Conservation Standards, Good Environmental Status and Coastal Reef Funding

The ocean covers 71% of the earth’s surface and is home to ecosystems that are both, of high intrinsic value and of high external value: Our oceans deliver services, vital to the health of societies and economies. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 and Aichi Target 11 (CBD) therefore state the need for Marine Protected Areas. To perform they must be effectively governed, managed and networked across borders – but what resources are there to support MPA practitioners in tackling these challenges?

Global Conservation Standards: Synthesis of Global MPA Conservation Standards (IUCN)

Information on effective MPA governance and management has expanded quickly throughout the recent years. Various similar methods, tools, standards are floating through the web and are exchanged in networking events. However favorable a development, a pooling of information remains a major challenge and practitioners agree they want to avoid “open-ended sharing and create real change” – effectively implementing the measures adequate to their MPA.

IUCN Green List Standards

A recent draft publication by IUCN seeks to address this challenge of scattered information:  “Applying IUCN’s Global Conservation Standards to Marine Protected Areas (MPA)” offers a first synthesis of all IUCN standards and policies relevant to Marine Protected Areas, by integrating the IUCN Green List standards with all other IUCN Resolutions and Guidance documents of MPA concern.

By now, the document is still a draft and will be soon available for download here  – also in Spanish and French.

Mediterranean Sea: Achieving Good Environmental Status tapping MPAs’ added value (MedPAN / UNEP-MAP)

MedPAN (Mediterranean Protected Area Network – working to promote the establishment, the operation and the sustainability of a Mediterranean network of MPAs) follows the notion that effective networks and exchange are vital. In a recent “Science for for MPA Management” issue MedPan states: For MPAs to perform beyond their essential role in nature protection, conservation and restoration, more fluent connections between MPA practitioners, scientists and regional as well as national authorities are critical. (See also: MedPAN’s engagement within the Transatlantic MPA Partnership project.)

Transatlantic MPA Network©Bernal Revert, BR&U

MedPAN outlines in particular the crucial role of Marine Protected Areas in achieving and assessing progress made towards Good Environmental Status (GES) of the Mediterranean Sea, by pointing to the MPA ability to provide scientific data enriching the existing knowledge base through monitoring and supporting the establishment of reference conditions.

Good Environmental Status (EU): The environmental status of marine waters where these provide ecologically diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean, healthy and productive.

Further, MedPAN’s newsletter issue offers a compact overview of GES descriptors, the relevant related policies and programs, the role of EU Member States in implementation and finally derives implications for MPA practitioners.

Achieving GES via integrated management strategies is the shared objective defined at both EU and UN levels – defined within the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and integrated in the Ecosystem Approach (EcAp) within the UN Environment Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP).

The first Mediterranean Quality Status Report

UNEP / MAP has recently provided its first comprehensive contribution towards “assessing the status of the Mediterranean ecosystem and the progress towards the achievement of its Good Environmental Status (GES)”: In December 2017 the first Mediterranean Quality Status Report has been launched as a key step implementing the “Ecosystem Approach (EcAp) Roadmap” adopted in 2008, and the “Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP)” adopted in 2016.

Mediterranean quality status report 2017

International: Funding for Sustainable Management of Coral Reefs & Associated Coastal Ecosystems – UNEP, UNEP WCMC, ICRI

UN Environment, International Coral Reef Initiative and UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre have just published a preliminary analysis, exploring how funding for implementing, monitoring and enforcing sustainable management of coral reefs and related coastal ecosystem has been allocated internationally throughout the recent years.

Where does the funding come from? How is the support distributed? How well-aligned are spending and policy objectives? What are implications for future investment?

Quite evident is, the overall spending dedicated (around 1.9 billion USD between 2010 and 2016) is relatively little when considering that:

coral reef ecosystems alone provide society with living resources and services equating about 375 billion USD annually.

Put in perspective, funding for coral reefs and its related ecosystems is still far from sufficient to achieve international objectives. However, the analysis resumes giving a positive outlook for the allocation of future funding – referring to promising developments in regional and international policy related to marine conservation and pointing to the increased number of international commitments and campaigns related to “ocean matters”.

Read the full analysis results here.

Keep in touch –  there is more news waiting beneath the surface.

After all – it is the International Year of the Reef! 

