Protecting the Planet Newsletter, May 2022
DELIVERING THE PROMISE OF SYDNEY
May 2022
BREAKING NEWS
2nd Asia Parks Congress calls for ambitious, fair and effective nature conservation
The 2nd Asia Parks Congress (APC) closed on 29 May with a strong call to secure 30 percent of the planet for nature by 2030.
Over 1,200 participants from 49 countries met in Kota Kinabalu from 24-29 May 2022 for the 2nd Asia Parks Congress, jointly convened by Sabah Parks, Malaysia and IUCN. One of the first, large, in-person and virtual environment-related gatherings to be held in Asia since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Congress attracted participants from across Asia and beyond, representing government agencies, NGOs, international organisations, youth, Indigenous peoples and local communities, academia and the private sector.
A rich programme of plenaries, working groups, pavilions, events, a special Indigenous peoples' and local communities' forum, and a youth forum discussed and proposed solutions to the most pressing issues facing the conservation of nature in Asia today.
THE PATH TO 30x30
IUCN statement on International Day for Biological Diversity
This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May inspires us with its theme of 'building a shared future for all life'.
This is a crucial aim as we move to adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework at the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference. After all, the 30 x 30 target (to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030) must include global restoration action to prevent and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide; including of grasslands and rangelands, and production landscapes and seascapes.
As the next phase of negotiations approaches, we must remember that we need a framework that is fit for purpose. We need a framework that will unite stakeholders all over the globe to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030, and put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of all people and the planet.
Catch up with our Vital Sites pavilion events on YouTube
The Vital Sites Pavilion at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille highlighted how fair and effective protected and conserved areas are a foundation for addressing biodiversity and development challenges, and are essential for human health and well-being.
With a new dedicated playlist on YouTube, updated regularly, you can now relive your favourite pavilion events in high-definition. All our technical and social events from the pavilion are now up!
INSPIRING PEOPLE
Traditional owners of Ngalurrtju Aboriginal Land Trust (Australia)
Traditional owners of the Ngalurrtju Aboriginal Land Trust have signed a lease agreement to collaboratively protect more than 300,000ha of land in remote north-west Central Australia. The Ngalurrtju partnership includes Warlpiri, Anmatyerr and Luritja-speaking traditional owners.
Their agreement with the Central Land Council and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy intends to promote mutual learning through sharing Aboriginal cultural knowledge, conservation land management techniques and scientific research methods.
The agreement has been about a decade in the making and it ensures traditional owners retain ownership of the land. The Ngalurrtju partnership includes an employment package of about $170,000 per year to train and employ Indigenous people from nearby communities as rangers.
INSPIRING PLACES
Kyrgyzstan: Protecting pasture to protect walnut forests
In the mountain village of Arslanbob, a smartphone app is helping communities get the most out of their grazing lands, and in turn protect the world's largest natural walnut forest.
Retired forest ranger Hayat Tarikov says that far from abandoning traditional ways of life, migrants from the village often come back with a deepened desire to see the ancient forest preserved. "One thing that is different about Arslanbob is that when young people leave here looking for work elsewhere, they come back," he says. "This forest calls them home."
INSPIRING SOLUTIONS
Meet inspiring PANORAMA Solution Providers: Rodrigue MOURBARE SALI, Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (Cameroon)
PANORAMA Solution: Restoration of the northwestern banks of the Faro National Park
In order to contribute to the resolution of problems around land use and degradation, numerous awareness meetings have been initiated between the Faro National Park and local communities. These have enabled the population to understand the importance of conserving the banks of the Faro.
