High Conservation Value (HCV) provides a framework for identifying, managing, and monitoring areas of critical importance or outstanding significance for biodiversity or ecosystem services or for supporting the basic needs or cultural identity of local communities. The concept of HCV originated as part of certification standards for sustainable forestry, but has seen increasing application in certification standards for sustainable agriculture, including the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards. The concept has also been applied in conservation planning, including an ongoing national-scale HCV assessment in Gabon. We will provide an overview of the six categories of HCV and a review of current issues (such as the application of the HCV concept to palm oil landscapes) and recent research. We will also discuss our own review of 20 national HCV toolkits, including a discussion of inconsistencies between toolkits and links to international biodiversity standards such as the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.