Marine & Coastal OECM: A Guidance Document for COBSEA Participating Countries

This guidance document explains how marine and coastal Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures can accelerate marine conservation in the East Asian Seas, which contain the world’s richest marine biodiversity, while supporting Target 3 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It describes these measures as a vital complement to Marine Protected Areas and provides practical, non-technical, region-specific guidance for participating countries of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia to identify, recognise, establish, manage, monitor and evaluate marine and coastal conservation measures. The document outlines governance approaches, assessment criteria, implementation processes, monitoring frameworks, and country examples to strengthen long-term biodiversity conservation beyond protected areas.