Conservation is Catching on!

1. Conservation is Catching on! Richard Knight U W C

2. What is conservation?. A traditional view was an area put aside for the preservation of organisms and their environment! U W C

3. This has lead to conflicts between local communities and park boundaries Photo South African National Parks U W C

4. Reflection of what is a national Park “National Parks have not drawn us into a more thoughtful relationship with our habitat. They have not taught us that land is to be used frugally and with good sense. They have encouraged us to believe that conservation is merely a system of trading environmental write-offs against large protected areas. They have more than failed, in fact they have become a symptom of the problem” (Van Tighem 1986) U W C

5. Fencing and Park Boundaries have become major social and political issues. U W C

6. The solution is to involve local communities and manage protected areas as another type of landuse. U W C

7. Critical to Park Management is to establish objectives U W C

8. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN Ia: The Strict Nature Reserve/Wilderness areas Preserve habitats, ecosystems and species in as undisturbed state as possible Objective: Dassen Island and the Prince Edward Islands U W C

9. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN II: National Park Objective: Protect for scientific, educational, recreational or tourist purposes West Coast National Park U W C

10. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN III: Natural Monument: Protected Area Objective: Based on a specific natural/cultural or unique representational significance Kirstenbosch and Tienie Versveld U W C

11. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN IV: Habitat/Species Management Area Objective: Maintain a habitat for protection of significant species/ group of species or special physical Features - Maanschynkop, Hermanus U W C

12. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN V: Protected Landscape/Seascape Objective: Protect harmonious interaction of nature and culture Abe Bailey Nature Reserve Gauteng (Carletonville) U W C

13. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN IX: Biosphere Reserve Core Buffer Transitional Integrate protected areas within a landscape of other economic activities Objective: Kogelberg & West Coast U W C

14. A classification of protected areas exists from the IUCN X: World Heritage Site www.robben.island.org.za Protect for scientific, educational, recreational or tourist purposes Objective: Robben Island & Table Mountain U W C

15. Peace Parks Richtersveld/ Ai-Ais Gariep Kgalagadi (Kalahari) Limpopo/Shashe Kruger/ Banhine-Zinave Gonarezhou Maputaland Maloti/ Drakensberg U W C

16. Other protected areas Peace Parks- a Transfrontier conservation area South African National Parks Promote regional co-operation, job creation and biodiversity conservation Objective: Recently Proclaimed Kalahari Park U W C

17. Contractual Parks A protected area that is co-operatively managed by Local Communities and a State Organization South African National Parks - Nigel Dennis Protect natural resources and preserve cultural lifestyles of indigenous people Objective: Richtersveld National Park U W C

18. World Heritage Sites South Africa South Africa's World Heritage Sites: World Heritage Sites recognise and protect areas of outstanding natural, historical and cultural value. Given South Africa's diverse culture and history and her spectacular natural resources and wildlife, it is not surprising that she boasts 7 World Heritage Sites. Cultural» Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and Environs (1999)» Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape (2003) » Robben Island (1999) Mixed» UKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park (2000) Natural» Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (2004) » Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park (1999) » Vredefort Dome (2005)

19. South African National Parks KZN National Parks U W C

20. Conserved Areas in the Western Cape U W C

21. Conserved Areas in Hermanus Maan schyn kop Vogelgat Fernkloof Cliff paths Walker Bay U W C

22. WORLD Database Protected areas www.protectedplanet.net/

23. IUCN Red data SPECIES List

24. Red Lists and Red Data Books of Threatened Species • IUCN maintains threatened species lists since 1950s. • “Red Data Books” popularized in 1960s: birds & mammals. • “Information explosion” in 1990s: • Europe: 3,562 known red lists. • South Africa – maintained by SANBI http://redlist.sanbi.org/ • 100 countries have produced RL for at least one taxon (www.nationalredlist.org). • Species assigned to categories on the basis of quantitative criteria and thresholds. • Separation of risk assessment (scientific) from definition of conservation priorities (societal process).

25. Quantitative criteria: Categories for IUCN red lists Population decline Critically endangered Small range: fragmented / decline / fluctuation Thresholds Endangered Reproductive population small and declining Very small or restricted population Vulnerable Quantitative assessment

26. Extinction Risk Conservation Priorities Distributional Factors Weighting system Biological Factors Conservation priorities Societal Values Logistical Factors Economic Factors Analysis, studies, choices, politics, land use etc Other Factors (legal, institutional, etc.)

