Progress towards achieving the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas

1. Progress towards achieving the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas Reporting on the results of a scorecard WWF International

2. WWF has developed and applied a simple tracking tool to measure progress in implementing the CBD’s Programme of Work on Protected Areas

3. The tracking tool aims to: • Collect key data on the status of protected area networks in a region or country • Assess the extent to which the various elements of the Programme of Work on Protected Areas has been implemented • Assess the quality of the response • The assessment is largely qualitative and should be repeated several times during the period of the PoWPA to track progress. It is a simple tool that does not replace more detailed assessments

4. Data sheet Existing protected area coverage IUCN management category Governance type Finances The tracking tool covers data sheet and scorecard

5. Scorecard By 2006: Targets Inland water ecosystems Gap analysis Ecosystem services By 2008: Threat reduction Benefits to indigenous and local communities Financing protected areas Public awareness and education By 2009: Enabling environment System of terrestrial and freshwater protected areas Regional networks of protected areas Transboundary protected areas Management plans for protected areas Capacity building Tools and approaches Management effectiveness evaluation Monitoring systems By 2012: Marine protected areas Management standards By 2015: Ecosystem approaches Governance approaches The tracking tool covers data sheet and scorecard

6. Each scorecard has multiple choice answers…

7. …and these are summarised and colour coded

8. WWF has applied the tool in a preliminary survey of 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and West Africa

9. The results are indicative rather than precise: scores probably tend to be too high in some cases and one or two of the compilers misunderstood elements in the tracking tool – nonetheless these give a generalised picture of how governments and others perceive national strengths and weaknesses in applying the CBD programme

10. There were marked variations between countries although it is still possible to identify some general trends. The diagrams on the next two pages show the number of countries scoring high or low for each question – with red colour indicating poor performance and green indicating good progress

11. Because the scorecard is being trialled we have not ranked individual countries but looked instead at general trends

12. Summary of scorecards (1)

13. Summary of scorecards (2)

14. Average score for performance = 2.1 Average performance for quality of response = 1.7

15. Doing fairly well… • Progress towards conservation of inland water systems • Gap analysis to identify new protected areas • Threat reduction • Public awareness and education programmes • Creating an enabling environment • Developing terrestrial and freshwater systems • Regional protected area networks

16. Including ecosystem services Addressing needs of indigenous and local communities Developing financing plans Capacity building Developing new tools and approaches Management effectiveness evaluation Application of monitoring systems Progress with marine protected areas Ecosystem approach Using new governance approaches Doing fairly badly…

17. …but note that some of the areas of poorest performance at the moment are also those with the longest deadline

18. The low performers with a deadline at or before 2009 are: • Conduct national-level assessments of ecosystem services provided by protected areas and integrate the use of economic valuation and natural resource accounting tools into national planning processes • Adjust policies to assess costs and benefits to indigenous and localcommunities, review access and equitable sharing of positive benefits and avoid negative impacts • Establish and begin to implement sustainable financing plans for protected area systems • These should therefore receive particular attention in the coming 12 months

19. WWF will continue to use the scorecard and to refine and improve reporting and extend the countries in which it is applied. Specific country analysis will be used to help prioritise programmes in individual countries in which WWF is active. Preliminary results suggest that the scorecard is a good way to gain a rapid overview of how well the POWPA is being applied and to track progress over time

20. “Tracking National Progress in Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Programme of Work on Protected Areas”: Nigel Dudley, Stephanie Mansourian and Sue Stolton: WWF International Report of first application, February 2008