Increasing conservation targets to protect biodiversity and safeguard sustainability is seen as one-way for humankind. The Half earth concept proposed by E.O. Wilson led to a debate over whether and how this can be achieved given increasing societal needs and pressure for land. The new European Biodiversity Strategy (EBS) for 2030 calls among other things for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems setting an ambitious target of 30 % of the EU’s land areas under legal protection with 10 % of EU land under strictly Protected Areas. A concept which is gaining ground globally as a potential ally in this effort is ’other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs). The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how biodiversity conservation can be achieved on a Mediterranean island, beyond existing Protected Areas, by ’giving nature half’ on the terrestrial realm. We assess the role of conservation ’allies’ in Cyprus, by identifying potential OECM areas on the island, according to four IUCN criteria.

Specifically, we assessed High Nature Value Farmlands (HNVfs), commons, archaeological sites, wildlife conservation areas, roadless areas, and mapped their spatial relationship with the Natura 2000 network. We devised a Conceptual Framework for evaluating and classifying potential OECMs on the island based on their legal protection status and the potential for persistence over time. Potential OECMs areas, which may act complementary to the N2K, extend to c. 50 % of the island. The spatial properties/arrangement of any OECM are probably as important as the criteria proposed by the IUCN. Our analysis suggests that the “allies” with the larger geographical extent and smaller overlap with N2K are HNVFs and temporary wildlife conservation areas. What we propose herein can serve as a model for rethinking and redesigning nature conservation in Mediterranean islands and beyond.