Background: Equity is increasingly emphasized in global conservation policies. However, ambiguity in how equity is conceptualized in these mandates is thought to hinder the realization of aims for equitable governance of conservation initiatives.

Methods: Here, we provide a systematic examination of how equity is conceptualized in global conservation policies. Using content analysis, we analyze seven key policies across four components of equity: dimensions (recognition, procedure, distribution), content (what the equity issue is about), subjects (who is considered), and criteria (elements of each dimension). We classified equity text into three categories based on whether equity keywords (i.e., justice, equity, fairness, equality and their derivates) and an equity dimension were stated: explicit (use of keywords and specifying equity dimensions); implicit (use of equity dimension codes but without use of keywords); and undefined (use of keywords but without reference to a dimension).

Results: In the two decades since equity was highlighted as critical to conservation in the landmark IUCN World Parks conference, important strides have been taken to incorporate equity issues into policies and on the ground. Our examination of how equity is expressed in key conservation policies has three main findings: 1) lack clarity in their equity text; 2) are dominated by concerns about distributional, rather than recognitional or procedural equity; and 3) are highly variable in how comprehensively they incorporate equity. We suggest that a more nuanced, theoretically sound, and consistent treatment of equity in global conservation policy is crucial to achieving equitable governance of conservation initiatives.

This data record contains:

• Policy analysis in .nvp file format
• Exported Codebook in .pdf file format
• Exported Codebook in .pdf file format