In April 2019, Chinese and international partners officially launched the BRI International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC) at the Second Belt and Road Forums for International Cooperation. BRIGC aims to establish a policy dialogue and communication platform, an environmental knowledge and information platform, and a green technology exchange and transfer platform, so as to advance global consensus, understanding, cooperation, and action of a green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

From the perspective of transportation infrastructure development, this report focuses on the research of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the BRI region, as well as their conservation strategies, from the following aspects. First is the current status of biodiversity in regions along the Belt and Road. With technologies such as remote sensing and geographical information systems, we have analyzed the biodiversity sensitivity of different regions and identified the ecological risks stemming from the implementation of the BRI. Second is the relevance between transportation infrastructure construction and biodiversity conservation, as well as the potential impacts. Third is the current status and trends of biodiversity conservation. Building on exem- plary experiences in biodiversity conservation, policy recommendations have been proposed to enhance biodiversity conservation in the BRI regions.

Dr. Linxiu Zhang, Director of United Nations Environment Programme – International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP) and Ms. Guoqin Wang and Dr. Xiangbo Xu, core members of UNEP-IEMP were among the research team of the report as the main authors.

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