Hyderabad: “Islands are showing the way to conserve nature and achieve sustainable livelihoods,” stated Seychelles’ Minister for Environment & Energy, Dr. Rolph Payet during Island Innovations, a dynamic high level event held during United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties in Hyderabad, India.
The event, co-hosted by Seychelles and India, demonstrated how islands are demonstrating global leadership and rapid progress in addressing environmental and poverty challenges. They are also inspiring others around the world by implementing a variety of successful large-scale initiatives including world-class marine protected areas, multi-country conservation commitments, progressive biosecurity planning and innovative financing mechanisms to support these programs.
Island ecosystems are critical to the health of the world. The earth’s 175,000 plus islands are home to 600million plus people and support 20% of global biodiversity, including a huge number of species found nowhere else. The increasing challenges facing islands are massive, threatening the very existence of some islands. Yet islands are taking action and making progress to conserve their unique and invaluable environments.
Island Innovations showcased the leadership and commitment to action of island countries and countries with islands to developing solutions to these challenges. A range of new and significant commitments to conserve nature were announced during the event:
· The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, the first regional endowment to be developed in the world to support multiple national level conservation Trust Funds was launched by Grenada’s Multilateral Environmental Agreement Ambassador Dr. Spencer Thomas on behalf of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative countries along with Peter Hilliges, Director Natural Resources Sector for Latin America and the Caribbean for the German development bank (KfW), and Robert Weary, Director of Conservation Finance for The Nature Conservancy. US$30million has already been committed to this Fund towards an initial target of US$40million by the Government of Germany, The Nature Conservancy, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Once the target is reached it will provide US$2 million per year in critical sustainable financing to Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to support these Caribbean Challenge Initiative countries to protect nature.
· Deputy Premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), The Honorable Dr. Kedrick Pickering announced that BVI will co-host a Caribbean Political and Business Leaders Summit with Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group and the Prime Minister of Grenada in 2013 as part of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative. The Summit will build on the visionary commitments of Caribbean Challenge countries to protect near shore marine areas by 2020 and in developing sustainable finance mechanisms to support these goals.
· Republic of the Marshall Islands Minister in Assistance to the President, The Honorable Tony de Brum focused on the progress made in achieving the goals of the Micronesia Challenge to effectively conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.
· New Caledonia’s Member of the European Parliament, The Honorable M. Maurice Ponga, announced that the European Parliament will support a third phase European Union funding of 2million Euros under the Voluntary Scheme for Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services in Territories of European Overseas (BEST) and push to better integrate EU overseas biodiversity conservation and resource management in EU policies.
· The Chair of Hawai`i’s Department of Land &Natural Resources, USA, William Aila showcased the states innovative approach to achieving a green economy by bringing together Hawai`i leaders from energy, food and the environment together as part of the Hawai’i Green Growth Initiative to achieve Hawai`i’s sustainability goals and be a model for integrated green growth. “As islands, we understand that these challenges are linked, and we must solve them together. Our economic future depends on caring for our environment mauka to makai.”
· Ecuador’s Director of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, announced the recent creation of the Galapagos Invasive Species Endowment’ which currently is generating around UD$925,000 for managing invasive species in the archipelago.
· United Nations Development Programme Associate Administrator, Rebecca Grynspan, announced that UNDP will be increasing support to islands and Dr. Naoko Ishii was welcomed as the new CEO and Director of The Global Environment Facility.
Palau was recognized for their global leadership in marine policy in establishing Palau’s Protected Areas Network Act, initiated in 2003, and the Shark Haven Act from 2009 which resulted in Palau being the winner of the Future Policy Award 2012.
“Islands are working together, getting results and showing the way to achieve the Aichi targets,” stated Dr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, "but further action is urgently needed to conserve and protect the unique island ecosystems and surrounding seas."
Minister Payet reinforced this statement affirming, “The time for action is now. We must continue to take leadership, to make visionary commitments and ensure these commitments are implemented on the ground. We must scale up the bright spots emerging from islands and invest in what works. We must continue to work together as a Global Island Partnership.”
