These three areas are selected in the context of the protection goals that are set either nationally, regionally or internationally.

Protection goals for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, may be defined in national, regional and international policies. In setting the context of a risk assessment, these goals may be relevant to the identification and selection of appropriate assessment endpoints and to determining which methodology will be used in the risk assessment process. Understanding the contribution of national, regional and regulatory policies in setting the context of the risk assessment is part of the preparatory work for a risk assessment as seen in Module 2.