Snowdon is the most popular mountain in the UK, and the effect this has on people who work and live in the area is significant. Helen Pye, National Park Partnerships Manager at Snowdonia National Park shares with us how The Snowdon Partnership is working together for the future of the mountain, and gives you a step-by-step guidance on how you can also do it in your Park! An article from our EUROPARC journal Protected Areas In-Sight 2017.

Peace-keeping in the Mountains of Snowdonia

Article issued by Helen Pye

Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa in Welsh (pronounced uhr-with-va), is a globally renowned, iconic mountain. It is home to vibrant, energetic communities and a mosaic of upland hill farms. It is a national asset, the most visited mountain in the UK, attracting over half a million people from across Wales, the UK and around the world every year. Caring for Yr Wyddfa is a complex business, requiring close collaboration in the work that we do.

In 2015 the issues affecting the area as a result of its immense popularity with visitors where reaching a crunch point. Parking problems were significantly affecting the local communities of the area, paths were being heavily eroded, litter was a major problem on the mountain and there was a general feeling amongst the public that things just weren’t working. Snowdon regularly made the news in local and national press, and not in a good way!

There was of course a huge amount of effort and great work going on to look after the mountain from all sorts of different organisations – both public, private and third sector, but there was no joined up, co-ordinated approach.

The Snowdonia National Park Authority decided to take a leading role in a more joined up approach to the management of the area, by developing a partnership management plan, which would set out the opportunities and threats we all wanted to tackle over the coming years.

From this very beginning point, to the point we are at now – with an agreed Plan in place – there were some fundamental ingredients that were key to the success of the process:

1) Identify the key players. Who are the key influencers in the area?

It was really important to design a plan that all our stakeholders supported and agreed on. Over the years, different types of groups in the area had become quite disparate in their views. In order to successfully influence and get people on board, we identified and established communications with key players in the area.

As well as a core group of officers (see point 3 below) we also identified all the – that is anyone who had some stake, role or interest in the way we as partners cared for the mountain, and then from these identified the key influencers and a clear communication strategy.

2) Find the one outcome that everyone agrees on (and cares about):

There will be an outcome that nearly everyone has in common. Sometimes it can be difficult to identify when moods are heightened! For Snowdon, it was that everyone wanted to care for the mountain and look after it for future generations. Once we’d identified this common outcome it was much easier to move things forward.

By creating and implementing a plan together, we could all be working towards the same goals.

3) Create a core partnership to drive the process forward

The group comprised of officers that represented all the organisations and landowners that are responsible for on-the-ground management of the mountain – ranging from conservation work and path management to tourism, farming and mountain rescue teams. We wanted to make sure that this core group where delivering on the ground and avoid it becoming a “talking shop”.

4) Develop the core partnership into a cohesive strong group

Point 2 above was the first and most important step in starting to bring the group together, along with other vital elements such as size of the group, meeting arrangements, dynamics and tone. Even the way you set out the room for a meeting is important!

5) Agree on – and then deliver – a genuinely open, transparent consultation process

This was about getting from where we were (no plan) to a point of delivery (an agreed partnership plan in place) in the most effective and efficient way. The diagram below sets out the process we took.

6)     Demonstrate positive progress

During the process, we identified some ‘quick wins’ that could demonstrate positive progress. One of these was a pilot visitor giving scheme. It helped show stakeholders that physical progress was being made, whilst we were still discussing and creating the Plan.

7) Build clear responsibilities and ownership

Perhaps one of the most important steps we took was a ‘responsibility assigning’ workshop run for us by a fantastic consultancy company. This meant that responsibilities for action within the plan were very very clear. Fundamental for being able to successfully deliver the plan.

Watch also the Snowdonia Giving, a project to engage volunteers, young people and business for the common  care of the Snowdon mountains.

And so here we are now with an agreed plan in place. The end of the beginning!

• To learn more about the Snowdon Plan visit www.snowdonpartnership.co.uk

It took two years to get to this point but has been hugely worth the effort. The turn-around in attitude and opinions of stakeholders has been quite incredible, and the momentum is really with us now. This makes everything so much easier and more efficient when it comes to delivering, when everyone is happy with the way forward.

Helen Pye is happy to share information, knowledge, and advice in more detail. If you’d like to discuss anything further you can get in touch via e-mail: helen.pye @ eryri.llyw.cymru

The Snowdon Partnership is funded by Snowdonia National Park with the support of Welsh Government, the National Trust and Snowdonia Society.

