Ecuador

National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

Latin America and the CaribbeanApplies 2025–2030Source: Estrategia Nacional de Biodiversidad y Plan de Acción 2025–2030

1. Overview

Ecuador's Estrategia Nacional de Biodiversidad y Plan de Acción (ENBPA) 2025–2030 updates the country's 2015–2030 strategy to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF; Marco Mundial de Biodiversidad de Kunming-Montreal, MMB-KM). The revised strategy is structured around a 2050 vision, a 2030 mission, four GBF Goals (mapped one-to-one to KMGBF Goals A–D), and 23 national commitments, developed with technical and financial support from UNDP, The Nature Conservancy, GIZ, the UK Government, Re:Wild, WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Conservation International [§2].

The strategy uses a deliberate two-document architecture. The 23 ENBPA Metas are thematic and directional; the quantitative thresholds live in the parallel Plan Nacional de Desarrollo (PND) 2025–2029, which Ecuador maps target-by-target to the KMGBF [§176]. A reader consulting the ENBPA alone will find the direction of travel but not the numbers.

Terminology annotation: Ecuador's NBSAP uses "Meta" (Metas nacionales) for its 23 headline pledges and "Meta MMB-KM" for the 23 KMGBF targets; this page uses national commitment and GBF Target respectively to avoid confusion. Ecuador's four "Objetivos Estratégicos" (2050 horizon) are presented as GBF Goals and aligned 1:A, 2:B, 3:C, 4:D. The 19 "Resultados" and 51 targets from the legacy 2015–2030 strategy are referred to as legacy commitments where relevant. Indicators are tiered on the KMGBF four-level architecture — headline (cabecera), component (componente), complementary (complementario), and national/subnational — which Ecuador adopted wholesale.

The strategy's scope spans terrestrial, inland-water, coastal, and marine biodiversity, with dedicated tracking for the Galápagos Archipelago through a separate Plan continental and Plan Galápagos for several indicators. Follow-up and evaluation sit within the Comité Nacional de Patrimonio Natural under Article 14(b) of the Reglamento al Código Orgánico del Ambiente (RCODA) [§187].

Ecuador aligns its four strategic goals one-to-one with KMGBF Goals A–D and its 23 thematic national commitments with the 23 GBF Targets. The quantitative thresholds are held in the Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2025–2029 rather than in the ENBPA itself, and the biodiversity financing plan — built on UNDP BIOFIN methodology — names a USD 1,472.65 million financing gap to 2030.

Sources:

  • §2 — Apoyo Técnico y Financiero
  • §167–§177 — Alineación y armonización del MMB-KM con la ENBPA 2015–2030
  • §187 — Marco de monitoreo de la ENBPA 2025–2030

2. Ecological Context

Ecuador lies entirely in the Neotropical realm and is characterised in the NBSAP as megadiverse, shaped by the orographic effects of the Andean and Coastal cordilleras, Pacific and Amazonian atmospheric circulation, and the convergence of cold and warm marine currents [§70]. The national territory spans four bioregions and ten terrestrial ecoregions, and its marine zone includes two marine provinces — Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos — covering five marine ecoregions [§69].

The 2013 Map of Ecosystems identifies 91 terrestrial ecosystem types, of which 87 have been mapped: 65 forest types (13,626,833.79 ha), 12 grassland types (1,224,860.38 ha), and 10 shrubland types (467,531.55 ha) [§71]. Ecuador holds more páramo than any other country — 1,514,267 hectares distributed across 17 of 24 continental provinces — governed under a dedicated National Action Plan for Páramo Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (Acuerdo Ministerial AM No. 100, 2023) [§72]. Twenty-four of the 27 recognised marine and coastal ecosystem types are present in Ecuadorian waters; continental mangrove ecosystems covered 155,932.38 ha in 2022, with Guayas province holding 68.09% of the total [§72].

Since accession to the Ramsar Convention in 1990, Ecuador has designated 19 wetlands of international importance totalling 1,079,729.92 ha; the Cuyabeno-Lagartococha-Yasuní site (designated 2017 at 776,082.54 ha) accounts for 71.87% of Ramsar area, and 16 of the 19 sites fall wholly or partly within protected areas [§72, §88].

Documented vertebrate diversity includes 475 mammal species, 1,736 bird species, 512 reptile species, and 700 amphibian species [§76]. For vascular plants, Neill (2012) reports 17,748 species with approximately 4,500 endemic, 67.5% concentrated in the Andean region [§77]. Orchids dominate the flora: 3,972 species, including 1,707 of Ecuador's 4,500 endemic plants, making Ecuador the most orchid-rich country in the Americas; more than 85% of endemic orchid species fall within a national threat category [§77]. Ecuador is identified as part of one of the eight primary centres of origin of cultivated species, and its Agrobiodiversity Index (ABDI) fell from 73.95 in 1993 to 60.70 in 2021 [§78].

