Background and Concepts

1. IUCN Green List of well-managed protected areas World Conservation Congress September 2012 Background and Concepts Marc Hockings WCPA Vice-Chair (Science) Professor of Environmental Management, University of Queensland Senior Fellow, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre

2. The IUCN Green List of Well Managed Protected Areas is an initiative to encourage, measure and celebrate the success of protected areas in reaching good standards of management

3. Lists are powerful conservation tools Lists, Lists, Lists Mostly “Negative Lists” but with a positive objective IUCN Red List of Threatened Species UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger Ramsar List of Wetlands in Danger IUCN Red List of threatened ecosystems Conservation International Hotspots WWF Global 200 Ecoregions A few positive lists World Heritage list Ramsar List Ecotourism certification PAN Parks (Europe only) ISO14000 certification

4. Origins of the concept Green List Widespread adoption of Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) assessment Proposals and discussion of PA certification Idea of a Green List floated the at WPC+5 meeting Discussions and concept development (2009-2011) Pilot studies

5. Builds on over a decade of work by IUCN and agencies on protected area management effectiveness (PAME) assessment Green List

6. Overall effectiveness of Protected Area Management PAME Global study results Lowest third – management clearly inadequate 14% Top third – management ‘sound’ 21% 27% 38%% Middle third – basic management

7. Who benefits – stakeholders in the Green List? • Managers (on-ground and higher level management) • Government and politicians • IUCN and intergovernmental conservation community • Funding agencies • International NGO’s • Communities and Indigenous peoples • Visitors • Scientists

8. For Protected Area Managers • International recognition – reward for effort and recognition of innovation and achievement • Provide clearer and more explicit set of standards for management • Benchmarking and an incentive to improve and maintain standards • National profile for the PA can bring enhanced political support for management • Achieving IUCN Green List status can • add credence to PA management requests • Increase motivation of senior staff and rangers • Recognise that efforts with local communities are demonstrably achieving results • Project development opportunities – a well managed PA is better able to articulate needs

9. National and local government • Reward and encourage enabling policies and investments in protected area systems • Raise profile of agency or department and encourage further support for PAs in their jurisdiction • Provide assurance that values of listed PA are intact • Encourage investment in programs and policies that measure and enhance Management Effectiveness • Provide positive contribution to CBD and national reporting (especially Target 11) • Tourism promotion – letting visitors know that their choice of destination meets international standards of management

10. The IUCN Green List of Well Managed Protected Areas Green List Objectives 1. Establish and improve standards for protected area management in accordance with CBD Target 11; 2. Encourage, recognize and measure progress, celebrate success, innovation and endeavour in protected area management; 3. Share good practice in all aspects of protected area management.

11. The IUCN Green List Design Principles IUCN Green List The IUCN Green List is designed with the following principles in mind: Simplicity in process and designation, with no undue burden on reporting Recognition of diversity; such as PA management context and reporting approaches, and capacities Avoid competitionbetween countries/agencies Celebrate accomplishments of PA managers and agencies Potential to include various dimensions (i.e. visitor experience, community outreach, tiger reserves)

12. The IUCN Green List Process IUCN Green List Importance of credibility of list – especially important that key values are effectively “intact” Need for common international standards but recognition that these need to be interpreted in regional and national context Need to have good management overall, but could also recognise excellence or innovation in a particular area (or for particular species)

13. Green List Process IUCN/WCPA WCPA PA Agency Stakeholders WCPA Reference Group Agency PA

14. Generic Process/Guidelines Green List of Well Managed PAs Agreement between IUCN WCPA and Agency Limit on number of sites nominated in any year (5-10 sites) Sites remain on list for 5 years unless there is a problem. After 5 years there would be a review process to update assessment. IUCN WCPA and Agency work collaboratively to implement GL process but decisions on listing remain with IUCN based on recommendations of the Reference Group Agency responsible for preparing prospectus for each nominated site and providing access to staff and information needed to make the assessment.

15. How will areas be assessed? Green List of Well Managed PAs Agency/IUCN coordinator establish project and select Reference Group (RG) RG review GL criteria and adapt for local application Course filter applied by Agency based on results of recent management effectiveness assessment (as a guide sites should score in top third for all GL criteria) Short list selected by Agency and ‘prospectus’ prepared by agency outlining evidence against the GL criteria RG reviews prospectus and evidence for each candidate sites, discussion with relevant staff, (requests additional information /evidence or visit to sites if necessary) Recommendations on listing sent to Global GL Management Committee

16. Green List standards (example)

17. Pilot studies and next steps Green List of Well Managed PAs Colombia CATS (Tiger Reserves) South Korea, France, Germany (in planning) WCC Jeju workshop Launch at World Parks Congress 2014