Biodiversity Conservation in CIS

1. Biodiversity Conservation in CIS Julia Gorelova IUCN Representative Office for CIS

2. Main Problems and Threats Russia: • Biodiversity conservation is not a priority at the state level, the system of biodiversity conservation management fell down; • Insufficient understanding of national PAs system global importance at the state level; • Total absence of understanding of conservation profits by private business; • Development of a land market without considering the ecological factor; • Lack of educational work and information exchange in the field of biodiversity conservation.

3. Main Problems and Threats Ukraine: • Biodiversity issues are not considered in land management in conditions of land market development; • Ineffective protection of mountain and river ecosystems in Carpathians; • Threats to wetlands linked to Black and Azov Seas.

4. Main Problems and Threats Moldova: • Conservation of valuable forest ecosystems combining work with local population and creating new opportunities for local people profitable activities. Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova: • Necessity to include biodiversity issues in agricultural practices.

5. Main Problems and Threats Caucasus: • increasing level of poverty and weak protection leading to illegal logging of mountain forests;. • Degradation of mountain pastures, endemic plant species loss as a result of overgrazing; • Black Sea pollution, overcatching, gas and oil transportation

6. Main Problems and Threats Central Asia • Degradation of biological resources as a result of excessive use of steppe and forest ecosystems and Caspian fish supplies; • Desertification, weak water resources management; • Absence of integrated approach to biodiversity conservation at the state level; • Insufficiency of PAs network, obsolete legislative and economic frames for PA management, lack of inter-department coordination, lack of financing, absence of strategic activity on promoting PAs role;

7. Main Problems and Threats • Desert ecosystems are protected insufficiently, • Steppe ecosystems of global importance need to be managed combining sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation; • State boundaries are fragmenting animal populations making migratory species protection very difficult; • Absence of plans on sustainable regional development; • Lack of professional expertise.

8. Priorities for regionalactivities • Including biodiversity issues into general program of economic development and clear understanding of biodiversity conservation profitability; • PAs network development; • Development of regional and trans-boundary cooperation; • Development of inter-sectoral (sectors of industry and agriculture) cooperation; • Total inventory of biodiversity; • Sustainable land planning in conditions of land privatization.

9. Thematic priorities Agrobiodiversity and sustainable land-use: • sound practices of sustainable agriculture, safe technologies used for plant protection; • synergy between the main environmental conventions and the modern policy in the field of sustainable agriculture; • conservation of genetic resources; • sustainable land-use as a way to conserve arid and semi-arid ecosystems; • role of local population in biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture

10. Thematic priorities Integration of biodiversity considerations into policies of financial and private sectors • Developing economic mechanisms for private sector involvement in ecological restoration of natural ecosystems; • Introducing social and economic mechanisms at a local level for sustainable use of globally endangered species and habitats; • Developing and introducing in the land-use system institutional, legal and economic mechanisms for the acquisition of land areas by private investors for nature conservation purposes

11. Thematic priorities Development of protected areas system and ecological networks • Development of ecological networks; • Strengthening an effectiveness of PA management; • Harmonization of countries legislation to establish and manage trans-boundary PAs; • Regional approximation of the Bern and Bonn Conventions lists; • Establishment of PAs in steppe and desert zones; • PAs integration in the social and economic regional development, implementation of the Seville Strategy.

12. Geographic priorities • Extension of Galitsko-Slobogjansky Ecological Corridor (Ukraine) to the east up to Tambovskaya oblast and the Mari-El Republic (Russia); • Conservation of natural ecosystems of the Southern and Middle Ural as the core areas of Pan-European Econet; • Creation of regional econets in the Center of the Russian Plain, Volgo-Viatsky, Low Volga and Altai-Sayan regions; • Establishment of Ukraine’s national econet up to the year 2015;

13. Geographic priorities • Trans-boundary cooperation on the Ust’urt plateau (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan); • Protection of the key areas of endemic value in Armenia (Gorovansky sands, Magrinsky flora region, Daralagez rivers valleys, Aragatz mountain block and Arailer mountain); • Establishment of a transboundary Russian-Ukrainian PA on the basis of biosphere reserve “Briansky Les” and Desniansko-Starogutsky national park; • Biodiversity conservation of steppes of Southern Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan; • Creation of the Central Asian Econet.

