Transcript Protected areas and climate change

Alexander Belokurov, WWF International
[email protected]
WWF’s Arguments for
Protection series
• Reports published
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Running Pure (Drinking water)
Beyond Belief (Sacred sites)
Food Stores (Agro-biodiversity)
Safety Net (Poverty reduction)
Natural Security (Disaster mitigation)
Vital sites (Health)
Natural Solutions (Climate Change)
• Tools
– PA Benefits Assessment Tool
• Book
– Published in Spring 2010
Why protected areas?
• Protected area systems are already established as
efficient, successful and cost effective tools for
ecosystem management
• They have associated laws and policies, management
and governance institutions, knowledge, staff and
capacity
• They contain the only remaining large natural
habitats in many areas
• Opportunities exist to increase their connectivity at
landscape level and their effective management, so as
to enhance the resilience of ecosystems to climate
change and safeguard vital ecosystem services
Protected areas and climate
change
• Protected areas are an essential part of
the global response to climate change
• Protected areas contribute to the two
main responses to climate change:
Mitigation
Adaptation
Adaptation
The role of protected
areas in ecosystembased adaptation
strategies
The challenge
• Ecosystem-based adaptation is the use
of biodiversity and ecosystem services
as part of adaptation strategies to help
us cope with the adverse effects of
climate change
but
• The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
estimates that 60% of global ecosystem
services are degraded and so these
services are rapidly being lost
The challenge
• Health: spread of disease vectors, heat
waves, poor sanitation due to lack of clean
water
• Food: shortages and crop failure
• Water: shortages impacting drinking
water, irrigation and hydropower potential
• ‘Natural disasters’: flooding, storms,
drought, wildfire, pest infestations, ocean
acidification
The opportunity
Protected areas provide two key functions
• Protect: maintain ecosystem integrity,
buffer local climate, reduce risks and
impacts from events such as storms and
droughts and sea-level rise
• Provide: maintain essential ecosystem
services that help people cope with
changes in water supplies, fisheries,
disease and agricultural productivity
caused by climate change
Two sides of adaptation
• Adaptation for protected areas
to maintain the resilience of ecosystems under
new climatic conditions
• Adaptation by protected areas
to continue to supply essential services for
communities under changing climatic conditions
Protected area management will need to
be adapted, to address mitigation and
adaptation needs, in addition to
biodiversity management objectives.
Implications for protected area
management
• Resilience: improve ecosystem resilience
• Restoration and connectivity: maintain and
enhance ecosystem integrity
• Adaptive management: consider climate impacts
and climate solutions in protected area planning
and management
• Valuation: assess and manage protected area
services and benefits
• Integrate: include protected areas into national
and local adaptation strategies