Transcript Presentation: Future Research Needs - IUCN

World Heritage and Climate Change Future Research Needs
Bastian Bomhard
World Heritage Officer
Protected Areas Programme
[email protected]
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Future research needs
• List (see pages 23-26 in draft) compiled based on input
from IUCN / WCPA experts from around the world
• Research needs divided in 6 categories:
– Impacts on OUV in general
– Impacts on criterion vii: “beauty”
– Impacts on criterion viii: “geodiversity”
– Impacts on criteria ix and x: “biodiversity”
– Impacts on integrity
– Other WH research needs
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on OUV in general
• What are the most / least vulnerable WH values, sites,
Tentative List sites, types of sites and regions?
• Collect baseline data on OUV (e.g. Statements of OUV),
specific WH values and sites as well as their climate
sensitivity to provide a greater indication of those most /
more vulnerable to climate change.
• Identify suitable indicators and developing monitoring
systems adequate for the detection of climatic changes and
their impacts to predict how these impacts will threaten WH
values and sites over time and space. Need to consider
feedbacks with other threats.
• Identify critical thresholds: How much climate change is too
much for specific WH values and sites?
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on OUV in general
• Understand the impacts on the hydrology of natural WH
sites, as any changes in water quality and quantity would
affect the values of the sites and their functioning.
• Understand the implications of changing water chemistry
and temperatures for marine (e.g. coral), coastal and
freshwater WH sites.
• Improve projection (i.e. reduce uncertainty) of rainfall
changes (direction, magnitude and rate of change) and
their impacts on natural WH sites.
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on criterion vii
• Assess climate change impacts on aesthetic and scenic
WH values (e.g. waterfalls and wetlands), for example from
changes in extreme weather events, fire and water regimes,
vegetation and other landscape level dynamics.
• Assess climate change impacts on superlative natural
phenomena such as wildlife migrations for example from
(seasonal) changes in climate parameters, fire and water
regimes, food availability and nutrient cycles (cf. CMS).
• Identify criterion vii values, sites and types of sites most at
risk as well as appropriate management responses to avoid
or alleviate impacts.
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on criterion viii
• Assess impacts of climate change on fossil, geological and
geomorphologic WH values, for example from sea level rise
and changes in extreme weather events, fire and water
regimes (e.g. important for caves), weathering and erosion
(e.g. important for fossils).
• Identify criterion viii values, sites and types of sites most at
risk as well as appropriate management responses to avoid
or alleviate impacts.
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on criteria ix and x
• Assess impacts of climate change on biodiversity values,
including habitats, species, ecological and biological
processes, for example from sea level rise and changes in
climate parameters, extreme weather events, fire and water
regimes, food availability and nutrient cycles.
• Assess the impacts on species and community dynamics in
natural WH sites, and the impacts of species range shifts
and losses on ecosystem functions.
• Assess feedbacks with other pressures (pollution, invasive
alien species, habitat destruction and degradation,
desertification, development etc.).
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on criteria ix and x
• Understand the climatic thresholds of species and
communities that form the basis of key values of natural
WH sites. This is critical for our capacity to plan for
management responses. Need to not only consider
emblematic species but also those that support them.
• Identify criteria ix and x values, sites and types of sites
most at risk as well as appropriate management responses
to avoid or alleviate impacts.
• Identify “climate refugia” inside and outside natural WH
sites for biodiversity WH values (e.g. key species, habitats,
evolutionary processes etc.).
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on integrity
• Integrity includes aspects such as size, shape, boundaries,
buffer zones, management, threats, etc. of WH sites
• How to reduce the vulnerability of WH sites? Identify
appropriate management responses for States Parties and
site managers.
• Build resistance and resilience into the design and
management of natural WH sites and their buffer zones
(e.g. through conserving “climate refugia”, restoring
ecosystem functions or reducing other threats).
• Develop and implement landscape level approaches to
improve landscape connectivity of natural WH sites.
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Impacts on integrity
• Determine the adaptive capacity and capacity building
needs of States Parties and site managers.
• Develop and implement adaptive approaches to the
management of species and habitats, fire and water
regimes, visitors, etc. in WH sites.
• What will the direct and indirect impacts be from climate
change effects on local communities, their livelihoods and
land use practices in the areas around natural WH sites?
• Identify appropriate approaches supporting the adaptation
of local communities in order to reduce human pressure on
the natural resources of WH sites.
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Natural Heritage – Other WH research needs
• Explore options how the activities under the WH
Convention can become "carbon neutral" by reducing
and/or offsetting the carbon emissions of these activities.
• How do natural WH sites contribute to greenhouse gas
emissions, capture and storage? Research source and sink
dynamics of natural WH sites.
• Explore potential for recognizing carbon values of natural
WH sites to increase leverage for conservation and explore
how these can contribute to sustainable financing.
• Research how to best educate the public on the
implications of climate change for WH sites.
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
Research needs – Discussion points
• A lot of research out there already
• How to apply this to WH context (e.g. scale issues)?
• Still a long list of specific WH research needs:
– What are the key priorities for WH in general,
specific WH values, sites and regions?
– How to ensure that these gaps are filled – through
cooperation with the scientific / funding community?
– How to ensure the communication of relevant research
results and lessons learned to the WH community?
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs
World Heritage and Climate Change
Future Research Needs