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| 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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The cost of replacing the coastal protection services provided by mangroves has been estimated to be US$300,000 per kilometer of shoreline. |
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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.
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
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: Suggestion Actions
- Expressions of Interest for projects that include the use of protected areas as tools for adaptation to climate change are strongly encouraged.
- Expressions of Interest addressing climate change adaptation should make reference to 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, food and water security 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
Expressions of Interest: Climate Change Adaptation
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| Yayu Coffee Forest Biosphere Reserve: Model site for integration of research-based conservation and development |
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Yayu forest is one of the priority forest areas in Ethiopia. Over 450 higher plants, 50 mammal, 200 bird, and 20 amphibian species have been recorded in the area. The forest is also one of the few remnant habitats for coffee (Coffea arabica). Ethiopia is the only center of origin and diversity for C. arabica and hence is important for in situ conservation of genetic diversity. The Yayu coffee forest is also important for the livelihoods of local households and stakeholders at different levels. This project aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation while contributing to the improvement of local livelihoods through adaptive conservation-development integration activities. To achieve this, the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve approach will be adopted. This project’s specific objectives are to strengthen the capacity of government agencies and community-based organizations responsible for biosphere reserve establishment and management, brand, promote and market coffee forest products, rehabilitate degraded parts of the forest area and establish protocols for the monitoring of forest conditions.
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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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Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
22-Feb-2010 |
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| My Island My Community: A Public Awareness and Behaviour Change Program for Climate Change for the OECS |
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The Eastern Caribbean is at the front line of adapting to climate change. Small islands are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, protected areas, economies, tourism and the communities that live there.
While global attention has been brought to bear on this issue, there remains a critical communications challenge: how to effectively engage the public, ensuring they have access to sound and timely information and a clear vision of what they can do to help mitigate the challenges posed by climate change.
My Island – My Community is an ambitious new partnership program committed to building public awareness across the Eastern Caribbean to encourage wide spread behavior change with regard to small island community preparedness and adaptation to climate change. It brings together a unique network of organizations committed to using the power of communications to enhance knowledge sharing, engage the public and directly support CBA activities (Community Based Adaption) across the 9 countries of the Eastern Caribbean.
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| Strengthening Colombia’s National Protected Areas |
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This comprehensive national scale project will seek to strenghthen all of the protected areas of which Colombia's National Parks System is currently comprised. At present, this includes 56 protected areas, covering 12.602.320 ha, equivalent to 9.3% of Colombia's terrestrial area and 1.98% of its marine area.
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Dominican Republic |
30-Dec-2009 |
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| Strengthening Marine Resource Management Across the Samaná bay Protected Area Complex in the Face of Climate Change |
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Samaná Bay, a priority site for protection and one of the largest and most productive estuaries in the country, is an important humpback whale breeding area and home to large numbers of endemic species and important habitats including mangroves and seagrass beds, which in addition to providing spawning and recruitment areas, have been shown globally to sequester carbon on the same order as terrestrial forests.
Dwindling vital marine resources and biodiversity in a highly complex seascape increasingly threatened by unsustainable uses are risking the region's main economy and the livilihoods of hundreds fishers and tourism dollars generated from whale watching.
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Lao People's Democratic Republic |
19-Oct-2009 |
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| Improved management of 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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| Strengthening the management 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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Guidance Material
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The Natural Fix? The role of ecosystems in climate mitigation. A UNEP rapid response assessment.
Trumper, K., Bertzky, M., Dickson, B., van der Heijden, G., Jenkins, M., Manning; United Nations Environment Programme, UNEPWCMC
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| publication |
Natural Solutions: Protected areas helping people cope with climate change
Dudley, N., S. Stolton, A. Belokurov, L. Krueger, N. Lopoukhine, K. MacKinnon, T. Sandwith and N. Sekhran; IUCN WCPA, TNC, UNDP, WCS, The World Bank and WWF
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 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.
 The World Bank (2009); Convenient Solutions to an Inconvenient Truth: Ecosystem-based Approaches to Climate Change. Washington, DC, USA.
 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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