The Global Island Partnership is co-chaired by the Presidents of Seychelles and Palau and Prime Minister of Grenada to promote action for island conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Island Innovations was coordinated by the Global Island Partnership and Rare with the support of the Japan Biodiversity Fund, the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) through the BEST Preparatory Action and the ISLANDS Project funded by European Union through the Indian Ocean Commission.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Astronomers uncover a surprising trend in galaxy evolution
WASHINGTON -- A comprehensive study of hundreds of galaxies observed
by the Keck telescopes in Hawaii and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
has revealed an unexpected pattern of change that extends back 8
billion years, or more than half the age of the universe.
"Astronomers thought disk galaxies in the nearby universe had settled
into their present form by about 8 billion years ago, with little
additional development since," said Susan Kassin, an astronomer at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the study's
lead researcher. "The trend we've observed instead shows the
opposite, that galaxies were steadily changing over this time
period."
Today, star-forming galaxies take the form of orderly disk-shaped
systems, such as the Andromeda Galaxy or the Milky Way, where
rotation dominates over other internal motions. The most distant blue
galaxies in the study tend to be very different, exhibiting
disorganized motions in multiple directions. There is a steady shift
toward greater organization to the present time as the disorganized
motions dissipate and rotation speeds increase. These galaxies are
gradually settling into well-behaved disks.
Blue galaxies -- their color indicates stars are forming within them -- show less disorganized motions and ever-faster rotation speeds the closer they are observed to the present. This trend holds true for galaxies of all masses, but the most massive systems always show the highest level of organization.
Researchers say the distant blue galaxies they studied are gradually transforming into rotating disk galaxies like our own Milky Way.
"Previous studies removed galaxies that did not look like the
well-ordered rotating disks now common in the universe today," said
co-author Benjamin Weiner, an astronomer at the University of Arizona
in Tucson. "By neglecting them, these studies examined only those
rare galaxies in the distant universe that are well-behaved and
concluded that galaxies didn't change."
Rather than limit their sample to certain galaxy types, the
researchers instead looked at all galaxies with emission lines bright
enough to be used for determining internal motions. Emission lines
are the discrete wavelengths of radiation characteristically emitted
by the gas within a galaxy. They are revealed when a galaxy's light
is separated into its component colors. These emission lines also
carry information about the galaxy's internal motions and distance.
The team studied a sample of 544 blue galaxies from the Deep
Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe 2 (DEEP2) Redshift Survey, a project
that employs Hubble and the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M.
Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Located between 2 billion and 8 billion
light-years away, the galaxies have stellar masses ranging from about
0.3 percent to 100 percent of the mass of our home galaxy.
A paper describing these findings will be published Oct. 20 in The
Astrophysical Journal.
The Milky Way galaxy must have gone through the same rough-and-tumble
evolution as the galaxies in the DEEP2 sample, and gradually settled
into its present state as the sun and solar system were being formed.
In the past 8 billion years, the number of mergers between galaxies
large and small has decreased sharply. So has the overall rate of
star formation and disruptions of supernova explosions associated
with star formation. Scientists speculate these factors may play a
role in creating the evolutionary trend they observe.
Now that astronomers see this pattern, they can adjust computer
simulations of galaxy evolution until these models are able to
replicate the observed trend. This will guide scientists to the
physical processes most responsible for it.
The DEEP2 survey is led by Lick Observatory at the University of
California at Santa Cruz in collaboration with the University of
California at Berkeley, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., the University of Chicago and
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space
Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md., conducts
Hubble science operations. STScI is operated by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington.
by the Keck telescopes in Hawaii and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
has revealed an unexpected pattern of change that extends back 8
billion years, or more than half the age of the universe.
"Astronomers thought disk galaxies in the nearby universe had settled
into their present form by about 8 billion years ago, with little
additional development since," said Susan Kassin, an astronomer at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the study's
lead researcher. "The trend we've observed instead shows the
opposite, that galaxies were steadily changing over this time
period."
Today, star-forming galaxies take the form of orderly disk-shaped
systems, such as the Andromeda Galaxy or the Milky Way, where
rotation dominates over other internal motions. The most distant blue
galaxies in the study tend to be very different, exhibiting
disorganized motions in multiple directions. There is a steady shift
toward greater organization to the present time as the disorganized
motions dissipate and rotation speeds increase. These galaxies are
gradually settling into well-behaved disks.
Blue galaxies -- their color indicates stars are forming within them -- show less disorganized motions and ever-faster rotation speeds the closer they are observed to the present. This trend holds true for galaxies of all masses, but the most massive systems always show the highest level of organization.
