Transcript Key Biodiversity Areas - Library

Key Biodiversity Areas
21 April 2006
Background
• All of nature is worth conserving
• Biodiversity is under siege
• Prioritization = deciding which elements of biodiversity
need attention first (not which merit attention)
• Prioritization is necessary given limited time and
resources
• Most effective response: safeguard sites particularly
important for biodiversity
Global Biodiversity Priorities
• Global priorities are
important for organizations
with globally flexible
conservation resources
• But they don’t inform
conservation actions on
the ground & in the water
Necessity for targets in
biodiversity conservation
* Justifying the relevance and efficiency of
conservation strategies
* Establishing a baseline for monitoring
changing biodiversity and, ultimately,
conservation success
CI’s Conservation Outcomes
Species
Sites
Extinctions
Avoided
Areas
Protected
Landscapes /
Seascapes
Corridors
Consolidated
Biosphere
Genes
Increasing scale of ecological organization
need for establishing a global
standard for the identification of sites
of global biodiversity significance…
based on vulnerability and
irreplaceability
Considerations for conservation planning
• Expert opinion? – no, transparent data
• Surrogates for species? – no, species in their
own right
• Species richness? – no, species identities
• Extrapolated ranges? – no, occurrence data to
minimize commission errors
• Grid cells? – no, management units
The Key Biodiversity Areas approach
Key Biodiversity Areas
Sites of global significance
for biodiversity
conservation identified
using globally standard
criteria and thresholds,
based on the needs of
biodiversity requiring
safeguard at the site scale.
Eken, et al. 2004. Key biodiversity areas as
site conservation targets. BioScience, 54,
1110-1118.
IBAs identified in 160+ countries
Extension to other taxonomic groups
• Important Plant Areas (Anderson
2002, Plantlife International 2004)
• Important Sites for Freshwater
Biodiversity (Darwall & Vié 2005)
• Prime Butterfly Areas (van Swaay
& Warren 2003)
• AZE sites (www.zeroextinction.org)
Priorities among KBAs
Alliance for Zero Extinction sites
CR/EN single-site
endemics
Groups working on KBAs
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BirdLife International
Plantlife International
IUCN Freshwater program
Conservation International
Several local NGOs
KBA criteria
• Quantitative, objective,
transparent
• Based on framework of
vulnerability and
irreplaceability, widely used in
systematic conservation
planning
• Identified based on species
that need and benefit from sitelevel conservation
• Applicable in terrestrial,
freshwater and marine realms
KBA criterion 1: Globally threatened species
Based on presence of
populations of species
with high probability of
extinction in short- to
medium-term future
Sites with regular
occurrence of one or
more CR, EN, or VU
species
Provisional thresholds:
CR+EN – 1 individual
VU – 10 pairs or 30
individuals
KBA criterion 2: Restricted-range species
Based on presence of
populations of species that
are geographically
concentrated--they depend
on network of irreplaceable
sites within at least part of
their range or life cycle
Sites with regular occurrence
of one or more restrictedrange species
Provisional threshold: 5% of
global population of restricted
range species (< 50,000 km2)
KBA criterion 3: Globally significant
congregations
Geographically
concentrated in time
Sites holding large
proportions of the global
population of a species
at a given time (e.g.
breeding colonies,
foraging and roosting
sites, bottleneck sites)
Provisional threshold:
1% of the global
population of a
congregatory species
KBA criterion 4: Bioregionally-restricted
species assemblages
Sites holding a
significant proportion of
the group of species
whose distributions are
restricted to a biome or
subdivision of it
Criterion and thresholds
still in development
KBA Identification
• Bottom-up, typically driven from national level
• Builds on previous attempts to identify site
priorities
• Identified using best possible existing data
• Based on known occurrence of species at the
site
• Data underpinning KBAs consolidated in a
database and made available
• Subjected to expert review
• Iterative
KBA Delineation
• KBA limits determined pragmatically
• No fixed size limits
• Actual or potential conservation unit
• For PAs or similar management units
meeting KBA criteria, boundaries used as
starting point
• Outside of PAs, can use data on habitat,
topography, and socio-political boundaries to
derive KBAs that can realistically be
managed for conservation
KBAs to date
• KBA framework builds on these initiatives; considers all
taxonomic groups for which data are available
• Additional testing of criteria and thresholds greatly
needed, especially in aquatic biomes
• KBAs identified or identification underway in over 30
countries (IBAs in many more)
• Critical component of CI’s conservation strategy (sitescale conservation targets)
• Collaboration with other NGOs, particularly BirdLife
partners, a priority in each region
Inter-governmental Context
• CBD Global Plant Conservation Strategy
– “By 2010, protection of 50 per cent of the most important areas
for plant diversity assured”
• WPC Durban Accord, Action
Plan and Recommendation
• CBD COP7 Decision and
Programme of Work on Protected Areas
• CBD SBSTTA 10 recommendation on 2010 indicators
– Additional indicator: “Overlays with areas of key importance to
biodiversity”
KBAs as basis for Programme of
Work on Protected Areas
• Implementation of PoW requires identification
of priority sites for expansion and
reinforcement of existing PA systems
• National or regional conservation planning
must take into account the global context
• Globally significant sites should inform the
highest priorities among full set of nationally
important sites
Conclusions
• KBAs are sites of global significance for biodiversity
conservation
• Identified using quantitative, objective, transparent
criteria
• Target all known globally significant biodiversity for
which site scale conservation is appropriate
• Several conceptual and practical challenges remain,
particularly in application to aquatic biomes
• KBAs are being (and have been) identified,
delineated, safeguarded and monitored across the
globe
• KBAs represent priority sites for expansion and
reinforcement of existing PA systems