National red lists are published for endemic plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fish, palms, and orchids [§99]. Among endemic vascular plants, 80% (3,504 species) are categorised CR, EN, or VU; 57% of the 635 native amphibian species are threatened (Ortega et al. 2021); the most recent mammal assessment (Tirira 2021) lists 137 threatened species [§99]. The NBSAP identifies Ecuador as subject to all five IPBES drivers of biodiversity change, with specific pressures including agricultural advance into páramo, mangrove clearance for shrimp farming (Ecuador became the world's largest shrimp exporter in 2022), illegal mining in the Amazon, and unplanned urban expansion [§129].

Sources:

  • §69–§78 — 3.2 Biodiversidad del Ecuador
  • §88 — 3.4.1.3.2 Sitios Ramsar
  • §99 — 3.4.1.13 Estado de conservación de la biodiversidad silvestre
  • §129 — 3.4.1.17 Impulsores de la pérdida de la diversidad biológica

3. National Commitments and GBF Alignment

Ecuador's 2050 vision commits that "biodiversity and ecosystem/environmental services of Ecuador are conserved, restored, and used sustainably" [§167], and its 2030 mission to "adopt strategic measures to reduce biodiversity loss… fostering fair and equitable participation in the benefits derived from the utilization of genetic resources" [§168]. The strategy maps its four GBF Goals directly to KMGBF Goals A–D [§169]: ecosystem integrity and species (Goal 1/A); sustainable use and ecosystem services (Goal 2/B); access and benefit-sharing (Goal 3/C); and means of implementation (Goal 4/D).

The 2015–2030 strategy contained 51 legacy commitments organised under 19 Resultados. Technical panels reviewed each against the KMGBF element-based alignment guidance issued under CBD Decision XV/6 and against five separate alignment exercises (a GBF-UNDP similarity study, a MAATE/UNDP-EAS rapid review, and exercises by MAATE/WWF, Conservation International, and the GIZ consulting team) [§176]. The review closed three fully-met commitments, closed and replaced two, updated 24, closed 21 as non-pertinent, replaced one, and added eight — yielding 23 national commitments for 2025–2030 [§177].

Ecuador deliberately structured these commitments as directional. All 23 use verbs such as promover, incrementar, fortalecer, adoptar, aplicar without numeric thresholds in the commitment text itself; the quantitative thresholds are referenced from the PND 2025–2029 and are treated on this page as bound sub-commitments under the relevant GBF Target.

Goal 1/A — Ecosystem integrity, species, genetic diversity (commitments 1–8)

Commitment 1 (spatial planning), 2 (ecosystem restoration), 3 (protected-area conservation through integral mechanisms), 4 (halt species extinction), 5 (sustainable trade of native species), 6 (invasive alien species), 7 (pollution reduction), and 8 (climate impact and resilience) [§177]. All eight are directional aspirations at the commitment level. PND sub-commitments bound under this goal include hydrocarbon-pollution source remediation (1,947 → 2,425 by 2029, Commitment 7) [§176]; climate-change vulnerability reduction (82.81% → 81.10% by 2029, Commitment 8) [§176]; and CO₂-equivalent retained in natural forests (3,030.6 → 3,165.6 million tonnes by 2029, bound to Commitments 3 and 8) [§176]. Headline indicators include IC 2.1 (areas under restoration, tracked separately for the Plan continental and Plan Galápagos) and IC 3 (protected-area and OMEC coverage).

Goal 2/B — Sustainable use and ecosystem services (commitments 9–12)

Commitment 9 (sustainable use of native species), 10 (sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry), 11 (ecosystem services), and 12 (urban green/blue space and connectivity) [§177]. All four are directional aspirations. PND sub-commitments bound here include non-traditional exports as a share of non-oil exports (39.93% → 41.87%, Commitments 5/9), parcelled technified irrigation coverage for small and medium producers (18.53% → 23.13%, Commitments 10/11), non-resident visitor arrivals (1.26M → 2.25M, Commitment 11), and rural-women promoters of sustainable production systems (2,218 → 5,218, Commitments 10/23) [§176]. Tabla 20 relabels Commitment 12 as Conectividad, pairing urban green/blue space with ecological corridors — a hybrid reading of GBF Target 12.

Goal 3/C — Access and benefit-sharing (commitment 13)

Commitment 13 fosters implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, coordinated by the Ministerio del Ambiente (MAE), the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO), and the Servicio Nacional de Derechos Intelectuales (SENADI) [§172, §190]. The commitment is a directional aspiration. Digital Sequence Information (DSI) is explicitly included within the 2050 scope [§172]. A distinctive delivery pathway is the national indicator IN 13.1, which tracks the number of community protocols receiving state accompaniment.

