FWD: Going for new approach

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This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/2/16/features/7314383 & sec=f\

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Monday February 16, 2004

Going for new approach

 

 

TO help advance the agenda of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in

developing an ecologically representative global system of networks of Protected

Areas (PAs), three international conservation organisations are proposing the

key biodiversity area (KBA) approach.

 

BirdLife International’s Dr John Fanshawe told delegates at a side event that

the goal of the KBA approach is to identify, document and protect networks of

sites that are critical for the conservation of global biodiversity. The other

two organisations are Plantlife International and Conservation International.

 

“The challenge of this approach lies in how best to determine which areas

qualify for conservation attention. One effective method is to select sites

based on criteria that account for the distribution of species that fall into

two main and non-exclusive classes, species that are threatened or species that

are geographically concentrated,” he said.

 

However, Fanshawe said to guarantee ownership of conservation plans and the

sustainability of efforts to implement them, the process of identifying these

sites must be led at local or national level.

 

The process would also develop technical and conservation capacity within

countries, and build partnerships among key organisations concerned with site

conservation.

 

For governments, the KBA criteria provide a tool to identify national networks

of globally important sites that will be priorities both for national investment

and for channelling resources from international instruments such as the Global

Environment Facility, a rich nations funding mechanism for developing countries.

He said many organisations are already collaborating, citing the involvement of

local organisations and government in the Important Bird Areas programme

initiated since the early 1980s with significant contribution to national

biodiversity plans.

 

Meanwhile, Plantlife International’s Important Plant Areas programme is

supporting the CBD’s target to protect 50% of the most important areas for plant

diversity on earth. Despite investment in setting up PAs, recent analyses show

that many serious gaps in coverage remain and it is agreed that a variety of

governance approaches, including national parks, community and indigenous

conservation areas, community and indigenous conservation areas, and private

reserves is needed. – By Hilary Chiew

 

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