Researchers say the distant blue galaxies they studied are gradually transforming into rotating disk galaxies like our own Milky Way.
"Previous studies removed galaxies that did not look like the
well-ordered rotating disks now common in the universe today," said
co-author Benjamin Weiner, an astronomer at the University of Arizona
in Tucson. "By neglecting them, these studies examined only those
rare galaxies in the distant universe that are well-behaved and
concluded that galaxies didn't change."
Rather than limit their sample to certain galaxy types, the
researchers instead looked at all galaxies with emission lines bright
enough to be used for determining internal motions. Emission lines
are the discrete wavelengths of radiation characteristically emitted
by the gas within a galaxy. They are revealed when a galaxy's light
is separated into its component colors. These emission lines also
carry information about the galaxy's internal motions and distance.
The team studied a sample of 544 blue galaxies from the Deep
Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe 2 (DEEP2) Redshift Survey, a project
that employs Hubble and the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M.
Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Located between 2 billion and 8 billion
light-years away, the galaxies have stellar masses ranging from about
0.3 percent to 100 percent of the mass of our home galaxy.
A paper describing these findings will be published Oct. 20 in The
Astrophysical Journal.
The Milky Way galaxy must have gone through the same rough-and-tumble
evolution as the galaxies in the DEEP2 sample, and gradually settled
into its present state as the sun and solar system were being formed.
In the past 8 billion years, the number of mergers between galaxies
large and small has decreased sharply. So has the overall rate of
star formation and disruptions of supernova explosions associated
with star formation. Scientists speculate these factors may play a
role in creating the evolutionary trend they observe.
Now that astronomers see this pattern, they can adjust computer
simulations of galaxy evolution until these models are able to
replicate the observed trend. This will guide scientists to the
physical processes most responsible for it.
The DEEP2 survey is led by Lick Observatory at the University of
California at Santa Cruz in collaboration with the University of
California at Berkeley, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., the University of Chicago and
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space
Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md., conducts
Hubble science operations. STScI is operated by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington.
Friday, October 19, 2012
AstraZeneca launches its patented life-saving heart drug BRILINTA® (Ticagrelor) in India
BRILINTA® is indicated to reduce heart attack and cardiovascular death in patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS)
Hyderabad, Oct 18: AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited (AZPIL) today announced the launch of a new patented antiplatelet drug BRILINTA® (Ticagrelor) in India. BRILINTA® is an oral antiplatelet treatment for Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) in adult patients. BRILINTA® is competitively priced to enable ACS patients benefit from having access to this medicine.
BRILINTA® works by preventing the formation of new blood clots and maintaining blood flow in the body to help reduce patient’s risk of another cardiovascular event (called atherothrombotic events) such as a heart attack or cardiovascular death.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), based on the New Drug Advisory Committee’s (NDAC) recommendations granted its approval in May 2012 for marketing BRILINTA® (Ticagrelor) tablets in India.
The DCGI approval is based upon the submission of data from the landmark PLATO (Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes) trial, comparing treatment with BRILINTA® to Clopidogrel - the current standard of care, available in the market for over a decade.
Dr. Paurus Irani, Vice President Medical & Regulatory Affairs of AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited said, “With over 40 lakh people affected by ACS in India each year, BRILINTA® gives cardiologists a new and effective treatment to help reduce the rate of heart attack and cardiovascular deaths in these patients. Such exciting medical breakthroughs don’t happen very often.”
To date, BRILINTA has been approved in 83 countries and launched in 63 countries (including India now) under the trade name BRILINTA® and in the European Union under the trade name BRILIQUE™.
COP 11 biological diversity: Biodiversity campaigns needed to meet UN 2020 target on global biodiversity awareness
Hyderabad. “By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably” is the first ambitious target that the United Nations Convention (UN) on Biological Diversity Biodiversity Convention (CBD) has set together with governments around the world. The Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) estimates that a series of global biodiversity campaigns is required to achieve this ambition.
Based on research among 10,000 consumers in ten different countries UEBT estimates that without
additional measures, consumer knowledge of biodiversity will only reach about 30% by 2020. Governments will therefore need to launch a series of campaigns, much like the UN International Year of Biodiversity Campaign that was organised in 2010 by the UN.