Goal 4/D — Means of implementation (commitments 14–23)

Commitment 14 (mainstreaming), 15 (business disclosure), 16 (sustainable consumption), 17 (biosafety), 18 (harmful subsidies), 19 (finance mobilisation), 20 (capacity and technology), 21 (data and information), 22 (inclusive participation), and 23 (gender) [§177]. All ten are directional aspirations. PND sub-commitments bound here include sustainable public procurement implementation (19 → 43 points, Commitment 16), ecological-footprint–biocapacity gap (maintained above 0.55 gha, Commitment 16), researchers per thousand of the Economically Active Population (0.96 → 1.83, Commitment 20), and Non-Reimbursable International Cooperation (USD 355.41M → 459.39M, Commitment 19) [§176].

Commitment 19 names a USD 1,472.65 million financing gap to 2030 [§192]; Commitment 18 quantifies biodiversity-harmful subsidies at 0.93% of GDP, or USD 993.1 million — higher than current public biodiversity investment [§209]. Commitment 15 incorporates a dedicated national indicator (ICOM 15.1) tracking organisations declaring adoption of Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations. Commitment 22 headline indicator IC 22.b explicitly references environmental human-rights defenders; IC 22.1 tracks change in land use and tenure in indigenous and local-community traditional territories.

Sources:

  • §167–§173 — Visión, Misión, and Objetivos Estratégicos 2050
  • §176, §177 — Target alignment review and 2025–2030 commitment set
  • §192, §209 — Financing gap and harmful-subsidy valuation

4. Delivery Architecture

Legal framework

The Código Orgánico del Ambiente (CODA) is the principal instrument governing biodiversity. Published in Registro Oficial (RO) No. 983 on 12 April 2017 and in force since 12 April 2018, with its Reglamento (RCODA) issued by Executive Decree 752 on 21 May 2019, the CODA derogated five prior laws — including the Ley Forestal and the Ley que protege la biodiversidad en el Ecuador — and was reformed most recently on 18 November 2025 by Executive Decree 212 [§31]. Article 29 treats biodiversity as a "strategic resource" and requires its inclusion in national and Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado (GAD) territorial planning; Book II (Natural Heritage) regulates biodiversity conservation, water resources, and the identification and valuation of environmental goods and services [§31]. The Texto Unificado de Legislación Secundaria del Ministerio del Ambiente (TULSMA) remains in force except where contrary to the CODA [§31].

Spatial planning, protected areas, connectivity

The Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (SNAP) operates through the Plan Estratégico del SNAP 2022–2032 (AM No. 152, December 2022) and is organised into four subsystems under the CODA — state, autonomous-decentralised (GAD, declared via AM No. 083/2016), community, and private — alongside Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OMEC) [§174]. The Biocorredor Amazónico was established by Executive Decree 859 in September 2023. Marine and coastal spatial planning is conducted through the Plan de Ordenamiento del Espacio Marino Costero (POEMC), the Plan de Manejo Pesquero Marino (PMPM), and the Plan de Manejo Costero Integral (PMCI) [§174].

Restoration, forests, páramos, mangroves

Sectoral instruments include the Plan Nacional de Páramos (AM No. 100, 2023), the Plan Nacional de Restauración del Paisaje, the Plan de Acción Nacional para la Conservación de los Manglares del Ecuador Continental (2019), and the Plan de Acción REDD+ [§174]. Restoration is financed through Pago por Resultados (Payment for Results) and REDD+, and delivered through the Proyecto Socio Bosque, Socio Páramo, and Socio Manglar programmes (AM No. 169, 2008, updated). Trust funds active in the space include the Fondo para el Agua (FONAG), the Fondo de Inversión Ambiental Sostenible (FIAS), and the Páramos Fund [§174].

Species and invasive alien species

Species action is organised through nine species conservation plans under the CODA/RCODA [§174]. Under Resolución MAE No. 050 (RO 679, 8 October 2002), all species listed in Ecuador's published Libros Rojos are legally protected. Invasive alien species fall under the CODA, RCODA, and Ley Orgánica de Sanidad Agropecuaria (LOSA), with the Agencia de Regulación y Control de la Bioseguridad y Cuarentena para Galápagos (ABG) as the implementing authority [§174].

Climate, water, and sustainable production

Biodiversity-linked climate instruments include the Estrategia Nacional de Cambio Climático, Ecuador's Nationally Determined Contribution, the Programa Ecuador Carbono Cero (PECC), the Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático, and the Plan Nacional de Mitigación, coordinated through the Comité Interinstitucional de Cambio Climático (CICC) [§174]. Sustainable production instruments include Política Agropecuaria, Punto Verde, Buenas Prácticas Agropecuarias Plus (BPA+), REDD+ ganadera, and the Estrategia Nacional de Producción y Consumo Sostenibles (ENPC), coordinated through the interministerial sub-committee on Producción y Consumo Sostenibles under AIM-MAATE-MAG 2022-003 [§174].

