PROTECTED AREAS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Through ecosystem-based adaptation, protected areas provide a powerful tool to address climate change. Their role has been recognized by the international community addressing climate change, but is generally undervalued and under explored. Protected areas have long been one of the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation. Used to promote the protection of ecosystems, natural habitats and the maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings, they remain not only vital to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural resources in the face of climate change but also have an important roles to play:
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Fact: Protected ecosystems provide coastal protection against sea-level rises and the increased frequency of natural disasters due to climate change. |
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To replace the coast protection services provided by mangroves, has been estimated to cost US$300,000 per kilometer of shoreline |
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Fact: Protected corridors can allow the migration of plants and animals following pole-ward shifts in habitat distributions due to changes in temperature and precipitation |
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Fact: Protected areas provide refuges to already threatened populations of plants and animals that would be particularly threatened by the effects of climate change. |
The use of protected areas in ecosystem-based adaptation, which integrates the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall adaptation strategy, can be cost-effective and generate social, economic and cultural co-benefits and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Establishing and effectively managing protected-area systems can ensure the continued delivery of ecosystem services that increase resilience to climate change as well as provide important opportunities for local communities.
RECIPIENTS: SUGGESTED ACTIONS
- LifeWeb Expressions of Interest for projects that include the use of protected areas as tools for adaptation to climate change should be submitted.
- Expressions of Interest dealing with climate change adaptation should make reference to the national climate change adaptation strategies
DONORS: IMPORTANT INFORMATION
- Protected areas provide opportunities to support climate change adaptation solutions through conservation.
- Protected areas can be a cost-effective means of adapting to climatic changes and can have important synergistic benefits for the conservation of biodiversity and the improvement of local livelihoods.
- LifeWeb has already facilitated matches between donors and recipients. In the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation, the German Ministry of Environment has already contributed, through LifeWeb, close to €40m with the intention to commit similar funds annually from its climate change fund to new and existing protected areas around the world.
RELEVANT CBD CONFERENCE OF PARTIES DECISIONS
- The Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in decisions V/4 and VII/15 recognized the link between climate change and biodiversity.
- The Conference of Parties to the CBD in decision IX/18 (A), article 23:
Encourages Parties and invites relevant organizations to enhance research and awareness of the role that protected areas and the connectivity of networks of protected areas play in addressing climate change; - The Conference of Parties to the CBD in decision IX/18 (B), article 3 invited parties to:
(h) Explore funding opportunities for protected area design, establishment and effective management in the context of efforts to address climate change recalling that effective actions to reduce deforestation could constitute a unique opportunity for biodiversity protection, as noted by the Conference of Parties in decision VIII/30; - The Conference of Parties, in decision IX/18 (B) Article 6, Urged multilateral organizations, NGOs and other funding organizations to support developing countries (…) by:
(e) Supporting projects that demonstrate the role that protected areas play in addressing climate change
- The Convention’s Programme of Work on Protected Areas also encourages Parties to integrate climate change adaptation measures in protected area planning, management, and design (CBD Decision VII/28, Protected areas (Articles 8 (a) to (e)), Annex (Programme of work on protected areas): Suggested activity no. 1.4.5, Goal 1.4).
More information about Climate Change Adaptation, Biodiversity and the CBD
LifeWeb Climate Change Adaptation Expressions of Interest
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| Management and Protection Enhancement of Private Natural Areas in Honduras |
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The conservation of private lands in Honduras began in 2001 and consequently the Honduran Network of Private Nature Reserves was established as a central initiative of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor Project which was also supported by other projects and international cooperation programs, intended to bring together a significant number of landowners with interest to promote the conservation and management of natural resources in one association, with the ultimate aim of bringing these to the category of private reserves. As one of the activities under the work program of the CBD in PA, the government of the Honduran Republic promotes the strengthening of management and private conservation initiatives, considering that it can complement the conservation of fragile ecosystems underrepresented in the national system of protected areas in Honduras. Dry forest ecosystems are one of the most threatened and also a priority for private nature reserves.The remnants of dry forest are subject to constant threats from the surrounding productive landscape, due to limited capacities, knowledge and experience of local planners in land use and landscape.
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| Renforcement du système d’aires protégées |
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Les aires protégées représentent environ 3 % de la superficie de la Tunisie. En effet, l’objectif majeur de création des parcs nationaux est tout d’abord préserver le patrimoine biologique de la Tunisie dans un but d’assurer la durabilité de ces ressources, de diminuer la perte des éléments de la DB et de s’acquérir d’ un réservoir biologique stratégique.
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Lao People's Democratic Republic |
19-Oct-2009 |
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| Strengthening the Provincial Protected Area System of Bolikhamxay Province of Lao PDR |
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The mixed semi-tropical forests of western Bolikhamxay Province are largely of a type that was historically found fairly widely in Indochina with species such as elephant and clouded leopard. Much of this habitat has been converted for agriculture, logging and plantations. However, several protected areas, including the three provincial protected areas that are the focus of this proposal, have largely escaped this conversion and thus are of national and regional importance.
