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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, March 2005

Freshwater biodiversity conservation through protected areas: international obligations and lessons for Australia. Jamie Pittock WWF Research Associate Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU Jamie.pittock@anu.edu.au Australian Protected Areas Congress, 25 th November 2008.

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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, March 2005

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  1. Freshwater biodiversity conservation through protected areas: international obligations and lessons for Australia. Jamie Pittock WWF Research Associate Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU Jamie.pittock@anu.edu.au Australian Protected Areas Congress, 25th November 2008

  2. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, March 2005 • “Freshwater ecosystems tend to have the highest proportion of species threatened with extinction.” [pg 19]; • “The use of two ecosystem services - capture fisheries and freshwater - is now well beyond levels that can be sustained even at current demands, much less future ones.” [pg 20]; • “… important gaps in the distribution of protected areas remain, particularly in marine and freshwater systems” [pg 31]. Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2004 Figure: IPCC Technical Paper VI “Climate Change and Water”, June 2008: Large-scale relative changes in annual runoff for the period 2090–2099, relative to 1980–1999. (Milly et al., 2005).

  3. The litmus test for multilateral agreements • “Significantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010” (WSSD & CBD) • Halve the number of people without adequate access to water, sanitation, food and energy by 2015 (UN MDG & WSSD) • National “Integrated Water Resources Management” Plans (commenced) by 2005 (WSSD). • “Prevent dangerous” climate change “within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure food production is not threatened and enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.”(UNFCCC).

  4. IUCN protected areas definition 2008 ““A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values” IUCN categories of protected areas: • I. Strict Nature Reserve/Wilderness Area • II. National Park • III. Natural Monument • IV. Habitat/Species Management Area • V. Protected Landscape/Seascape • VI. Managed Resource Protected Area > Embraces Ramsar sites and many other freshwater designations, such as wild and heritage rivers.

  5. Convention on Biological Diversity • Programme of Work on Protected Areas (2004) : ambitious targets 2010, including 275 M ha inland waters habitats (but no environmental flows) • Programme of Work on Inland Waters (2005): commitments to species & basin scale conservation (10%), reduce threats & sustainable use • CBD track record on implementation limited thus far • Need to simplify obligations for governments, eg. ‘Mountains to Sea’ ~ 100+ pages to 50 • Monitoring implementation & indicators • Ramsar collaboration

  6. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands • ‘Three pillars’: a) wise us of all wetlands, b) international cooperation, & c) Ramsar sites • 158 Contracting Parties to the Convention • 1822 wetland sites of 168 M hectares • ~ 16% of ~10.3 M km2 of freshwater habitat globally • Ramsar Convention on Wetlands’ Strategic Plan commitment to reach 250 M ha of Ramsar sites by 2014 • Regional & ‘BasinWet’ initiatives • Management indicators & measures • Management: 2002 national reports – 40% had plans, 20% had plans in preparation

  7. WWF instigated wetlands reserves 1999-2007 • May 1999 – June 2007 • Target = +100 M ha • Achieved = 84 M ha, 291 wetlands in 46 countries • Small grants of up to CHF 40,000 • Total CHF 2.07 M (WWF = 1.2 M, others 0.8 M) • Cost per hectare = CHF 0.24 • About ¾ designated as Ramsar sites • 73% of all new Ramsar sites from 1999-2006

  8. WWF & regional initiatives

  9. Algeria Ramsar sites conservation • Joined Ramsar 1983 • WWF grants of CHF 160,000 from 2000 • Inventory work • Designation: 42 sites, covering 2.96 M ha • Wetlands strategy in preparation • Management of oases • Date exports - US$18 M in 2001 • Education centre

  10. Niger River basin Biological importance + threats analysis 15 M ha / 7 yrs with CHF 253K

  11. Basin wide activities 43 floodplains with high potential for flood risk mitigation Total: >10,500 km2 remaining areas; >7,000 km2 restoration source: WWF (2006)

  12. New tools: • Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (2008) - http://www.feow.org/ • IUCN Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories (revised 2008) - http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/PAPS-016.pdf; • Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (revised 2007) – http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/our_solutions/protection/tools/tracking_tool/index.cfm • Wetland Management Planning - a Guide for Site Managers (2008) – http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater/index.cfm • Buying time – manual for resistance and resilience building (2003): http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/publications/index.cfm?uNewsID=8678&uLangID=1 • Adapting water to a changing climate: an overview (2008): http://assets.panda.org/downloads/adapting_water_to_a_changing_climate.pdf

  13. Lower River Murray

  14. Source: Victorian Department of Sustainability & Environment

  15. Gwydir wetlands Ramsar site • Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 • Reactive regulation of developments impacting Ramsar sites • Increased profile for proactive conservation, greater public participation & enforcement

  16. So where is Australia? • Governments promised action on representative protected areas since 1994 • Signed up to Ramsar & CBD protected area targets • No agreed bioregionalization • No Ramsar Strategic Framework • Ad hoc state government initiatives (+/-) • No coherent freshwater conservation targets • Ramsar designations stalled by timid governments • Limited NGO action in southern Australia • Academic arguments over protected area tools ignore existing tools that can work

  17. Conclusions: • Freshwater biodiversity most threatened, largely overlooked by the protected areas community • Governments have signed up to ambitious freshwater protected areas targets (Ramsar & CBD) • Some good progress overseas but not in Australia • Better freshwater protected areas tools now available and lessons on what works (eg. Demonstrating other benefits, grants programs, action following disasters, publicity) • Rejuvenate use of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands rather than inventing new tools.

  18. Thank you! Paper based in part on: Pittock et al. (2008) Running dry: freshwater biodiversity, climate change & protected areas, in Biodiversity 9(3-4):30-38. • Acknowledgements: • Support from NSW Dept Environment & Climate Change • This research was part funded by the HSBC Climate Partnership & WWF • Presentation is partly based on the work of many WWF staff and project partners • Research supervisors: Prof Steve Dovers, Dr Karen Hussey, Dr Lara Hansen Photo: A Campbell 2008

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