Sources:

  • §31 — Marco normativo sectorial ambiental (CODA)
  • §174 — Tabla 20: Mapeo de Políticas, Instrumentos e Institucionalidad pública

4a. From ENBPA to PND: where Ecuador's quantitative commitments live

Ecuador's 23 national commitments are thematic; the numbers sit in the PND 2025–2029. The NBSAP formally maps 13 PND indicators to specific GBF Targets, making the PND the document a reader must consult to find Ecuador's bound quantitative thresholds [§176]. The mapping is:

PND indicator (baseline 2024 → target 2029) PND policy GBF Target(s)
Researchers per 1,000 Economically Active Population: 0.96 → 1.83 2.4 Target 21
Non-traditional exports share of non-oil exports: 39.93% → 41.87% 5.1 Targets 5, 9
Non-oil exports to countries with trade agreements: 52.80% → 67.07% 5.1 Targets 5, 9
Sustainable public procurement implementation index: 19 → 43 points 5.3 Target 16
Non-resident visitor arrivals: 1.26M → 2.25M 5.5 Target 11
Rural women as sustainable-production promoters: 2,218 → 5,218 5.6 Targets 10, 23
Parcelled technified irrigation coverage: 18.53% → 23.13% 5.7 Target 11
CO₂e retained in natural forests: 3,030.6 → 3,165.6 million tonnes 6.4 Targets 3, 8
Hydrocarbon-industry sources remediated: 1,947 → 2,425 6.4 Target 7
Climate-change vulnerability: 82.81% → 81.10% 6.4 Target 8
Ecological Footprint–Biocapacity gap: ≥0.55 global hectares maintained 6.4 Target 16
Territory under preventive guarantees and water-resource protection: 295,974.79 ha → 318,811.06 ha 6.5 Target 11
Non-Reimbursable International Cooperation: USD 355.41M (2023) → 459.39M 8.4 Target 19

PND indicators are evaluated annually by the national planning authority (the Secretaría Nacional de Planificación), with the associated ENBPA report following [§187]. A cross-country reader searching for "what did Ecuador pledge numerically" will find the answer here rather than in the ENBPA itself.

4b. Biodiversity finance: a BIOFIN-built plan with a named gap and seven solutions

Chapter 7 of the NBSAP presents the Estrategia Nacional de Financiamiento de la Biodiversidad 2024–2030, prepared under UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) methodology via Component 4 of the GBF-EAS project [§192]. The strategy rests on three BIOFIN diagnostic instruments — the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), the Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER), and the Financial Needs Assessment (FNA) — and is organised around four results axes: Gastar Mejor (spend better), Generar Ingresos (generate income), Evitar Gastos Futuros (avoid future costs), and Realinear los Gastos (realign expenditure) [§227].

Three numbers frame the plan. The FNA estimates a USD 1,472.65 million financing gap to 2030 [§192]. The BER identifies USD 181 million in public biodiversity budgets allocated but not executed between 2019 and 2023 [§208]. Subsidies identified as harmful to biodiversity total USD 993.1 million, or 0.93% of GDP — explicitly flagged as higher than current public biodiversity investment [§209].

The strategy prioritises seven financial solutions [§217–§227]:

  1. Optimización del Gasto Público — a results-based budgeting system (PPR) aligned with the PND and ENBPA, with adjustments to the eSIGEF public financial management system, supervised through the Mesa de Finanzas Sostenibles [§219].
  2. Armonización de la Cooperación Internacional — a harmonisation table coordinated with the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (MREMH) to align donor portfolios with national priorities [§221].
  3. Fortalecimiento del Sistema Financiero — green bonds, green credits, and integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG; ASG in Spanish) criteria; the strategy notes "significant advances" but that challenges persist in extending green finance to key sectors such as insurance [§222].
  4. Clústeres de Biodiversidad en Cadenas de Valor de Empresas Ancla — anchor-company networks creating biodiversity-focused clusters through CSR programmes, supported by public-private partnerships and double tax deductibility [§223].
  5. Fortalecimiento de la Administración de Fondos — strengthening existing private funds and creating new ones under public-private governance [§224].
  6. Sostenibilidad Financiera en las Áreas Protegidas — a proposed new SNAP management entity with administrative and financial autonomy under public-private governance, using fideicomisos mercantiles (mercantile trusts) to capture international cooperation, multilateral funds, tourism concessions, carbon credits, and environmental-service payments [§225].
  7. Mecanismos Financieros Innovadores — debt-for-nature swaps, reform of harmful subsidies, and engagement with voluntary carbon markets; the strategy notes viability "depends on political decisions" [§226].

