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Dudley, N.; Hockings, M.; Stolton, S.; Amend, T.; Badola, R.; Bianco, M.; Chettri, N.; Cook, C.; Day, J. C.; Dearden, P.; Ferraro, P.; Foden, W.; Gambino, R.; Kevin, J.; Ke, M.; Laestadius, L.; Laffoley, D.; Lham, D.; Lichtenstein, G.; Makombo, J.; Marshall, N.; Mcgeoch, M.; Nguyen, D.; Nogué, S.; Paxton, M.; Rao, M.; Reichelt, R.; Rivas, J.; Roux, D.; Ruʃe, C.; Schreckenberg, K.; Sovinc, A.; Sutyrina, S.; Utomo, A.; Vallauri, D.; Vedeld, P. O.; Verschuuren, B.; Waithaka, J.; Woodley, S.; Wyborn, C.; Zhang, Y.
A hundred research priorities of critical importance to protected area management were identified by a targeted survey of conservation professionals; half researchers and half practitioners
. Respondents were selected to represent a range of disciplines, every continent except Antarctica and roughly equal numbers of men and women. The results analysed thematically and grouped as potential research topics as by both practitioners and researchers. Priority research gaps reveal a high interest to demonstrate the role of protected areas within a broader discussion about sustainable futures and if and how protected areas can address a range of conservation and socio-economic challenges effectively. The paper lists the hundred priorities structured under broad headings of management, ecology, governance and social (including political and economic issues) and helps contribute to setting future research agendas
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Protected areas play a major role in reducing climate changing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere
. Fifteen percent of the world’s terrestrial carbon stock - 312 gigatonnes - are stored in protected areas around the world. Protected areas also serve as natural buffers against climate impacts and other disasters, providing space for floodwaters to disperse, stabilizing soil against landslides and blocking storm surges. And protected areas can keep natural resources healthy and productive so they can withstand the impacts of climate change and continue to provide the food, clean water, shelter and income communities rely upon for survival
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IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, believes that protected areas lie at the heart of all effective biodiversity conservation strategies
. They offer much more as well: clean water, food security, health and wealth; protection against natural disasters; carbon sequestration; recreational opportunities; sacred natural sites; homes and employment.
The Programme of Work on Protected Areas is one of the great successes of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and has helped stimulate rapid growth in both the number and effectiveness of protected areas throughout the world. This is a vital initiative, but there is still a lot to do.
IUCN and its World Commission on Protected Areas, in partnership with many governments, intergovernmental bodies and NGOs, has played a major role in crafting the agenda for the Programme. IUCN remains committed to supporting the CBD as the work on protected areas enters a new phase after Nagoya. The latest research shows that without significant investment, protected areas may not be able to continue to provide the multiple benefits which have been enjoyed up until now.
This booklet tells you why investing in protected areas is important and lays out IUCN's commitments to making the vision of the Programme of Work on Protected Areas a reality
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The following guidelines are offered to help in application of the IUCN protected area management categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives
. The categories are recognised by international bodies such as the United Nations and by many national governments as the global standard for defining and recording protected areas and as such are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation. For example, the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas “recognizes the value of a single international classification system for protected areas and the benefit of providing information that is comparable across countries and regions and therefore welcomes the ongoing efforts of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas to refine the IUCN system of categories.
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The point of departure for this issue of Policy Matters is that the evidence for serious climate change is very strong, although the extent or timing of many of the impacts are still not yet precisely known
. But the threats are not so overwhelming as to be hopeless. If we really thought the situation was without hope we would be concentrating on enjoying ourselves as the ship sailed on towards the edge of the world, rather than wasting time trying to solve the problems...
Furthermore, while CEESP has argued strongly that IUCN should address climate change as a central part of its mission, we are also aware that a sudden rush of concern about climate should not blind us to other pressing problems; when nations start to panic the solutions they propose are seldom either very effective or very equitable. We can see a classical example unfolding in front of us at the moment in the rush to develop bio fuels without considering the impact on biodiversity or food production. Now is an important time to hold our collective nerve as well as pushing hard for some solutions
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The IUCN protected area management categories are a global framework, recognised by the Convention on Biological Diversity, for categorising the variety of protected area management types
. The following guidelines provide direction, descriptions, principles and advice in the application of the IUCN protected area management categories in particular biomes and management approaches.
The document covers the following key discussions on IUCN protected area management:
- What does IUCN’s mean by “protected area” and what is the purpose behind the categories? Each category is described by its main objective, distinguishing features, role in the landscape or seascape, unique points and actions that are compatible or incompatible;
- Although categories are independent of who owns, controls, or has responsibility for management, governance is still very important. Governance types by government bodies, indigenous peoples, communities and private bodies are identified in order to help in understanding, planning for and recording protected areas;
- What processes are used for applying categories? The discussion looks at: choosing and agreeing the most suitable category for a given situation; assigning the category to meet national and international standards; and recording the protected area and category with the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre;
- Protected areas embrace a huge range of biomes, ownership patterns and motivations. Specific cases are looked at in more detail where in the past there has been cause of confusion on the management objectives set and the subsequent categories that are then applied. Examples include: forests, sacred natural sites, freshwater areas, etc.;
- How do Ramsar and the World Heritage conventions relate to the IUCN categories?
- Effectiveness of categories - options are examined as to ways of assessing protected areas that are failing to meet their objective in their category more effective.
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Management effectiveness evaluation is defined as the assessment of how well protected areas are being managed – primarily the extent to which management is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives
. The term management effectiveness reflects three main ‘themes’ in protected area management:
- design issues relating to both individual sites and protected area systems;
- adequacy and appropriateness of management systems and processes; and
- delivery of protected area objectives including conservation of values.
Evaluation of management effectiveness is recognised as a vital component of responsive, pro-active protected area management. As well as being an essential tool at local, regional and national level, evaluation also has an increasing international context. Nations are agreeing to report on progress in conservation to their peers through institutions such as the World Heritage Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity. In the latter, nations have committed to develop systems of assessing management effectiveness and to report on 30 per cent of their protected areas by 2010. These and other external demands for information on status and trends in protected area management, combined with the need for more data to meet the practical challenges of managing protected areas, have led to a rapid increase in interest in monitoring and evaluation
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