universities is to help young people become citizens who have respect for themselves, for others and for the environment in which they live in.
4) Respect for others and for the natural world leads to sustainability and coexistence with each other and with nature. Respect leads to caring, empathy, and collaboration both within bounded entities and across borders. Respect involves preserving Palestinian culture and the natural heritage of SP.
5) In addition to new technology, we have used indigenous knowledge, practices, and value systems. Through this, traditional means of production, cultural practices and forms of joint organization were drawn upon. This includes collaboration, support), and self-sustenance, resilience, and persistence).
6) Environmental justice is an absolute right: every human being is entitled to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment.
Based on the preliminary work articulated in the 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity and supplemented by the literature reviews, workshops and interviews undertaken in the formulation of this document, the situation in SP can be summarized as following:
Diagnosis: Like other developing countries, SP suffers from the common global threats of climate change, pollution, invasive alien species, habitat destruction and overexploitation of natural resources. Theproblems associated with these issues are compounded by Israelicolonial occupation. Nevertheless, environmental education, research, and conservation efforts taking place across SP are positive actions. However, these actions are not sufficientl and cannot significantly stem the environmental deterioration currently taking place.
Therapy: The intention behind producing this National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is to create a template within which the Palestinian society can be radically transformed. Accordingly, urban and rural communities can live in ecological harmony with the land and resources of SP. To achieve this, full participation and effort from every sector of our society: governmental institutions, local authorities, NGOs, CSOs, academia, religious communities, media, and the general public. The NBSAP provides an entry point and a means by which capacity building can be undertaken. Action will come about through increasing awareness and building abilities at all levels from the individual to the institutional. Appropriately focused agency will bring about participation in the economic, social, and political elements that provide the basis for an ecologically sustainable society. The NBSAP provides a means to leverage funds for SP from bilateral and multilateral sources earmarked for biodiversity and conservation initiatives. The strategy and plan will also provide the means to identify projects to assist with mitigation and future adaptation to climate change.
Prognosis: With the implementation of the strategy and action plan:
1) SP would develop into a socially stable and economically successful society living in harmony with its natural environment,
2) The public would have greater awareness of environmental issues and through this have a deeper connection with the land and nature. More food with a low carbon footprint would be sustainably produced, thus contributing to greater food security.
The vision, mission, strategic goals and objectives of SP’s 2022 NBSAP:
VISION: By 2050 human and natural communities will be coexisting in harmony, where biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy Palestinian environment and delivering benefits essential for all people.
MISSION: NBSAP of SP sets parameters, conditions, and programs to 2030, to be revisited every five years thereafter to achieve the vision stated via participatory strategic planning and implementation, capacity building, mainstreaming, and bridging science-policy-practice gaps.
Strategic Goals (4), Objectives (6), Milestones (17), and Targets (17) were set up from which 76 specific action plans were formulated collectively.
Goal A. Increase protection and conservation measures to halt the decline and minimize loss of habitats and species.
Objective A1: The integrity and connectivity of ecosystems are enhanced, with an increase of at least 15 per cent in Palestine, supporting healthy and resilient populations of all species: the rate of extinctions is reduced at least tenfold, the risk of species extinction across all taxonomic and functional groups is halved, and genetic diversity of wild and domesticated species is safeguarded, with at least 90 per cent of genetic diversity within all species maintained.
Objective A2: Reducing the six major threats in SP that affect biodiversity (Climate Change, Habitat Destruction, Pollution, Overexploitation, Invasive Alien Species, Israeli Colonization)Objective B1. Nature’s contributions to people are valued, maintained or enhanced through conservation and sustainable use, supporting the global development agenda with a substantial increase in both monetary and non-monetary benefits shared equitably.
Goal C. Mainstreaming and valorizing biodiversity conservation at all levels of society in an inclusive and participatory manner.
Objective C1: Develop programs for capacity building, knowledge generation, and knowledge dissemination (awareness).
Goal D. Improved governance, partnerships, and resource mobilization.
Objective D1: Bridging science-policy/procedure gaps,
Objective D2: Mobilize enough resources (financial and otherwise) to achieve the Mission.
The new NBSAP lays out 17 targets under these objectives with attendant action plans (total 76, annex 1). Each action plan was stated using SMART criteria (who will deliver them, timelines, indicators etc and even potential funding sources, and notes on implementation). The lay out of the NBSAP report follows recommended structure based on CBD guidelines. The introduction (Section 1) includes background, local and international treaties, analysis of causes and consequences of biodiversity loss, issues of ecosystem services, stakeholders, and issues of synergies. Section 2 engages iun stocktaking that helped build the NBSAP and covers such areas as threats, local isues of nature’s contribution to people, conservation (including area, species, habitats), mainstreaming, gender, research, capacity building, modernization, risks, and disaster management, biosafety, sustainable production and consumption, management of species and ecosystems, and mobilizing resources. Section 3 covers the construction process of the NBSAP and Section 4 the outputs of the NBSAP. Section 5 deals with implementation and section 6 provides concluding comments. The NBSAP also includes a glossary of terms and the references
Goal B. Enhance ecosystem services (nature’s contribution to people) and equitable benefit sharing