The strategy flags regulatory instruments whose approval would unlock wider financing — a sustainable green finance taxonomy, thematic bonds, parametric insurance, microinsurance, sustainable enterprise funds, seed capital funds, and carbon market regulation — noting that "political barriers impede their approval" [§212].

5. Monitoring and Accountability

Biodiversity governance nests within three constitutional systems: the Sistema Nacional Descentralizado de Planificación Participativa (SNDPP), the Sistema Nacional Descentralizado de Gestión Ambiental (SNDGA), and the Sistema Nacional de Competencias (SNC) [§48]. The SNDGA is chaired by MAE as the Autoridad Ambiental Nacional and articulates environmental institutions, civil society, and community organisations; within the SNC, the central state retains exclusive competence over biodiversity and forest resources while GADs exercise assigned environmental competences [§48]. Follow-up and evaluation of the ENBPA 2025–2030 take place within the Comité Nacional de Patrimonio Natural under Article 14(b) of the RCODA [§187].

The monitoring framework adopts the KMGBF four-tier indicator architecture — headline, component, complementary, and national/subnational — supplemented by the global binary (yes/no) indicators recorded through the national reporting template [§179]. The ENBPA 2025–2030 framework comprises 139 indicators in total (39 headline, 13 component, 28 complementary, 59 national or subnacional). Table 26 reports that 111 of these — 79.85% — are already in execution through existing national statistics, leaving the country focused on the remaining indicators within the four-year implementation horizon [§187]. Table 27 assigns indicator custody across Agriculture/Forestry/Livestock; Fisheries; Private/Business/Financial Sector; GADs; Public Research Institutes; Academia; NGOs; National Planning/Statistics; Extractive Sectors; and Indigenous Peoples/Youth/Gender [§187].

The monitoring system is built on the interoperability of 15 existing national information systems listed in Table 28 [§187], including the Sistema Estadístico Nacional (INEC), SINIAS, Eco Dato, the Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo de Bosques (SNMB), the Sistema de Información de la Biodiversidad_EC, SINGEI (greenhouse-gas inventories), SPRACC (climate risk and vulnerability), the REDD+ Platform, SIPA (agricultural public information), the Sistema de Turismo en Cifras, the INABIO Base Nacional de Datos, and the Sistema de Gestión de la Información de Género of the Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de Género — rather than on a single new register.

Two principal evaluations anchor the reporting cadence: the Seventh National Report to the CBD in 2026 and the Eighth National Report in 2029 [§187]. PND-aligned national indicators are evaluated annually by the Secretaría Nacional de Planificación, with the associated ENBPA report following [§187]. The framework is characterised as dinámico, allowing indicator inclusions, adjustments, or removals as sectoral linkages consolidate [§187].

Sources:

  • §48 — El SNDPP, SNDGA, SNC
  • §179, §187 — Monitoring framework (Tablas 24, 26, 27, 28)

6. Finance and Resource Mobilisation

The NBSAP's financing architecture — covered in depth in the Flex B subsection above — is set out in Chapter 7, the Plan de Financiación de la Biodiversidad, applying UNDP BIOFIN methodology [§191, §192]. The USD 1,472.65 million financing gap to 2030, the USD 181 million of unexecuted public budgets 2019–2023, and the USD 993.1 million / 0.93% of GDP in biodiversity-harmful subsidies are treated there in full [§192, §208, §209]. The four BIOFIN axes (Gastar Mejor, Generar Ingresos, Evitar Gastos Futuros, Realinear los Gastos) and the seven prioritised financial solutions are likewise detailed in the Flex subsection.

The legal and institutional anchor for biodiversity finance is the CODA and its regulation, which establish guidelines for financing biodiversity policy through funds and economic and non-economic incentive mechanisms [§193]. Implementation of the Biodiversity Financing Strategy 2024–2030 is a named line of the 2025–2030 Action Plan, led by MAE with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria (SEPS), and the Superintendencia de Bancos (SIB), coordinated with BIOFIN-UNDP, Asobanca, CONAFIPS, GGGI, CAF, and GIZ [§190].

Resource mobilisation combines strengthened national budget allocation and execution, private investment (including in reforestation and ecological agriculture), active pursuit of multilateral and green fund financing, and innovative mechanisms such as green bond issuance and payment for ecosystem services "where applicable" [§206]. The Political and Institutional Review records a "notable uptick in funds from international cooperation, as well as from non-governmental organisations and donors," while institutional capacity is described as limited by tight public-resource flows and fiscal austerity [§193]. The NBSAP identifies a persistent data limitation: identifying real or potential biodiversity flows — particularly from the private sector — remains complex, and accurate tracking will require directives, standards, information systems, and public-private collaboration [§193, §206].