Once a year, members of EUROPARC Transboundary Parks Programme – the TransParcNet – and specialists interested in cross-border cooperation come together for a 3-day workshop, to share experience, best-practice and learn from each other. This year, the TransParcNet Meeting will focus on river landscapes conservation and it’s kindly hosted by Podyjí and Thayatal National Parks, a Transboundary Region between Czech Republic and Austria, cooperating since 2007. Registrations are now open!

“Bridges over troubled water – Nature protection of river landscapes”

• 5th – 8th June 2018
• Jointly organised by Podyjí National Park (Czech Republic) and Thayatal National Park  (Austria), supported by Interreg Austria – Czech Republic.

PROGRAMME TransParcNet Meeting 2018

Tuesday, 5th June
15:00 Arrival / Opening of registration at Hotel Althof in Retz
17:00 Official opening in seminar room of Hotel Althof in Retz
19:00 Dinner

Wednesday, 6th June
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Shuttle pick-up at Hotel Althof in Retz and transfer to Nationalparkhaus Thayatal
9:00 Presentation session I “Changes and challenges of river ecosystems”
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Presentation session II “The river basin landscape impact on the state of watercourses“
13:00 Lunch break
14:00 Short excursion in Nationalpark Thayatal – Podyjí
16:00 Workshop session
19:00 Dinner and guided tour in Retz

Thursday, 7th June
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Shuttle pick-up at Hotel Althof in Retz and transfer to Nationalparkhaus Thayatal
9:00 Presentation session III “Transboundary cooperation in water protection”
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Excursion to Nationalpark Thayatal – Podyjí
18:00 Gala dinner

Friday, 8th June
8:00 Breakfast & Departure

EUROPARC Policy Office in Brussels and the members of the Agriculture and Protected Areas Commission, launched today the EUROPARC Position Paper on European Protected Areas & Sustainable Agriculture. The document aims to contribute to the current debate on the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform for the period after 2020. 

A competitive agriculture needs a healthy environment and nature resources as they are provided by Protected Areas. Likewise, a healthy environment and nature protection need farmers’ engagement.

While agriculture and Protected Areas are often perceived to be in opposition, but are in fact complementary: Agricultural activities play a key role in the management of EU land and the conservation of its biodiversity, as almost half the territory consists of farmland. Protected Areas and agricultural production are part of the same landscape and of a larger, more integrated rural ecosystem from which natural goods and services can be optimised with integrated complimentary systems.

EUROPARC is committed to supports positive dialogue between agricultural and Protected Area communities and has identified a huge number of success stories showcasing the effective partnerships already existing in many European National, Regional and Periurban Parks, conciliating farming interests with biodiversity conservation, contributing to climate change actions and fostering the creation of Europe’s rural areas as living landscapes.

Learn more about the experiences available from the EUROPARC Network in our Toolbox on Sustainable Agriculture.

The role of Protected Areas and Natura 2000 Sites in rural development needs to be valorised by the new CAP.

Protected Areas are committed to improve partnership with farmers for developing common solutions and creating mutual benefits. These efforts have to be awarded by EU and national and regional authorities at financial, legal and political level. Besides, Protected Areas can play a crucial role in increasing consumers’ awareness and public involvement. Specific measures, programmes and funds have to be adopted to support methodologies, projects and collective initiatives on partnership building among Protected Areas, Natura 2000 Sites, farmers and consumers.

The new CAP should pay specific attention to farmers acting within or close to Protected Areas and Natura 2000 Sites, engaged in environment-friendly agriculture and working in partnership with Protected Areas authorities, in order to recognise their work and reward their effort.

Download EUROPARC Position Paper

The EUROPARC position paper “European Protected Areas & Sustainable Agriculture: Working in Partnership for Biodiversity and Rural Development” introduces the role of Protected Areas, illustrated by many successful examples of collaboration with farmers from the EUROPARC network, and reinforces the need for new, better-integrated approaches and more innovative funding mechanisms at regional, national and European level. It builds on 5 key-strategic points outlining concrete ways how Protected Areas’ potential to integrate EU agricultural interests with environmental concerns can be tapped within a reformed CAP framework.

Read here the full EUROPARC Position Paper and follow up our Sustainable Agriculture Policy Section, constantly updated with the latest developments on the EU Common Agricultural Policy Reform discussion.