Important Bird Areas and Important Plant Areas have already been identified in more than 170 countries. The Key Biodiversity Areas approach builds on the work done to date, in order to provide practical guidance to governments in identifying those sites which must be protected to ensure the future of both biodiversity and humanity.
While the Mediterranean basin biodiversity hotspot is well known for its globally important biodiversity, its freshwater biodiversity has not been as widely recognized for its importance. Through this project, freshwater key biodiversity areas (KBAs) have now been identified, mapped and validated throughout much of the Mediterranean hotspot. It is now important to raise awareness of their status as validated freshwater KBAs and to develop plans for appropriate conservation actions at these sites, as this biodiversity is highly threatened largely due to the conflicting demands upon a diminishing supply of fresh water which is further exacerbated by the increased severity of drought across the region.
IUCN's Protected Areas Management Categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives, are today accepted as the benchmark for defining, recording, and classifying protected areas. They are recognized by international bodies such as the United Nations as well as many national governments. As a result, they are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation. These guidelines provide as much clarity as possible regarding the meaning and application of the Categories. They describe the definition of the Categories and discuss application in particular biomes and management approaches.
In a coherent and comprehensive set of chapters, a team of leading scientists describe the present state-of-the-art in spatial conservation planning methodology with a focus on operational definitions and methods, supported by the latest technological details and applications of publicly available software.
A large number of approaches have been developed over the last four decades for identifying places of significance for biodiversity, but unfortunately this requires looking at multiple, disconnected databases and other information sources to understand the sites of importance in a particular area. To address this issue and provide a coherent, global approach, IUCN was asked to convene a worldwide consultative process to agree on an overarching methodology to identify Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) -- sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. A Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas was established to finalise a standard methodology for KBA identification. This report summarises findings from a two-year survey of existing and potential end-users of the KBA standard and, in particular, of the resulting KBA data generated under it. Implications for the development of the KBA standard are then outlined.
The ocean is under increasing threat from the expansion of human activities. The combined impacts of these threats as well as the potential impacts of climate change and ocean acidification have placed thousands of species at risk of extinction, and have impaired the structure, function, productivity and resilience of marine ecosystems. Currently, some parts of the world's oceans are significantly impacted, yet are without any form of effective management. Only a small proportion of the oceans are within protected area systems. Globally, measures are being taken to increase protection and sustainable management, but application is uncoordinated and not always effective. In order to support effective policy action by countries and competent international and regional organizations, it is critical to build a sound understanding of the most ecologically and biologically important ocean areas that support healthy marine ecosystems so that the necessary steps to ensure the long-term function and resilience of these systems can be taken.
This document is one of seven guidelines developed to provide standards and recommendations for management of the country’s natural assets. The Guidelines for Biodiversity Monitoring is intended for conservation scientists, managers and stakeholders involved in the management of ecosystems. It specifically provides support for natural resource managers, protected area planners, decision-makers and managers, staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), NGOs and universities, with a view to elaborating adequate and realistic monitoring plans for individual steppe protected areas, in order to establish a working monitoring system for steppe ecosystems. The Guidelines provide a methodology and structure to set up clear indicators and targets for a comprehensive monitoring system for ecosystems. They offer a working basis for national and local experts and specialists, and support the steps towards a comprehensive monitoring scheme. They constitute the first stage in a longer process of defining clear objectives and indicators for individual pillars of monitoring for the ecosystems and their components.
Conservation Biology for All provides cutting-edge but basic conservation science to a global readership. A series of authoritative chapters have been written by the top names in conservation biology with the principal aim of disseminating cutting-edge conservation knowledge as widely as possible. Important topics such as balancing conversion and human needs, climate change, conservation planning, designing and analyzing conservation research, ecosystem services, endangered species management, extinctions, fire, habitat loss, and invasive species are covered. Numerous textboxes describing additional relevant material or case studies are also included. The global biodiversity crisis is now unstoppable; what can be saved in the developing world will require an educated constituency in both the developing and developed world. Habitat loss is particularly acute in developing countries, which is of special concern because it tends to be these locations where the greatest species diversity and richest centres of endemism are to be found. Sadly, developing world conservation scientists have found it difficult to access an authoritative textbook, which is particularly ironic since it is these countries where the potential benefits of knowledge application are greatest. There is now an urgent need to educate the next generation of scientists in developing countries, so that they are in a better position to protect their natural resources.
Protected areas can be found in a wide variety of environments, ranging from mountains to the sea, deserts, forests and freshwater lakes, and even traverse borders. They differ in almost every respect, including the purposes for which they are managed, their size, the types of sites and resources they protect, and their management. In recent decades, the number of protected areas has increased rapidly. Although, there has been good progress in expanding the coverage of terrestrial protected areas 14.9%, the further areas are needed for a full representation of areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services (UNEP-WCMC, IUCN and NGS, 2018). In general, this rapid and recent growth in protected areas has not been accompanied by commensurate expansion in management capacity. The designation of protected status both on land and water has often failed to resolve (and in some cases has heightened) conflicts over access, use or control of the areas concerned. Economic recession and hardship have thrown such issues into sharper focus in recent years. Protected areas will not survive unless they enjoy broad public support, which is dependent on people’s fundamental needs being met. Land use and resource management conflicts, inequities or impacts do not cease to exist simply because an area is granted protected status. When established by nation states or related entities, protected area boundaries often reflect considerations of sovereignty, governance and tenure as much as the environment types they seek to protect. For all these reasons, the planning and management of protected areas must be coordinated with the use and management of other areas rather than treated in isolation. The long-term success of protected areas must be framed by the search for more sustainable patterns of development in general. The present Guidelines are intended to support the establishment process for protected areas.