In designing these campaigns the following is of interest:
Based on research among 10,000 consumers in ten different countries UEBT estimates that without
additional measures, consumer knowledge of biodiversity will only reach about 30% by 2020. Governments will therefore need to launch a series of campaigns, much like the UN International Year of Biodiversity Campaign that was organised in 2010 by the UN.
In designing these campaigns the following is of interest:
• Young people have a higher understanding of biodiversity than older people: The ability to correctly define biodiversity is much higher for people under 30 years of age (28%) than for those of 30 to 44 (24%) and 45 and older (22%).
• Higher educated and higher income groups show best knowledge on biodiversity. With 39% correct definitions of biodiversity, participants with a high education level scored much higher than those with a medium (26%) or lower level of education (23%). Also, people in the higher income group knew much more (30% correct definitions) than those with a lower income (21%).
• Globally, the media is the most important source of biodiversity knowledge, with TV
programmes, newspapers and magazines on top of the list. Depending on the country however, the influence of certain sources varies considerably: In India, for example, schools are by far the most important source, while in the USA, respondents indicate that websites and blogs are almost as important as school and newspapers.
• Campaigns like the UN International Year of Biodiversity Campaign in 2010 can help increase awareness: Between early 2010 and early 2012, both the awareness (from 67% to 70%) as well as the correct definitions (from 38% to 43%) of biodiversity have risen. The successful International Year of Biodiversity ran throughout 2010.
These are some of the findings the Union for Ethical BioTrade presented during the UN Biodiversity
Summit in India this week, where governments discuss the progress on the 2020 targets of the CBD,
the so-called Aichi Targets, which were agreed upon in a UN biodiversity summit in Japan in 2010.
The annual UEBT Biodiversity Barometer provides information on evolving biodiversity awareness and
knowledge around the globe, with this year’s focus including India and seven other countries. It is used as one of the indicators for measuring progress towards meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Target 1.
“The UEBT Biodiversity Barometer results show the immense growth potential regarding biodiversity
awareness globally” says Rik Kutsch Lojenga, Executive Director of the Union for Ethical BioTrade. “The success of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity campaign is a good example of how global, regional and local initiatives can help raise biodiversity awareness and understanding. We believe regular campaigns like this are needed to achieve the 2020 Aichi Target Number 1, reaching global awareness of biodiversity.”
• Higher educated and higher income groups show best knowledge on biodiversity. With 39% correct definitions of biodiversity, participants with a high education level scored much higher than those with a medium (26%) or lower level of education (23%). Also, people in the higher income group knew much more (30% correct definitions) than those with a lower income (21%).
• Globally, the media is the most important source of biodiversity knowledge, with TV
programmes, newspapers and magazines on top of the list. Depending on the country however, the influence of certain sources varies considerably: In India, for example, schools are by far the most important source, while in the USA, respondents indicate that websites and blogs are almost as important as school and newspapers.
• Campaigns like the UN International Year of Biodiversity Campaign in 2010 can help increase awareness: Between early 2010 and early 2012, both the awareness (from 67% to 70%) as well as the correct definitions (from 38% to 43%) of biodiversity have risen. The successful International Year of Biodiversity ran throughout 2010.
These are some of the findings the Union for Ethical BioTrade presented during the UN Biodiversity
Summit in India this week, where governments discuss the progress on the 2020 targets of the CBD,
the so-called Aichi Targets, which were agreed upon in a UN biodiversity summit in Japan in 2010.
The annual UEBT Biodiversity Barometer provides information on evolving biodiversity awareness and
knowledge around the globe, with this year’s focus including India and seven other countries. It is used as one of the indicators for measuring progress towards meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Target 1.
“The UEBT Biodiversity Barometer results show the immense growth potential regarding biodiversity
awareness globally” says Rik Kutsch Lojenga, Executive Director of the Union for Ethical BioTrade. “The success of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity campaign is a good example of how global, regional and local initiatives can help raise biodiversity awareness and understanding. We believe regular campaigns like this are needed to achieve the 2020 Aichi Target Number 1, reaching global awareness of biodiversity.”
COP 11 biological diversity: Financing Successful Nature Conservation in Lean Economic Times: World Bank Report Highlights Latin America’s Successes
HYDERABAD, October 12, 2012 - New approaches to financing nature conservation that mobilize funding and community action can provide the long-term sustainability needed to secure healthier ecosystems and improve livelihoods, a World Bank report released today shows.