COVID-19 AND PROTECTED AREAS
The Lancet: Land use-induced spillover: a call to action to safeguard environmental, animal, and human health
Land use change—which we regard as anthropogenically-induced ecosystem change—operates through various mechanisms from local to regional scales and can induce environmental stressors that determine the abundance and distribution of wildlife, shape the dynamics of wildlife exposure and susceptibility to pathogen infection, drive pathogen shedding or excretion from wildlife (panel), and create novel contact opportunities facilitating pathogen spread between species (spillover), ultimately leading to human infection and further spread
BEST practices in the European Overseas
LIFE4BEST – Coral reefs under surveillance, Réunion Island
This project implemented by local NGO BEST RUN was presented at the WCC BEST pavilion in Marseille. More details (in French), including a presentation held online on September 5th by “UTOPIAN - identification des zones d’enjeUx prioritaires de conservaTiOn au sein des Platiers récifaux de l’île de LA RéuNion” project officer Léo Broudic, can be found below.
BIOPAMA
BIOPAMA at the International Day of Biological Diversity: From Data to Decision-Making - supporting conservation strategies, improving biodiversity protection
A systematic monitoring of the biodiversity status is essential to tackle the biodiversity crisis we are facing. Proper monitoring provides reliable data to evaluate the integrity of ecosystems and the effectiveness of conservation actions. Monitoring conservation trends and collecting scientific data on biodiversity have two-fold purpose: to assess progress towards biodiversity targets at national and global scale and to guide decision-making and conservation strategies at all levels.
Réserve de biosphère transfrontière Mono : Renforcement des capacités de la brigade de surveillance
Dans l’objectif d’améliorer les efforts de conservation dans la réserve de biosphère transfrontière du Mono, la direction des ressources forestières du ministère de l’environnement et des ressources forestières du Togo a obtenu un financement à travers le fonds d’action du programme BIOPAMA pour la mise en œuvre du projet STG-WA-570 «Soutien au renforcement des capacités de la brigade de surveillance de la réserve de biosphère transfrontière du Mono».
BIOPAMA grantees' voices: MELAD Kiribati
The Kiritimati Island Conservation Protected Area Project is designed to carry out four major key activities that includes but not limited to, the development of a management plan for the 9 protected areas and undertake to provide key equipment and tools required to carry out effective and well-coordinated patrolling, protection and monitoring of the sea birds breeding and nesting sites and habitat not only in within the closed areas but along surrounding areas and generally around the whole island which is Government state owned land.
LAC METT Implementation Support Network - Webinar
The Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) is used widely throughout the LAC region for assessing PAME; and representatives of protected area agencies from Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Saint Lucia, Guyana, Belize, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have confirmed interest in connecting with each other to share their experiences and learn from each other.
In May 2022, the BIOPAMA Caribbean team organised an inaugural event to establish the LAC METT implementation support network.
IUCN GREEN LIST
Chile avanza en la certificación de dos parques nacionales en estándar de la Lista Verde de la UICN
Delegación de la Unión Internacional de la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN) estuvo en el país verificando los avances realizados hasta el momento en gestión de áreas protegidas y conservadas.
New Regional Green List Expert Group to Evaluate the Effectiveness of West African Coastal and Marine Protected Areas
IUCN in conjunction with the Secretariat of the Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa (RAMPAO), with the support of the World Bank-funded WACA project, organized a workshop to launch the process of the Green List of protected and conserved areas for the coastal marine areas of West Africa from 9 to 11 May 2022 in La Somone, Senegal.
Comunicado de prensa | Lanzamiento de Tech4Nature Mexico
Tech4Nature México es una alianza multisectorial tiene como objetivo acelerar la conservación y regeneración efectiva de la biodiversidad y la salud de los ecosistemas mediante el aprovechamiento de los sistemas de Inteligencia Artificial, el poder de los enfoques centrados en la comunidad y las colaboraciones multisectoriales.
PANORAMA
Celebrating International Day for Biological Diversity with Solutions #ForNature
Over the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed human society and livelihoods. Weakened resilience of ecosystems, overuse of natural resources, and reduction of wildlife habitat increase the likelihood of spread of infectious diseases, zoonoses and global pandemics. But there are solutions being implemented across the globe to preserve and restore biological diversity. These solutions help prevent the development of global pandemics and create a sustainable future.
