PPA or OECM? Differentiating between privately protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures on private land

Private land conservation has an increasingly important role in ensuring global conservation networks are comprehensive, adequate and representative. To contribute to the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi Target 11, areas on private land must be either privately protected areas (PPAs) or 'other effective area-based conservation measures' (OECMs) on private land. Here we compare PPAs to OECMs on private land, clarify misconceptions and provide case studies for how two jurisdictions, Australia and South Africa, have worked through applying these categories to local private land conservation mechanisms.