Launched at the 11th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India, the report, Expanding Financing for Biodiversity Conservation: Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean, documents five examples across Latin America where diverse sources of financing – from public to private to non-government – are being combined to fund effective conservation and community development.
Speaking at the CBD meeting, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte said: “In an era of diminishing public expenditures for biodiversity conservation, we need innovation, communication and effective partnerships. We are seeing more and more good examples of partnership that cross the boundaries between the public, private and non-government spheres to bridge public financing gaps and to deliver effective conservation on the ground.“
One of the success stories the report highlights comes from the Brazilian state of Acre which decoupled its economic growth from deforestation. The State has reduced deforestation rates by 70 percent while growing its GDP by 44 percent between 2003 and 2008. It did so by reducing illegal deforestation through the monitoring of timber licenses, enforcing environmental regulations, regularizing land tenure, creating development programs in intact forest areas, targeting social programs at those most in need, and improving agricultural and forest production processes.
Also in Brazil, the state of Rio de Janeiro filled 43 percent of its conservation financing gap by setting up the Atlantic Forest Fund (Fundo da Mata Atlântica, FMA). It is partially funded through legally enshrined compensation payments for the environmental impacts of industrial and infrastructure projects. The funds are being used to finance projects in approximately 20 protected areas.
Meanwhile, Peru attracted additional funds to its protected areas by signing management contracts with nongovernment organizations. The contractors are responsible for spending at least as much as the government, but have raised up to four times more, outstripping the government’s annual contributions.
As countries search for ways to conserve the world’s biodiversity, Latin America is showing the way. The following elements are needed:
· Variety in arrangements. Governments are raising resources from diverse stakeholders, adapting a variety of arrangements to local circumstances.
· Enabling legal and institutional support. Government agencies need to be empowered by regulations and human resources and enforceable agreements with communities, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.
· Capacity based on record of experience. The creation of a formal civil service for protected area agencies (including national parks) and for conservation aspects in associated forestry and planning agencies is key to success.
· Building social capital. Conservation needs to be owned by the communities who know best about nature. Successful conservation programs have transformed them into the strongest allies.
· Clarity about conservation objectives. People can mobilize when targets and results are clear and can be tracked transparently and in the near term.
· Strong government leadership. Government leadership is needed for the foreseeable future because the true value that biodiversity provides to humankind is yet to be fully quantified, and ecological services are generally not traded in markets.
Launched at the 11th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India, the report, Expanding Financing for Biodiversity Conservation: Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean, documents five examples across Latin America where diverse sources of financing – from public to private to non-government – are being combined to fund effective conservation and community development.
Speaking at the CBD meeting, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte said: “In an era of diminishing public expenditures for biodiversity conservation, we need innovation, communication and effective partnerships. We are seeing more and more good examples of partnership that cross the boundaries between the public, private and non-government spheres to bridge public financing gaps and to deliver effective conservation on the ground.“
One of the success stories the report highlights comes from the Brazilian state of Acre which decoupled its economic growth from deforestation. The State has reduced deforestation rates by 70 percent while growing its GDP by 44 percent between 2003 and 2008. It did so by reducing illegal deforestation through the monitoring of timber licenses, enforcing environmental regulations, regularizing land tenure, creating development programs in intact forest areas, targeting social programs at those most in need, and improving agricultural and forest production processes.
Also in Brazil, the state of Rio de Janeiro filled 43 percent of its conservation financing gap by setting up the Atlantic Forest Fund (Fundo da Mata Atlântica, FMA). It is partially funded through legally enshrined compensation payments for the environmental impacts of industrial and infrastructure projects. The funds are being used to finance projects in approximately 20 protected areas.
Meanwhile, Peru attracted additional funds to its protected areas by signing management contracts with nongovernment organizations. The contractors are responsible for spending at least as much as the government, but have raised up to four times more, outstripping the government’s annual contributions.
As countries search for ways to conserve the world’s biodiversity, Latin America is showing the way. The following elements are needed:
· Variety in arrangements. Governments are raising resources from diverse stakeholders, adapting a variety of arrangements to local circumstances.
· Enabling legal and institutional support. Government agencies need to be empowered by regulations and human resources and enforceable agreements with communities, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.