Sources:

  • §191, §192 — Capítulo 7, Resumen Ejecutivo
  • §193, §206 — Revisión Política e Institucional and FNA considerations
  • §190 — Plan de Acción, finance implementation row
  • §208, §209 — Unexecuted budgets and harmful subsidies
  • §217–§227 — Recomendaciones de Soluciones Financieras

7. GBF Target Coverage

GBF Target 1 — Spatial planning. Addressed. Commitment 1 commits to increasing terrestrial, inland-water, coastal, and marine areas under biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning, anchored in the SNDPP, the PND 2025–2029, the Estrategia Territorial Nacional, the POEMC and PMPM, and GAD-level PDyOT and PUGS. Headline indicator IC 1.1 tracks the share of surface under biodiversity-inclusive spatial plans; complementary ICOM 1 tracks transboundary basin cooperation (SDG 6.5.2). Delivery relies on the pre-existing national planning stack rather than a new spatial-planning instrument, with the agricultural/forestry sector and all three GAD levels formally assigned as implementing actors.

GBF Target 2 — Ecosystem restoration. Addressed. Commitment 2 promotes ecological recovery of terrestrial, inland-water, coastal, and marine biodiversity. Delivery rests on Restauración de Ecosistemas (AM:067), Pago por Resultados, REDD+, and sectoral plans for páramos, landscapes, mangroves, irrigation, and drought; the Plan Nacional para la Conservación, Restauración y Uso Sostenible de los Páramos (AM No. 100, 2023) is the main public policy for páramo. Headline indicator IC 2.1 (areas under restoration) is tracked separately in the Plan continental and Plan Galápagos. FONAG, the Páramos Fund, and FIAS are named financing instruments.

GBF Target 3 — Protected areas and OMECs. Addressed. Commitment 3 commits to conserving biodiversity through integral mechanisms — protected areas and OMEC — with IC 3 as the headline indicator and nine national indicators tracking SNAP, Socio Bosque forest area, Biosphere Reserves, Ramsar sites, and territory under preventive water-resource guarantees. The CODA formalises four SNAP subsystems (state, autonomous-decentralised, community, private); Ecuador has 19 Ramsar sites totalling 1,079,729.92 ha (Cuyabeno-Lagartococha-Yasuní alone is 71.87%). The Plan Estratégico del SNAP 2022–2032 and the Biocorredor Amazónico (Executive Decree 859, 2023) are active instruments. A distinctive financing solution proposes an autonomous SNAP entity managing fideicomisos mercantiles under public-private governance (see Flex B).

GBF Target 4 — Species recovery. Addressed. Commitment 4 adopts management measures to halt the extinction of species, especially threatened species, under the Política Nacional para la Gestión de la Vida Silvestre (AM 29, 2017). Ecuador has published Libros Rojos for eight taxonomic groups; Resolución MAE No. 050 (2002) automatically confers legal protection on species listed in those Libros Rojos. Headline indicators are O 1.3 (Red List Index, SDG 15.5.1), O 1.4 (populations with effective size >500), and IC 4 framed on the Mapa de la Vida. Nine species conservation plans are active; the source material does not list them individually.

GBF Target 5 — Sustainable harvest and trade of wild species. Addressed. Commitment 5 promotes sustainable trade of native species while preserving customary use by indigenous peoples and nationalities. Headline indicator IC 5 tracks biologically sustainable fish populations (SDG 14.4.1); IC 5.b tracks legal and policy instruments; complementary ICOM 5 tracks biodiversity-based trade growth. National indicators track non-traditional exports with specific species flagged — Albacora, swordfish, lobster, sea cucumber — and non-oil exports to countries with trade agreements, with tuna certification requirements for US and EU markets cited as a driver.

GBF Target 6 — Invasive alien species. Addressed. Commitment 6 strengthens prevention, mitigation, and eradication under the CODA, RCODA, and LOSA, with the Agencia de Regulación y Control de la Bioseguridad y Cuarentena para Galápagos (ABG) as institutional lead. Headline indicator IC 6 (establishment rate of invasive alien species) is currently being measured only in Galápagos; IC 6.b tracks regulations and processes (SDG 15.8.1). National indicators IN 6.1–6.3 track legal instruments and introduction indices for the Galápagos.

GBF Target 7 — Pollution reduction. Addressed. Commitment 7 contributes to reducing pollution from nutrients, pesticides, hazardous chemicals, and wastes, under the Ley Orgánica de Reciclaje, Reducción y Rechazo de Residuos y Desechos Peligrosos (LORRRP), RCODA, CODA, and LOECI, and Ecuador's Rotterdam Convention obligations (in force since 21 September 2004). Headline indicators include IC 7.1 (coastal eutrophication index, SDG 14.1.1a) and IC 7.2 (pesticide concentration/toxicity). National indicator IN 7.3 tracks hydrocarbon-industry pollution sources remediated by the state operator, bound to the PND 2025–2029 (1,947 → 2,425 by 2029).