14. Existing programs and actors World Bank: • Natural Resource Management Strategy (2000) • Biodiversity Conservation Strategy (2003) • National Strategies on Poverty Reduction • Other project categories: “agriculture”, “irrigation and preventing floods”, “environmental protection and municipal infrastructure development”

15. Existing programs and actors In coming years the WB conservation strategy will be focused on the following main directions: • Including biodiversity issues in general economic development programs; • Poverty reducing and support rural population livelihoods, combining conservation activities with local initiatives; • Strengthening biodiversity Action Plans and implementing sustainable natural resources management with active involvement of local communities; • Focusing on globally significant ecosystems; • Strengthening PAs networks, working out mechanisms of sustainable financing to manage PAs, including eco-tourism development, establishing trust-funds etc.; • Support of genetic resources monitoring systems.

16. Existing programs and actors Thematically and geographically these directions will be implemented as following: • Caucasus: forestry sector – illegal logging, gas and oil sector – decreasing damage; • Central Asia: priority ecosystems – Western Tian-Shan, Aral Sea, Amudarja ans Syrdarja deltas, tugay forests along river valleys, saxaul (Haloxylon) forests, Caspian Sea, inland lakes, steppe and mountain pastures of Kyrgyzstan; • Russia: priority regions are Karelia, Altay-Sayan, Sikhote-Alin; • Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova: steppe, forest and coastal ecosystems, agricultural and forestry sectors.

17. Existing programs and actors UNEP: • Convention on Combat Desertification • UNEP-GEF project “Integrated Ecosystem Approach to Conserve Biodiversity and Minimize Habitat Fragmentation in the Russian Arctic”. • There are several project concept papers to be submitted to UNEP-GEF including medium-size project on establishment of a network of training centers for PAs of Northern Eurasia by the Eco-educational center “Zapovedniks”.

18. Existing programs and actors UNESCO: • World Heritage Convention, nomination of natural territories to be included in the World Heritage list, • biosphere reserves network development (Man & Biosphere program), • realization of the Seville Strategy principles.

19. Existing programs and actors WWF: • conservation of forest biodiversity, including issues of certification and support environmentally oriented business; • marine and Arctic ecosystems; • support to PAs; • conservation of rare and endangered species: • oil and gas sector. Geography: Arctic, Russian Far East, Altay, Kamchatka peninsula, Ural, North-West of Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia. • Coordination a new big program of the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund on Caucasus biodiversity conservation. • Developed a full-size project on Econet creation based on the Russian PAs system to be submitted to GEF.

20. Existing programs and actors IUCN: • public support of forest conservation, • sustainable use of non-timber forest products, • assessment of PA management effectiveness, • Econet development and sustainable agriculture, • eco-tourism, • elaborating the strategy for Central Asia. • Important Plant Areas program in partnership with PlantLife International. Russia will be a part of the full-size UNEP-GEF global IUCN-PlantLife project on IPAs and the Global Plant Conservation Strategy implementation, included in GEF pipeline.

21. Existing programs and actors Environmental bilateral cooperation • Scandinavian countries -Norway, Sweden, Finland: projects in the Russian part of he Barents Region In the near future these activities will be supported by the EU “Northern Dimension” program. • Germany: the bilateral program is focused on eco-tourism development, landscape planning, eco-education, PAs of Baikal region. • USA: Bering Sea region is a priority, migratory birds and marine mammals, sustainable use of marine bio-resources, information and training support to PAs.

22. Existing programs and actors • Institute of Sustainable Communities is managing USAID money providing small grants to NGOs. • Regional Environmental Centers network - European Commission: support NGOs activity in the region. Biodiversity conservation is also in focus of REC small grant programs. • “Environment for Europe” Fund was established by the UK Government to support Pan-European process. In Russia, money is managed by the British Council through the SEPS program.

23. Existing programs and actors • TACIS: • transboundary partner projects at local and regional levels; • preparation of a project on transboundary Russian-Ukrainian-Kazakh cooperation in the field of steppe conservation. • EU LIFEprogram supporting projects in the North-West region of Russia. The partner project on Econet development in Leningradskaya oblast has been submitted by IUCN CIS and Baltic Fund for Nature .

24. Existing programs and actors Projects of national organizations implementing jointly with foreign partners could be supported by governmental foundations of donor countries: • Darwin Initiative, UK supports the partner project on public support of saiga antelope conservation; • PIN-MATRA, the Netherlands supports the partner project on Econet development in Kostromskaya oblast; • French GEF is going to support eco-tourism development in Baikal Lake region.

25. UNDP possible niche in theRegion • elaborating different sub-regional (oblast and district level) development scenarios for priority regions, considering sustainable development principles and biodiversity issues; • selecting a scenario and developing an integrated regional strategy including a business-plan, considering potential funding sources; • undertaking functional territorial zoning in model regions that is based on ecological and economic factors limiting livelihoods of population as well as biodiversity status; • Priority regions: regions strongly influenced by human activities.