· Capacity based on record of experience. The creation of a formal civil service for protected area agencies (including national parks) and for conservation aspects in associated forestry and planning agencies is key to success.
· Building social capital. Conservation needs to be owned by the communities who know best about nature. Successful conservation programs have transformed them into the strongest allies.
· Clarity about conservation objectives. People can mobilize when targets and results are clear and can be tracked transparently and in the near term.
· Strong government leadership. Government leadership is needed for the foreseeable future because the true value that biodiversity provides to humankind is yet to be fully quantified, and ecological services are generally not traded in markets.
COP 11 biological diversity: More Investment in Protected Areas Vital to Supporting Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Local Economies
Faster Progress Needed on Targets to Protect World’s Key Nature Sites, says UN Report
Hyderabad: Despite the growing number of nature reserves, national parks and other protected areas across the globe, half of the world’s richest biodiversity zones remain entirely unprotected.
Protected areas are being managed in a more equitable way, with a greater role for indigenous communities. But current investment in protected areas is only around half of what is needed to support endangered species, protect threatened habitats and deliver the full benefits that sustainably-managed protected areas can deliver. These are among the main findings of a report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that tracks progress towards internationally-agreed targets on the world’s protected areas.
The report was presented today at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB COP 11) in Hyderabad, India. The study received the the official backing of countries at COP 11 this week as a major contribution towards tracking progress on global efforts to increase protected areas.
Two years ago countries set a goal under the CBD that by 2020, at least 17 per cent of the world’s terrestrial areas and 10 per cent of marine areas would be equitably managed and conserved.
The Protected Planet Report 2012 says that protected areas have increased in number by almost 60 per cent, and in area by just under 50 per cent, since 1990. But the study states that poor management, under-funding and a lack of critical data on protected areas mean that the world is making insufficient progress towards the 2020 goals.
Produced by UNEP’s World Conversation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the study is the first in an annual series that will monitor global efforts to support and expand protected areas.
“Protected areas contain some 15 per cent of the world’s carbon stock and support the livelihoods of over one billion people, making them a crucial factor in supporting biodiversity, ecosystem services and human livelihoods,” said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
“This new report provides not only the fact and figures required by decision-makers, but outlines ways to overcome fundamental challenges in the management of protected areas. It highlights the key actions required to meet international goals, and to harness the multiple economic and environmental benefits that sustainably managed protected areas can provide,” added Mr. Steiner.
Two years ago countries set a goal under the CBD that by 2020, at least 17 per cent of the world’s terrestrial areas and 10 per cent of marine areas would be equitably managed and conserved.
The Protected Planet Report 2012 says that protected areas have increased in number by almost 60 per cent, and in area by just under 50 per cent, since 1990. But the study states that poor management, under-funding and a lack of critical data on protected areas mean that the world is making insufficient progress towards the 2020 goals.
Produced by UNEP’s World Conversation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the study is the first in an annual series that will monitor global efforts to support and expand protected areas.
“Protected areas contain some 15 per cent of the world’s carbon stock and support the livelihoods of over one billion people, making them a crucial factor in supporting biodiversity, ecosystem services and human livelihoods,” said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
“This new report provides not only the fact and figures required by decision-makers, but outlines ways to overcome fundamental challenges in the management of protected areas. It highlights the key actions required to meet international goals, and to harness the multiple economic and environmental benefits that sustainably managed protected areas can provide,” added Mr. Steiner.
Global Protected Area Coverage
According to the most recent figures, just over 12 per cent of the world’s terrestrial areas are thought to be protected today.To meet the CBD target of 17 per cent, an additional 6 million square kilometres of land and inland waters would have to be recognized as protected by world governments - an area more than twice the size of Argentina.
Marine protected areas are lagging even further behind. Around 1.6 per cent of the global ocean area is protected, mostly in near-coastal areas. To meet the CBD target of 10 percent, an additional 8 million square kilometres of marine and coastal areas would need to be recognized as protected - an area just over the size of Australia. However, the UNEP study states that the number of very large marine protected areas (MPAs) has grown significantly in recent years. Today, there are over 13 MPAs each with an area greater than 100,000 square kilometres. Overall, marine protected area coverage has increased by over 150 percent since 2003.
Coverage of Biodiversity - Are Protected Areas in the Right Place?
