Cambridge (United Kingdom),
3 August 2010 - Mount Kenya, the second-highest
peak in Africa, is renowned for its rich
tableau of animal
and plant life.
But according to a new
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
database, animal and plant species living
on the 5,199 meter peak are globally threatened.
In collaboration with
leading conservation organisations, the
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre
(UNEP-WCMC) has devised Integrated Biodiversity
Assessment Tool (IBAT) for governments,
development banks and private sector organisations
to access accurate and reliable information
on biodiversity and critical natural habitats
on a worldwide scale - to answer the seemingly
simple question "Where on earth is
biodiversity?"
Jon Hutton, Director
of UNEP-WCMC said, "In the International
Year of Biodiversity, IBAT proves a major
stepping stone towards pushing conservation
issues higher up the development agenda."
"Information generated
by the tool can be factored into risk assessment
reports and national or regional development
strategies. It can also assist industries
in implementing environmental safeguard
policies and industry best practice standards,"
he added.
Presently, there is
an overwhelming amount of information scattered
across countless websites, publications
and the broader scientific community, but
no single, reliable, trusted place to retrieve
this information.
However, in the case
of IBAT, a family of web-enabled systems
synthesise and interpret the most significant
biodiversity information available for key
decision-makers in the project planning
stages when alternatives and changes are
most economically viable.
Besides UNEP-WCMC, the
IBAT Alliance comprises three other globally-respected
international conservation organisations;
BirdLife International, Conservation International
(CI), International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) working on a shared programme
of work in partnership with leading institutions
from the public and private sectors.
These four organisations
also represent some of the most established
networks of national and regional environmental
experts and organisations on the planet.
The IBAT Alliance represents
an unprecedented step towards conservation
data sharing and integration, enabling the
private and public sectors to incorporate
critical biodiversity information at key
decision points in the planning and operation
of development projects.
To achieve the broader
vision of IBAT, the conservation partners
are seeking to expand their collaboration
to include additional partners from the
private, public and community development
sectors, particularly those organisations
involved in implementing environmental safeguards
and screening such as the multilateral development
banks.
Notes to Editors:
Integrated Biodiversity
Assessment Tool (IBAT) Alliance
The IBAT Alliance and
programme of work represents an ambitious
vision for improved collection, update and
management of biodiversity data with the
aim that decisions affecting critical natural
habitats are informed by the best scientific
information and in turn decision makers
support the generation and maintenance of
that scientific information.
To realise this vision,
the IBAT Alliance is committed to an evolving
collaboration between international conservation
organisations and stakeholders in the private
and public sectors such as businesses, multilateral
development banks, government agencies,
philanthropic foundations and other global,
regional and national institutions.
The vision is currently
being realized by an initial alliance of
globally-respected conservation organisations
- BirdLife International, Conservation International
(CI), International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) and the United Nations
Environment Programme World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) - drawing
on an extensive national network of organisations
and experts.
UNEP World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)
UNEP-WCMC is collaboration
between the United Nations Environment Programme,
the world's foremost intergovernmental environmental
organisation, and WCMC 2000, a UK-based
charity. The UNEP-WCMC is an internationally
recognised Centre of Excellence for the
synthesis, analysis and dissemination of
global biodiversity knowledge, providing
authoritative, strategic and timely information
for conventions, countries/territories,
organisations and companies to use in the
development and implementation of their
policies and decisions.
BirdLife International
(BirdLife)
BirdLife is a global
partnership of non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) with a special focus on conservation
and birds. Each NGO Partner represents a
unique geographic territory, and BirdLife
Partners operate in over one hundred countries
and territories worldwide. The BirdLife
Global Partnership has more than 4,000 staff
working on conservation, over 2.5 million
members worldwide and 10 million worldwide
supporters. The BirdLife Global Partnership
strives to conserve birds, their habitats
and global biodiversity, working with people
towards sustainability in the use of natural
resources;
Conservation International
(CI)
Conservation International
is a non-profit public benefit corporation
organized under the laws of the State of
California. Building upon a strong foundation
of science, partnership and field demonstration,
CI empowers societies to responsibly and
sustainably care for nature for the well-being
of humanity in over 40 countries;
International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
The world's oldest and
largest global environmental network, IUCN
is a democratic membership union with more
than 1,000 government and NGO member organisations,
and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in
more than 160 countries. IUCN helps the
world find pragmatic solutions to our most
pressing environment and development challenges.
It supports scientific research, manages
field projects all over the world and brings
governments, non-government organisations,
United Nations agencies, companies and local
communities together to develop and implement
policy, laws and best practice; and
Old practices, new solutions: indigenous
groups sign up for conservation
Cambridge (UK) / Nairobi,
9 August 2010 - Although thousands of miles
apart, the lush Kaya Kinondo forest on Kenya's
eastern coast and the sprawling Cerro Chango
reserve in the hills of southern Mexico
have more in common than one might think.
