OTHER EFFECTIVE AREA BASED CONSERVATION MEASURES (OECM's) IN OSUN STATE: A DELPHI STUDY TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE.

Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) are crucial for both sustainable biodiversity use and climate change mitigation. OECM sites in Osun State were identified as a measure for biodiversity conservation using delphi research, an organized method intended to extract the insights of experts. This paper identified 14 OECM in the study area, using the global positioning system receiver to obtain geographic coordinates. The landforms and associated ecosystems were captured through direct field observations and photographs while the assessment of meeting up with the OECM standard was done using the CBD Criteria, out of which only 8 sites met the CBD criteria. The study came to the conclusion that OECMs offer a worldwide framework for identifying, enhancing, and supporting additional designations of conservation areas. Additionally, they fortify the governance and management systems now in place. OECMs help achieve CBD Aichi Target 11, according to the study. It also suggested that policies boost the legitimate authorities' ability to govern in order to promote OECMs.