The UNEP study uses a number of indicators to asses the location of exisiting protected areas. These include ‘ecoregions’ (large areas with characteristic combinations of species distinct from adjcent areas) and other internationally-recognized biodiversity zones, such as Important Bird Areas.
The study finds that the global protected area network does not yet provide adequate coverage of the world’s terrestrial ecoegions. Latest figures show that half of the world’s key ecoregions only have 10 per cent of their area protected. A further 10 per cent of global ecoregions have less than 1 per cent of their area protected, suggesting critical gaps in biodiversity protection.
Only 13 percent of the world’s marine ecoregions meet the CBD’s 10 per cent coverage target. The UNEP study says that a dramatic acceleration in the creation or expanasion of marine protect areas is needed to cover strategic sites and reduce biodiversity gaps.
The number of Important Bird Areas completely covered by protected areas has risen to 28 percent, yet just under half had no coverage at all.
This could have significant impacts on efforts to reduce the loss of species and habitats:
• In Australia, 13 per cent of all threatened species and 21 per cent of critically endangered species are not covered by any protected area
• In Africa, around 26 per cent of threatened bird species are not covered by any proected area
Global datasets for Important Bird Areas and other key diversity sites have only become available in the last ten years. More effort is needed, says the UNEP study, to ensure that decision-makers have access to updated data on the location of marine and terrestrial ecoregions.
The UNEP report says that the ecological performance of protected areas also remains poorly understood. Further studies are needed to anaylze the impacts of protected areas on species, ecosystems and genetic resources. This will also require improved, comprehensive datasets on protected areas, and on biodiversity trends outside protected zones.
Management and Governance – Key Challenges
From small nature reserves to large national parks, all protected areas require effective management to achieve their objectives. Countries have also committed to managing protected areas in a more equitable way, where indigenous communities, civil society and other non-government bodies play an active role.
According to a 2010 study, less than a third of the world’s protected areas have a management plan in place, and only a quarter of all protected areas have been judged to have ‘sound management’. Lack of funding, facilities and equipment, staff shortages and limited interaction with local communities are among the main barriers to effective management.
In order to encourage effective management and more regular assessments, IUCN is working to develop a ‘Green List’ of well-managed marine and terrestrial protected areas.
In terms of adopting more inclusive approaches to managing protected areas, the UNEP report highlights several positive trends. From 1990 to 2000, the total protected area managed by non-governmental bodies, or under co-management, increased from about 4 per cent to 23 per cent.
In the Pacific Islands, the number of locally managed marine areas has risen from 4 to 419 between 2000 and 2009.
UNEP-WCMC and partners have recently started working on a global registry of forests, wetlands, landscapes, village lakes, rivers and other habitats that are managed by local and/or indigenous communities (www.iccaregistry.org). The aim is to highlight case studies and successful techniques that can improve the equitable management of protected areas worldwide.
Financing
Protected areas play a vital economic role through the valuable ecosystem services they provide, such as supplying clean water to local communities and promoting eco-tourism, among others. Previous UNEP studies have shown that the overall economic benefits of protected areas greatly exceed the cost of managing them.However, the global funding shortfall for protected areas currently runs into billions of US dollars. In Africa, for example, the effective management of 10 per cent of all ecoregions would cost around US$630 million per year, approximately double the current protected areas spending for the continent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the funding shortfall is as much as 64 per cent of the estimated annual cost for managing protected areas.
The UNEP report recommends that protected areas further develop alternative revenue streams, such as tourist fees, private sector funding, and payment for ecosystem services.
Changing current government spending practices on the environment also has significant potential for biodiversity conservation. A terrestrial protected areas system covering 17 per cent of global land area (the 2020 target), could be established and managed at a fraction of the current amount spent by governments on environmentally-harmful subsidies, according to a 2009 study.
Priority Actions
The UNEP report recommends the following key steps to ensure that the 2020 targets on protected areas can be met:
· Accelerate the strategic expansion of the protected area network, and increase coverage of ecoregions and other important biodiversity sites
· Improve understanding of the benefits of protected areas in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services
· Expand management effective assessments of protected areas
· Strengthen involvement of local communities
· Secure sustainable funding for protected areas
· To improve data on protected areas, enhance national reporting to existing datasets, such as the World Database on Protected Areas, managed by UNEP-WCMC
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