SOLUCIONES PANORAMA: Un compartir desde las Áreas Protegidas y Conservadas de la Lista Verde de la IUCN-América del Sur
Más de 20 áreas protegidas y conservadas en América del Sur comparten sus soluciones a problemas de conservación generando interés e impacto regional.
TOURISM AND PROTECTED AREAS
Strengthening capacities for a Post COVID tourism in Rio Abiseo and Amarakaeri Protected Areas, in Peru
The “Sustainable Tourism Project in Protected Areas in a Post-COVID World”, led by IUCN and co-implemented by Planeterra International Foundation, carried out a series of trainings on Health and Safety 160 people from 09 Peruvian Amazonian communities.
#NatureForAll
Join the #ChampionsOfTheEndangered movementCelebrate conservationists with IUCN #NatureForAll partner Synchronicity Earth and The Ellen Fund on 29 June 2022.
Share your story of doing inspiring work to protect threatened species and ecosystems on social media and using the hashtags #ChampionsOfTheEndangered and #NatureForAll. This truly inclusive social media campaign welcomes the celebration of the many different faces of conservation, and the wide diversity of skills and types of action that make up this movement.
Email nina@synchronicityearth.org for more details.
HOT OFF THE PRESS
IUCN WCPA Specialist Group on OECMs - Assessment Tool
The revised version of the IUCN WCPA OECM Assessment Tool is ready for download. The tool can be used to assess whether specific sites meet the CBD criteria for identifying OECMs.
This site-level assessment tool enables users to determine if an individual site qualifies as an ‘other effective area-based conservation measure’ (OECM) by assessing it against the CBD definition and criteria (CBD decision 14/8) and IUCN guidance. The tool is an annex to the IUCN WCPA Technical Report on OECMs , which includes definitions and explanations of how the CBD criteria are linked to the criteria in this tool.
Guidelines for cave and karst protection: second edition
These guidelines provide an update and expansion of the original Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection, published in 1997. The original guidelines were primarily concerned with geoheritage, and while this remains an important consideration in this second edition, it also covers the biological issues involved in cave and karst conservation.
The new guidelines build and expand on the Guidelines for geoconservation in protected and conserved areas (Crofts et al.,2020), by specifically considering the protection and conservation of geodiversity, geoheritage and ecology in karst and cave areas, wherever they occur.
New book: Effectiveness of Protected Areas in Conserving Biodiversity
This new publication addresses the effectiveness of existing protected areas at conserving the diversity of genes, species and ecosystems on land and at sea. It synthetizes the main biodiversity conservation outcomes of protected areas in the 2010-2019 decade, drawing on a systematic literature review of scientific publications and case studies from around the world demonstrating successes and failures. It provides region-specific results for land and sea ecosystems. It also reviews current methodological approaches used to assess protected area effectiveness. It can be accessed entirely or by chapters.
EVENTS AND GETTING INVOLVED
2 June 2022 - New IUCN Save Our Species webinar: Detecting and managing wildlife diseases
Interested in how species conservation can be enhanced by improved disease control? Join wildlife experts and members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission in a session that aims to promote peer-to-peer learning within and across regions.
Contributions sought for LAND Special Issue "In Situ Conservation Tools to Mitigate Impacts from Global Change on Biodiversity"
This Special Issue seeks original contributions on global change pressures on terrestrial PAs, PA effectiveness in responding to such pressures and conserving biodiversity, and assessments of other on-site conservation initiatives that can complement PAs and help retain as much biodiversity as possible in the face of global change. Examples of such tools are Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs), community-conserved areas, areas under land stewardship, or ecological restoration areas/projects.
Authors are encouraged to submit studies on biodiversity assessment outcomes in PAs/OECMs, accurate and innovative site assessment methods, analyses of pressures on PAs/OECMs, threat abatement initiatives, and original proposals for reverting gloomy biodiversity trends focusing on PAs but also on broader in situ landscape conservation, management, or governance approaches such as ecological restoration, OECMs, land stewardship schemes, or indigenous and community conserved areas. National, regional, or global analyses and reviews as well as case studies are particularly welcomed.
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