Find Us at COP17

UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17)
19–30 October 2026, Yerevan, Armenia

What it is: CBD COP17, the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held every two years, will be taking place in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026. Convened by the CBD Secretariat and hosted by the Government of Armenia, it will carry out a global review of progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, asking whether the Framework is actually being implemented, four years after its adoption and four years before its 2030 deadline.

Why it matters: The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is the world's plan to reverse biodiversity loss while supporting sustainable development. AWF worked to strengthen Africa’s representation in GBF negotiations leading up to its ratification in Montreal in 2023. Since then, AWF has continued to directly engage and support key stakeholders like the Africa Group of Negotiators to the convention as we collaboratively work on how Africa can meet the framework’s 2030 goals.

AWF believes:

Africa is not waiting to be delivered to. It is building the coalitions that deliver.
The bottleneck in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) is not African ambition, it is delivery architecture. AWF convenes and supports the African institutions that carry a common position into the room and turn it into national results.
KMGBF: Targets 20, 22, 23 and Section C on whole-of-society implementation.

Ecological integrity and connectivity are strategic investments in Africa's future.
Protected and connected landscapes are ecological infrastructure and assets. They strengthen biodiversity and climate resilience, underpin peace and security, create green jobs, and reduce the drivers of forced migration. Coverage alone is not conservation — integrity and connectivity are.
KMGBF: Targets 1, 2, 3, 8, 11, 21 and the monitoring framework itself.

People-centred conservation: community rights and engagement are the difference.
"Conservation holds when the people who live with wildlife hold rights, revenue and a say in governance. A renewed social contract between people and nature is what makes 30x30 durable — and what turns conservation into a driver of local peace and prosperity."
KMGBF: Targets 3, 5, 9, 10, 21, 22 and 23.

Sustainable conservation finance is fundamental to delivering the KMGBF — and Africa is building the instruments.
"African governments are not asking whether to protect nature. They are asking what it returns, who it employs, and who pays. Long-term, predictable, accessible finance that reaches the landscape level is the gap — and we are working on the instruments that close it."
KMGBF: Targets 14, 18, and 19

Find Us at COP17 Side Events

Rwanda’s NBSAP implementation

Join AWF for a session on Rwanda’s journey toward implementing the NBSAP. Beatrice Cyiza, AWF’s Senior Campaign Advisor will be speaking and sharing the AWF perspective and contribution to Rwanda’s biodiversity agenda.

25 October | Time TBD | UNEP Pavilion

Partners:

Government of Rwanda

UNEP

Strategic Framework for Community-led Conservation

Across Africa, the communities who live alongside wildlife are already among nature’s most effective stewards. Too often, though, they are left out of the decisions, finance and recognition that determine conservation’s future. As countries move from commitments to delivery under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, putting communities at the centre is essential.

At this session, the African Wildlife Foundation will speak as part of the African Regional Directors of NGOs platform, a coalition of conservation leaders working together to accelerate delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for people and nature. The discussion will set out a practical framework for designing, resourcing and scaling community-led conservation so that it delivers for both people and nature.

27 October | 12:00–13:00 | FPWC Blue Zone Pavilion

Partners:

The Africa Regional Director’s Platform

Education Day

AWF is part of the convening organizations collaborating to advance key discussions around the importance of Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA), and Article 13, in advancing the objectives of the CBD were reaffirmed by the sixteenth Conference of the Parties through Decision 16/10 on CEPA. Join us for an afternoon of insightful discussions and learning exchanges that will strengthen the recognition of biodiversity education as a foundation for achieving the KMGBF targets.

More information

27 October | 14:00–20:00 | Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Pavilion, Blue Zone

Partners:

UNESCO

IUCN Commission on Education and Communications

Armenia COP Presidency

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD)

World Wildlife Fund

African Wildlife Foundation

Scaling Finance for Rwanda’s Nature Recovery

Rwanda’s biodiversity ambitions require sustained investment in restoring ecosystems, connecting habitats and supporting livelihoods. The newly established Biodiversity Window at the Rwanda Green Fund provides a mechanism for channelling grants and blended finance towards these priorities. This roundtable will focus on putting the window into operation, connecting financing and implementation partners with opportunities to deliver Rwanda’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

AWF’s Director, Global Leadership - Edwin Tambara will join the panel discussion, sharing the organisation’s work in Rwanda and beyond to advance biodiversity conservation and deliver positive outcomes for nature. His contribution will help explore how practical conservation initiatives can be scaled through the Biodiversity Window. The discussion will identify opportunities to align programmes, mobilise investment and translate partnerships into measurable results for nature and communities.

27 October 2026 | 15:00–16:30 | UN Pavilion

Partners:

Ministry of Environment, Government of Rwanda

Rwanda Green Fund

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Rwanda

Nature, Peace and Security

Protecting biodiversity in areas affected by conflict and insecurity is essential to delivering the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). For the African Wildlife Foundation, this means placing people at the centre of conservation and recognising how the security of communities, the resilience of their livelihoods and the health of ecosystems are connected.

Drawing on experiences from conservation practice, this session will explore how locally informed, conflict-sensitive approaches can help safeguard nature while contributing to human security and peacebuilding. It will examine the tools and partnerships that enable conservation to continue in these challenging settings and the role of communities in shaping lasting solutions.

As the conservation sector strengthens its understanding of these connections, important gaps remain. The discussion will consider what needs to change in conservation policy, funding and practice, and how the emerging field of nature, peace and security can support more effective implementation of the KMGBF.

More information

27 October | 16:30–17:30 | Nature Positive Pavilion

Partners:

WWF International

Conflict and Environment Observatory

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

African Wildlife Foundation

Conservation International (CI)

Collaborative Partnerships in Africa

What makes a conservation partnership deliver lasting results? Across Africa, Collaborative Management Partnerships (CMPs) are bringing governments, communities, conservation organisations and private sector partners together to manage protected and conserved areas. Their experiences reveal both the potential of shared management and the challenges of securing sustainable finance, defining responsibilities and ensuring communities have a meaningful voice and share in the benefits.

Convened by the African Wildlife Foundation, this session will put African government and protected area leaders’ experiences at the centre of the discussion: what has worked, where difficulties remain and which reforms could help effective partnerships grow. Contributions from community and civil society representatives will inform practical recommendations on governance, investment and accountability, focusing on biodiversity recovery, stronger livelihoods and the delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

28 October | 15:00–16:00 | Nature Positive Pavilion

Partners:

Africa Protected Area Directors (APAD)