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Lao People's Democratic Republic |
19-Oct-2009 |
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| Strengthening and enlarging the Protected Area System of Eastern Bolikhamxay Province of Lao PDR |
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In addition to unique endemics, these forests of eastern Bolikhamxay are also home to several endangered primates including gibbons, douc langurs and leaf monkeys. While we do know that gibbons, doucs and leaf monkeys are present, this area has been little explored biologically so it is therefore uncertain where these species will fall within the IUCN Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered categories.
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Lao People's Democratic Republic |
19-Oct-2009 |
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| Strengthening the Nam Kading National Protected Area of Bolikhamxay Province, Lao PDR |
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The Nam Kading National Protected Area is the third largest in Lao PDR at over 1,600 square kilometers, and can likely support viable populations of many medium sized mammals under threat, including at least four Critically Endangered and Endangered primate species. These include the Northern White-cheeked Gibbon, the Southern White-cheeked Gibbon, Red-shanked Douc Langur and one or possibly two Leaf-monkey species in the taxonomically unclear (but clearly highly threatened) Trachypithecus complex.
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| Development of an independent Conservation Trust Fund supporting Uganda's protected area system |
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A coalition of Government, NGOs, and civil society organizations have come together to discuss the need to develop a mechanism for long-term financing of Uganda’s protected areas. The group has recommended the creation of the Uganda Conservation Trust Fund (UCTF) that is independent of Government and which can generate the financial resources necessary to support the management of protected areas in Uganda.
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| Sustainable Management of Coastal Marine Resources of 6 Protected Areas of the Honduran Caribbean |
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The region's Caribbean coast is under intense anthropogenic pressure, as the populations of the five provinces that comprise the region, reach a total of just over 1. 7 million inhabitants, which represents 28% of the total population. Most of the population are Garifunas and Miskito (ethnic groups), which are located along the coastal area of the country. These ethnic communities are highly vulnerable, living in poverty and are seriously threatened by the degradation of natural resources. Project objectives include strengthening the governance of the region through institutional strengthening of NGOs and government institutions involved, improving the technical, financial regulation and management of coastal marine resources, accomplishing sustainable management and recovery of marine ecosystems through implementation of best fishing practices, tourism and infrastructure for economic development in the area, designing and implementing monitoring programs and research for decision makers by key stakeholders and implementing environmental education programs that promote good practices and sustainable development.
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| Management Strengthening of 7 Protected Areas in the Department of Olancho |
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The project will take place in the Department of Olancho, one of the most important regions related to forestry resources, which are very important for the national and local economy. The majority of the local communities involved in this project live in poverty, and lack the tools and mechanisms to effectively participate in the management of protected areas. The project objectives include consolidating the network of protected areas (7) of the Region of Olancho, managing PAs effectively and participatively and achieving an ecologically representative network, in order to accomplish environmental, social and economic functions.
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| Action Tsitongambarika |
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Intrinsic Biodiversity Problem - The disappearance of the lowland humid forest ecosystem of TGK would constitute a loss of the largest remaining area of this highly threatened and diverse vegetation type in Southern Madagascar, as well as a number of species endemic to the SE, and even to TGK itself, and many more that are poorly, if at all, represented in existing PAs.
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| Management support to the Northern Reefs management area |
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The Northern Reefs area includes a large number of marine habitat types, including seagrass beds, algal flats, barrier reefs, fringing reefs, patch reefs, atolls, sunken atoll, lagoon areas, small sand spits/islands, and small volcanic rock islands.
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Learn More about Protected Area Benefits
Millennium Development Goals related to Climate Change Adaptation
Important Guidance Materials
 Biodiversity and Livelihoods: REDD benefits (2009)
 Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2009); Connecting Biodiversity and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Report of the Second Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and Climate Change. Montreal, Technical Series No. 41.
 Dudley, Nigel (2009); Protected areas helping people cope with climate change: Natural Solutions. First draft: August 2009. Equilibrium Research.
 The World Bank (2009); Convenient Solutions to an Inconvenient Truth: Ecosystem-based Approaches to Climate Change. Washington, DC, USA.
 Mulongoy, K.J. and S.B. Gidda (2008); The Value of Nature: Ecological, Economic, Cultural and Social Benefits of Protected Areas. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada.
 Ben Brown (2007); Resilience Thinking Applied to The Mangroves of Indonesia. A Look at the General Resilience of Indonesia’s Mangrove Forests, as Socio-Ecological Systems with Reference to Potential Thresholds.
 BirdLife International; Partners with nature: How healthy ecosystems are helping the world’s most vulnerable adapt to climate change
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