GBF Target 8 — Climate and biodiversity. Addressed. Commitment 8 aims to diminish climate-change impact on biodiversity and increase resilience, under CODA Book IV, the Programa Ecuador Carbono Cero (PECC), REDD+, and the National Adaptation and Mitigation Plans, coordinated through the Comité Interinstitucional de Cambio Climático. PND sub-commitments bind vulnerability reduction (82.81% → 81.10%) and CO₂-equivalent retained in natural forests (3,030.6 → 3,165.6 million tonnes by 2029). Subnational indicator IN 8.8 uses the Índice de Fortalecimiento de la Gobernanza Local Multinivel (IFGLM) aligned with SDG 11.b.

GBF Target 9 — Wild species use. Addressed. Commitment 9 promotes sustainable use of native species through biodiversity-based activities, products, and services. Instruments include the Plan Nacional de Uso y Aprovechamiento de la Biodiversidad, the Agenda Nacional de Investigación sobre Biodiversidad, and the Acuerdos de Uso y Custodia del Manglar (AM:034). Headline indicators IC 9.1 (benefits from sustainable use), IC 9.2 (traditional-occupation share of population), and IC 9.b (customary sustainable-use policies) apply. Mangrove custody agreements are a distinctive delivery pathway.

GBF Target 10 — Agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry. Addressed. Commitment 10 promotes sustainability in these sectors under Política Agropecuaria, BPA+, NEC, Punto Verde, Bioeconomía Ecuador, and REDD+, coordinated through the interministerial subcommittee on Producción y Consumo Sostenibles. Headline indicators IC 10.1 (sustainable agriculture area share, SDG 2.4.1) and IC 10.2 (sustainable forest management, SDG 15.2.1) apply. The Libro Blanco de Bioeconomía (García et al., 2024) maps transition routes for nine anchor industries. PND sub-commitment binds parcelled technified irrigation coverage (18.53% → 23.13%).

GBF Target 11 — Ecosystem services and NbS. Addressed. Commitment 11 commits to restoring, maintaining, and improving ecosystem/environmental services under CODA Title V, which treats environmental services as not subject to private appropriation; production, provision, use, and exploitation are regulated by the State. PECC, Pago por Resultados, and REDD+ are operational mechanisms. National indicators track water-use rights (PND 2021–2025), technically viable irrigation (SDG 8.9), and visits to continental and Galápagos protected areas; PND sub-commitments bind visitor arrivals (1.26M → 2.25M) and territory under preventive water-resource protection (295,974 → 318,811 ha).

GBF Target 12 — Urban biodiversity. Addressed. Commitment 12 commits to increasing green and blue spaces in urban areas and promoting inclusive, sustainable urbanisation. Headline indicators IC 12.1 (green/blue public-space share) and IC 12.b (biodiversity-inclusive urban planning) apply. Ecuador's Tabla 20 relabels the commitment as Conectividad, pairing urban green/blue space with ecological corridors under CODA/RCODA and AM:019 implemented through GAD-level PDyOT — a hybrid reading of GBF Target 12 unusual among NBSAPs.

GBF Target 13 — Genetic resources / ABS. Addressed. Commitment 13 fosters implementation of the Nagoya Protocol under CODA Title IV (Recursos Genéticos). Headline outcome indicators O 3.1 (monetary benefits), O 3.2 (non-monetary benefits), and O 3.b (legal and administrative measures) apply. National indicator IN 13.1 tracks the number of community protocols receiving state accompaniment — a distinctive delivery pathway. Digital Sequence Information (DSI) is explicitly referenced within Goal 3 at 2050. Implementation is coordinated across MAE, INABIO, and SENADI.

GBF Target 14 — Mainstreaming. Addressed. Commitment 14 commits to integrating biodiversity into policies, laws, regulations, and sectoral plans across all levels of government and all sectors causing impacts. Headline indicator IC 14.b tracks integration instruments; complementary ICO 14 tracks SEEA integration (SDG 15.9.1b). The ENBPA is itself positioned as a sectoral instrument within the SNDPP aligned with four of five PND 2025–2029 axes. Extractive sectors are formally named as implementing actors under Tabla 27.

GBF Target 15 — Business disclosure. Addressed. Commitment 15 fosters periodic publication of biodiversity risk, dependency, and impact assessments by companies and financial institutions. Headline indicator IC 15.b tracks enabling legal, administrative, or policy measures; IC 15.1 tracks sustainability reports (SDG 12.6.1). Complementary indicator ICOM 15.1 separately tracks organisations declaring adoption of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations — a distinctive indicator choice. The 2025 sources do not state a baseline number of disclosing firms.

