Side event at CBD COP-17, the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Tuesday 20 October 2026, 11:30
Talin Side-event Room 1

SER-Europe is proud to co-host this side event at CBD COP-17, exploring how ecological restoration in working seas can help deliver Target 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework alongside sustainable fisheries.

Delivering Target 2 requires countries to move from ambition to implementation. In coastal and marine areas where fisheries remain central to food, livelihoods, and local economies, that means treating restoration not only as an area commitment or a restriction on use, but as a long-term change in the pressures, decisions, and relationships that shape a working sea.

The session moves beyond the idea that restoration is delivered only through closures or habitat protection, examining the broader contributions fisheries can make across the restoration continuum: pressure reduction, impact mitigation, passive recovery, active rebuilding, monitoring, gear innovation, and stewardship. Fisheries and restoration experts will consider what makes fisheries-related restoration effective, measurable, and inclusive of production-sector actors: how restoration objectives translate into practical measures, how fishers’ knowledge and data can support recovery, how benefits and burdens can be shared equitably, and how countries can recognise fisheries’ contributions in their national reports.

By connecting Target 2 with sustainable use, food security, and ecosystem-based fisheries management, the event will help clarify how marine restoration can be designed not only for protected sites, but for productive seascapes.

Co-hosted by EBCD, the CBD, FAO, IUCN-CEM-FEG, DCEE, EEA, SER-Europe, EDF, and MSC.