This report summarises key findings and lessons learned in the area of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use from the OECD Environmental Performance Reviews conducted for five Latin American countries between 2013 and 2017: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. It highlights the leadership of the region in the use of payments for ecosystem services (PES) and shows that terrestrial and marine protected areas (MPAs) in some Latin American countries cover a surface far surpassing the international Aichi Targets of 17 percent and 10 percent, respectively, by 2020.
The report also describes remaining challenges and highlights some innovative solutions to address them. For instance, although the rate of deforestation in South America has slowed down, it remains among the highest in the world. In response to this, the report notes the particularly high potential for nature-based tourism in Latin America, especially in coastal and marine ecosystems. It also highlights that conservation trust funds are increasingly used to bridge the large biodiversity finance gap.