GBF Target 16 — Sustainable consumption. Addressed. Commitment 16 adopts measures, regulations, or policies to encourage sustainable production and consumption, anchored in the Estrategia Nacional de Producción y Consumo Sostenibles (ENPC). Headline IC 16.b and core indicators ICO 16.1 (Food Waste Index, SDG 12.3) and ICO 16.2 (ecological footprint) apply. National indicators include Extended Producer Responsibility (responsabilidad extendida del productor), IN 16.4 (Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity per capita), and IN 16.5 (sustainable public-procurement plan implementation, PND 2025–2029 / SDG 12.7). PND sub-commitment binds the sustainable public-procurement index (19 → 43 points).

GBF Target 17 — Biosafety. Addressed. Commitment 17 applies regulatory measures on biotechnology biosafety under CODA Title IV, Chapter II (De la Bioseguridad). The RCODA mandates a Comité Nacional de Bioseguridad presided by MAE with delegates from national health, agrarian, aquaculture/fisheries, and science/technology/higher education authorities. Headline indicator IC 17.b tracks countries applying CBD Article 8(g) and Article 19 measures. Biosafety is framed within the same legal envelope as bioeconomy and biocommerce promotion.

GBF Target 18 — Harmful subsidies. Addressed. Commitment 18 identifies and promotes adjustments to incentives and subsidies harmful to biodiversity. Biodiversity-harmful subsidies are quantified at 0.93% of GDP, USD 993.1 million — higher than current public biodiversity investment [§209]. Headline indicators IC 18.1 (positive incentives) and IC 18.2 (value of harmful subsidies) apply. Positive incentives are anchored in the Socio Bosque, Socio Páramo, and Socio Manglar programmes (AM No. 169, 2008, updated); national indicators IN 18.1–18.2 track Socio Bosque agreements and beneficiary population. Proposed reforms include debt-for-nature swaps and double tax deductibility, contingent on political decisions (see Flex B).

GBF Target 19 — Finance mobilisation. Addressed. Commitment 19 increases resource mobilisation for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. Chapter 7 names a USD 1,472.65 million financing gap to 2030 [§192] and USD 181 million in unexecuted public budgets 2019–2023 [§208], and structures the response around four BIOFIN axes and seven prioritised financial solutions detailed in Flex B. Outcome indicators O 4.1 (public national), O 4.2 (public international including ODA), and O 4.3 (private) track mobilised finance. National indicators IN 19.1 (Cuenta Satélite de Bioeconomía) and IN 19.2 (Non-Reimbursable International Cooperation, bound at USD 355.41M → 459.39M by 2029) complete the framework.

GBF Target 20 — Capacity-building, technology transfer, scientific cooperation. Addressed. Commitment 20 strengthens capacity-building, scientific research, and technology transfer. Headline IC 20.b and core indicator ICO 20.1 (finance for environmentally sound technology transfer, SDG 17.7.1) apply. National indicator IN 20.1 tracks researchers per thousand of the Economically Active Population, bound in the PND at 0.96 → 1.83 by 2029. The NBSAP explicitly credits UNDP, TNC, GIZ, the UK Government, Re:Wild, WWF, WCS, and Conservation International as technical and financial partners.

GBF Target 21 — Data and information. Addressed. Commitment 21 increases scientifically competent information for decision-making, awareness-raising, and education. Complementary indicators ICOM 21.1 (GBIF records) and ICOM 21.2 (OBIS marine records) apply; six national indicators track voluntary deposits, training on traditional-knowledge protection mechanisms, environmental-education interventions, genetic barcodes, and records in the INABIO Base Nacional de Datos de Biodiversidad. Delivery sits on the 15-system information architecture listed in Tabla 28 rather than a single new register. The Seventh (2026) and Eighth (2029) CBD national reports are scheduled monitoring milestones; 111 of 139 indicators (79.85%) are already in execution, leaving 28 to be implemented within the four-year horizon.

GBF Target 22 — Inclusive participation. Addressed. Commitment 22 promotes participation by indigenous peoples and nationalities, local communities, children, youth, and persons with different capacities. The Ley Orgánica de Participación Ciudadana (LOPC) is the legal anchor, with Ecuador signatory to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP, 2007). Headline IC 22.1 tracks change in land use and tenure in indigenous and local-community traditional territories; IC 22.b explicitly references environmental human-rights defenders. Complementary indicators track representation in national and local institutions disaggregated by sex, age, disability, and demographic group (SDG 16.7).

GBF Target 23 — Gender equality. Addressed. Commitment 23 promotes gender-focused participation, anchored in the Agenda Nacional para la Igualdad de Género 2021–2025, specifically its Ambiente y cambio climático axis, with MAE, INEC, and the Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de Género as lead institutions. Headline indicator IC 23.b tracks frameworks implementing the Gender Plan of Action (2023–2030) and women's equal access to land and natural resources. National indicator IN 23.1 tracks rural women of the Agricultura Familiar Campesina acting as promoters of sustainable production systems, bound in the PND at 2,218 → 5,218 by 2029.

KMGBF Targets Referenced