During the course of its evolution, nature conservation has changed its approach; from establishing strictly protected areas with defined limits, to developing optimal solutions which favour both nature conservation and sustainable development. Systematic Conservation Planning, initiated and evolving since the late 1980s, continues to be the most valuable tool for the optimal solution approach.

Its main characteristics are that it:

• Is data dependent;
• Can consider both biological and socio-economic data;
• Is target oriented;
• Aims to produce optimum solutions for both nature conservation and sustainable development; 
• Is a spatial planning tool.