Without massive protected areas for wildlife, the world will not be able to prevent rampant species loss, according to new analysis
Fiona Harvey guardian.co.uk 7 Sep 12;
The world must look to designate an area twice the size of Argentina as nature reserves, or we will have little chance of establishing enough protected areas for wildlife and fish to stave off a disastrous loss of species, according to an analysis of natural and marine reserves.
In the 20 years from 1990 to 2010, the amount of land with protected status rose from 8.8% to 12.7%, while the amount of sea protected was increased from 0.9% to 4%, according to a report by the United Nations environment programme (Unep) and others, published at the World Conservation Congress on Friday.
Yet according to international targets adopted in 2010, that proportion must increase to 17% and 10% respectively by the end of this decade. On current rates of progress, this target looks very unlikely to be met. In order to meet the goals – which some analysts say will not even be enough to prevent rampant species loss – an area more than twice the size of Argentina would have to be designated on land as reserves, and at sea an area greater than Australia would need to be put under marine protection in order to meet the internationally set targets.
The report also concluded that about half of the world's important sites for biodiversity are still unprotected.
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, director-general of the IUCN, which is hosting the conference and co-authored the report, said establishing reserves and other forms of protection was an effective way of conserving species that are under threat. "Protected areas have contributed significantly to conservation of the world's biodiversity and an increase in their coverage and effectiveness is vital to a thriving planet and communities for the future. These rich natural areas are very important for people, who rely on them for food and clean water, climate regulation and reducing the impacts of natural disasters."
According to the report, much progress has been made in setting up and governing protected areas. But the wide range of ways of designating nature reserves in different countries, and the difficulty of establishing marine reserves, which often require cross-border cooperation and fraught negotiations over fishing rights, has made it hard to judge how well these initiatives are functioning.
Also at the conference, the World Bank's vice president for sustainable development, Rachel Kyte, issued a challenge to conservation groups, calling on them to forge closer links with businesses in order to achieve their aims. Conservation organisations have long been suspicious of businesses, seeing them as more likely to exploit valuable species and habitats for their own gain than to strive to protect them, even if paying lip service to environmental goals. Some are also reluctant to follow the World Bank's lead in attempting to put a value on the natural world, as a way of encouraging governments and the private sector to protect natural resources.
But Kyte said that the future for conservation lay in co-operating with the business world, and called on activists to "get out of their comfort zones". She said: "The need for action is overcoming global political sclerosis. Companies working in developing countries are increasingly investing in biodiversity expertise, in community development, environmental restoration and long-term conservation capacity building."
The two-week conference, held every four years, is expected to have 10,000 visitors. Some of the more controversial subjects to be discussed include the issue of conservation groups such as the IUCN working more closely with, and receiving funding, from businesses.
Protected areas for wildlife expand to size of Russia
Reuters Yahoo News 7 Sep 12;
OSLO (Reuters) - Protected areas for wildlife have expanded worldwide to cover a land area the size of Russia in the past two decades, but far more parks and reserves are needed to meet a 2020 target, a study showed on Friday.
The sharp growth, as governments expanded existing areas and declared new ones, was needed to help slow a loss of animal and plant species and to conserve eco-systems which serve vital functions such as purifying water and storing greenhouse gases, it said.
"These rich natural areas are very important for people, who rely on them for food and clean water, climate regulation and reducing the impacts of natural disasters," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The IUCN report, issued during a meeting of the organization in South Korea, said the areas protected had risen to 12.7 percent of the world's terrestrial area in 2010, or 17 million sq km (6.6 million sq miles), from 8.8 percent in 1990.
The United Nations has set a goal of protected areas reaching 17 percent of land area by 2020 - that would mean adding at least 6 million sq km (2.3 million sq miles) or an area about twice the size of Argentina or India, it said.
The area of the sea protected within national jurisdictions has risen more than four-fold to 4 percent, from 0.9 percent in 1990, but is also far short of a U.N. goal of 10 percent by 2020. Reaching the target would require adding marine areas the size of Australia.
Protected areas also vary widely in their effectiveness, according to the study by IUCN, which includes governments, scientists and activists.
"Some of the world's protected areas are properly managed but many, many of them aren't," Trevor Sandwith, director of the IUCN's Global Protected Areas Programme, told Reuters.
One possible option to meet the U.N. target would be to recognize more of the land that is under the control of indigenous peoples as protected, he said. Indigenous peoples were often better at conserving territory than governments.
Sandwith said U.N. climate negotiations had failed to agree a financial reward for governments which protect rainforests, putting a brake on conservation efforts.
Trees soak up carbon as they grow and release it when they burn or rot. Deforestation, from the Amazon Basin to the Congo, may account for 17 percent of all greenhouse gases from human activities, according to some government estimates.