Both are exceptionally diverse habitats,
teeming with plant and animal species, but,
more unusually, the two areas are also administered
by indigenous communities (the Digo-Mijikenda
and Chinanteco peoples), whose traditional
practices dictate how these rich habitats
are managed. In some cases, local customs
take precedence over the laws of national
governments.
These two remote communities
are far from isolated cases. Indeed, it
is estimated that 11% of the world's forests
are under community ownership.
A new project run by
UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre
(WCMC), with support from the Global Environment
Facility Smalls Grants Programme implemented
by the United Nations Development Programme,
is now bringing greater attention to the
links between indigenous communities, conservation
and biodiversity.
In these societies,
local habitats, landscapes or species are
often an integral part of cultural and religious
identities. Kenya's Kaya Kinodo forest,
for example, was traditionally considered
as a sacred site, where prayers and burials
took place, as well as a practical resource,
providing employment, food and medicine.
Indigenous communities'
efforts to conserve their home environments
- coupled with efforts to combat threats
such as climate change and deforestation
- has piqued the interest of increasing
numbers of environmentalists worldwide.
Yet detailed information
is often lacking on the day-to-day conservation
practices in many of these areas. In India
for example, around 200 community-controlled
areas have been formally documented, but
research by a local NGO suggests that as
many as 10,000 may exist.
UNEP-WCMC's project
set out to gather and compile information
on communities living in so-called Indigenous
and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs). These
are defined as natural sites and habitats
that are conserved voluntarily by indigenous
peoples and local communities using traditional
rules and practices. Some of these areas
measure less than one hectare in size, while
others stretch for miles, encompassing mountains,
lakes and entire landscapes.
In order to build a
better picture of how such communities contribute
to biodiversity, UNEP's World Conservation
Monitoring Centre has developed the ICCA
Registry in partnership with an international
consortium of NGOs and conservation groups.
The registry comprises about 40 questions
covering practical information such as the
location, area and habitat type of the ICCA
as well as details on how the community
is governed, its social customs and conservation
practices. Four countries have been targeted
so far: Mexico, Kenya, Fiji and the Philippines.
To date, a total of 13 communities have
made submissions to the registry, ranging
from fishing ports to mountain villages.
"A key part of
this process has been to work slowly, gaining
the support and trust of these communities",
says project manager Colleen Corrigan of
UNEP-WCMC. "While there is valid concern
for using caution when mapping these areas,
there is also genuine potential to use this
initiative to help secure communities and
habitats under threat. In five years, we
hope to share a much better and deeper understanding
of the global contributions of ICCAs to
biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing."
But besides the obvious
interest to conservationists, what are the
benefits for the communities themselves?
According to those who have already taken
part, the registry can promote the conservation
efforts of indigenous groups, helping to
attract potential support from governments
or other third parties. On a more basic
level, the registry allows interaction between
different indigenous groups worldwide, allowing
communities to share experiences of issues
of common concern.
The Maya community from
San Crisanto in Mexico has already signed
up to the registry. Situated in an area
of outstanding biodiversity, San Crisanto
boats over 1000 hectares of forest and mangroves
and has been home to the Maya since 250
BC.
In San Crisanto, tradition
dictates that the whole community is responsible
for the governance of the area, with key
decisions being taken by an assembly of
thirty elders.
The community's conservation
efforts have enjoyed real success in recent
years. After suffering widespread devastation
from hurricanes in 1996, the Maya began
urgent repair work to improve the community's
canals and regenerate local mangroves: the
community's principal ecosystem. This brought
a 25% increase in fish populations, an increased
number of birds, and the general recovery
of the ecosystem.
Today, the community
in San Crisanto is continuing to pursue
conservation and regeneration activities,
with the Maya also benefitting from increased
revenues from ecotourism. Education and
training projects have also highlighted
the importance of conservation within the
community. According to community representatives,
taking part in the ICCA Registry has been
a key part of promoting their conservation
work.
"The publication
of information and data will allow more
people to know about our project",
says Jose Ines Loria from San Crisanto.
"[The ICCA Registry] allows us to share
our experience with other communities and
to show those who are sceptical that community
conservation and development is possible."
UNEP-WCMC now plans
to expand the registry to encompass more
indigenous communities across the world,
thereby giving greater recognition to other,
little-known success stories.
It is hoped that by
mapping and revitalizing ancestral practices
that often date back thousands of years,
new solutions to modern problems such as
habitat loss, climate change adaptation,
and combating deforestation can be found.