27. Motivation for a “Red List” categories system for ecosystems • Abundant experience with red list categories for species. Red list “explosion” world-wide (> 100 countries have applied them). • Increased capability of geographical information systems: • more powerful and inexpensive computers. • cheaper and more user-friendly software packages (Quantum and DIVA GIS– free and WebGIS). • Increased availability of remotely-sensed data, covering 20-40 years.

28. Why focus on ecosystem status? • May more effectively represent biodiversity as a whole than individual species. • Ecosystem loss more apparent than species loss: clean water, food, fuel – service losses • More time-efficient than species-by-species assessments (<3% species evaluated by IUCN). • Ecosystem loss and degradation might precede species declines (e.g. extinction debt). • Combined with species Red List, more powerful assessment of biodiversity status.

29. Official listing of threatened ecosystems is already taking place • Gov. of W. Australia: quantitative categories & criteria for threatened ecosystems, also Victoria. • S. African National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act: identification of over 200 threatened ecosystems. (Critical Biodiversity Areas and Ecosystem Support Areas • Austria, Germany, Finland, Norway & partially in other EU states (based on NATURA 2000, EUNIS). Venezuela, Senegal (draft); and • Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru in process • EC tender for Red List of Habitats for Europe process

30. Mandates from the IUCN World Conservation Congresses (Barcelona 2008, Jeju 2012) • Consolidation of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems: • Formal adoption of RLE categories and criteria. • Formal allocation of funds/staff. • Global assessment of ecosystems. • Provision of support to national assessments. • View RLS and RLE as an integrated tool (also with other IUCN key Knowledge Products).

31. Major scientific challenges • What is an ecosystem? • When is an ecosystem “extinct”? • Disappearance, transformation or collapse? • How to assess ecosystem change? • distribution • function

32. I. Defining ecosystems • No global classification (but maybe getting nearer), ecosystems may be defined at various scales (raindrop to biosphere) ~WWF EcoRegions, GLC2000 • Approach: • Adopt widey accepted conceptual definition (Tansley 1935, Odum) • Develop a risk assessment method applicable to any classification (national, regional) • Promote development of a global ecosystem classification • Require documented ecosystem descriptions as part of each risk assessment

33. Describing ecosystems for assessment • Description template (operational) • Classification (IUCN habitats, etc) • List defining biotic features • Identify defining abiotic features • Describe key ecosystem drivers • Maps (time series, projections) • past, present, future • Conceptual definition • (4 key elements, Tansley 1935) • characteristic assemblage of biota • associated physical environment • processes & interactions between components • among biota • between biota & environment • Spatial extent

34. Defining ecosystems: Operational basis • Specific set of ecosystems that can be nested (local, national, global) use of different schemes – c.f. NatureServe (Classification & Description of World Formation Types); EUNIS • Nesting into administrative & other means of dividing – e.g. overall major ecosystem types in a country, or a district, or land/water use • Trade-offs between conceptual definitions & practical reality! • We respect & will use national ecosystem classifications, but will seek to nest them

35. Data integration, nesting & access

36. Data integration, nesting & access NatureServe

37. Coming to Global consensus on Ecosystems – but not there yet!

38. II. The concept of ‘risk’ • RISK – the probability of a bad outcome over a specified time frame • Define the bad outcome • An endpoint to ecosystem decline • Ecosystems rarely disappear or go “extinct” (cf. species) Exception Maldives • “Collapse”: transformation of identity, loss of defining features (characteristic biota & function), replacement by a novel ecosystem (e.g. invasives, agriculture, plantation)

39. II. The concept of risk • RISK – the probability of a bad outcome over a specified time frame • Specify the time frame for assessing change • long enough to detect trends, • short enough to inform action, • long enough to consider lags & debts • past, present, future

40. III. Assessing ecosystem change Guiding principles for design of a protocol • Evidence-based risk assessment using all available data & information • Transparent derivation from relevant ecological theories • Generic concepts and methods adaptable across a range of organisational & spatial scales and all ecological domains • terrestrial, freshwater, marine, subterranean • Logically consistent with IUCN Red List criteria for species

41. Threatening processes Ecosystem distribution Ecosystem function A Declining distribution C Environmt’l degradation Risk of loss of characteristic native biota D Altered biotic processes B Small distribution E Quantitative risk analysis Threatening processes III. Assessing Ecosystem Change Risk model for ecosystems: • threats to defining features (distribution, biota & function) • multiple mechanisms (causes of threat) • 4 symptoms (of decline) = 4 criteria • plus one overarching criterion (probability of collapse)

42. Categories Collapse Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable Near Threatened Least Concern Data Deficient Not Evaluated CO CR Threatened EN VU NT LC DD NE