Talks on a new global deal to fight climate change, which may include forest carbon, are making slow progress. The United Nations' goal is to strike an agreement by 2015 which will come into effect in 2020.
(Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Pravin Char)
Launch of a new report on Protected Areas
IUCN 7 Sep 12;
Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, 7 September, 2012 (IUCN) – Protected Areas –parks, nature reserves and other natural areas– assist in reducing deforestation, habitat and species loss, and support the livelihoods of over one billion people, while containing 15 % of the world’s carbon stock, according to a new report released today at the World Conservation Congress.
The Protected Planet Report 2012 finds that protected areas are growing in number and coverage of the earth’s surface, today comprising 12.7% of the world’s terrestrial area and 1.6% of the global ocean area.
“Protected areas have contributed significantly to conservation of the world’s biodiversity and an increase in their coverage and effectiveness is vital to a thriving planet and communities for the
future,“ says IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre. “These rich natural areas are very important for people, who rely on them for food and clean water, climate regulation and reducing the impacts of natural disasters.”
The new report measures progress against the Aichi Targets, a set of goals released two years ago by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that included the objective of at least 17 % of the world’s terrestrial areas and 10 % of the world’s marine areas be effectively and equitably managed and conserved by 2020. The new report has been produced through a collaborative effort between IUCN and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), with other partners.
The report shows that from 1990 to 2010, global protected area coverage increased from 8.8% to 12.7% in terrestrial areas (including inland waters) and from 0.9% to 4% in marine areas under national jurisdiction. Current numbers, however, are well behind the Aichi targets, with under 13 % of the world’s terrestrial areas protected today, and just 1.6 % of the world’s ocean areas protected.
An area more than twice the size of Argentina comprising more than 6 million square kilometers of land and inland waters would have to be recognized as protected to meet the Aichi target. For oceans, an area more than the size of Australia comprising 8 million square kilometers would need to be recognized.
Protected areas are, however, diversifying rapidly in areas critical to their success, such as management and governance arrangements. According to the report, nearly half of the world’s protected areas are within sustainable-use areas and protected landscapes / seascapes, and nearly a quarter are managed by non-governmental actors or under co-management arrangements, often with indigenous peoples or local communities.
This is the first edition of the Protected Planet Report. It is scheduled to be published every two years, with the next edition planned in time for the IUCN World Parks Congress and the CBD COP (Conference of Parties) 12 in 2014. Future editions will provide updated information on progress towards the Aichi targets, as well as information on existing protected area indicators and progress towards protected areas connectivity.
Download the report: http://www.iucn.org/pa_protectedplanet
Protected areas for wildlife expand to size of Russia
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 10 Sep 12;
Protected areas for wildlife have expanded worldwide to cover a land area the size of Russia in the past two decades, but far more parks and reserves are needed to meet a 2020 target, a study showed on Friday.
The sharp growth, as governments expanded existing areas and declared new ones, was needed to help slow a loss of animal and plant species and to conserve eco-systems which serve vital functions such as purifying water and storing greenhouse gases, it said.
"These rich natural areas are very important for people, who rely on them for food and clean water, climate regulation and reducing the impacts of natural disasters," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The IUCN report, issued during a meeting of the organization in South Korea, said the areas protected had risen to 12.7 percent of the world's terrestrial area in 2010, or 17 million sq km (6.6 million sq miles), from 8.8 percent in 1990.
The United Nations has set a goal of protected areas reaching 17 percent of land area by 2020 - that would mean adding at least 6 million sq km (2.3 million sq miles) or an area about twice the size of Argentina or India, it said.
The area of the sea protected within national jurisdictions has risen more than four-fold to 4 percent, from 0.9 percent in 1990, but is also far short of a U.N. goal of 10 percent by 2020. Reaching the target would require adding marine areas the size of Australia.
Protected areas also vary widely in their effectiveness, according to the study by IUCN, which includes governments, scientists and activists.
"Some of the world's protected areas are properly managed but many, many of them aren't," Trevor Sandwith, director of the IUCN's Global Protected Areas Programme, told Reuters.
One possible option to meet the U.N. target would be to recognize more of the land that is under the control of indigenous peoples as protected, he said. Indigenous peoples were often better at conserving territory than governments.
Sandwith said U.N. climate negotiations had failed to agree a financial reward for governments which protect rainforests, putting a brake on conservation efforts.
Trees soak up carbon as they grow and release it when they burn or rot. Deforestation, from the Amazon Basin to the Congo, may account for 17 percent of all greenhouse gases from human activities, according to some government estimates.
Talks on a new global deal to fight climate change, which may include forest carbon, are making slow progress. The United Nations' goal is to strike an agreement by 2015 which will come into effect in 2020.
(Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Pravin Char)
