The Regional Conservation Programme uses specific IUCN knowledge products and area-based conservation frameworks to achieve this work, namely:

• IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1. (IUCN 2012), which is used as the standard for global Red List assessments published on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• Guidelines for the application of IUCN Red List of Ecosystems categories and criteria (Bland et al. 2017).
• A Global Standard for the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (IUCN 2016), which identifies sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity, and which is now implemented through the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Partnership including 13 partners.
• Guidelines for Recognising and reporting other effective area-based conservation measures (IUCN and WCPA Task Force on OECMs 2019).
• (IUCN 2021). IUCN Green Status of Species, which is a global standard for measuring species recovery and assessing conservation impact.
• IUCN and World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) (2017). IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas: Standard, Version 1.1., which is a global programme of certification aiming to achieve and promote effective, equitable, and successful protected and conserved areas by highlighting best practices and providing a benchmark for progress towards effective and equitable management.

These global standards and frameworks are used to assist African countries to better understand which of their biodiversity is at risk of extinction, and which are the most important places to safeguard biodiversity. Through effective policy integration and capacity development in these countries, we aim to successfully integrate these products into each country biodiversity planning policies. The outcomes we hope to achieve are improved biodiversity mapping and prioritisation to support sustainable development and biodiversity safeguarding.