Biodiversity and

Protected Areas

Management

Programme

Capacity Building Workshop on Ecosystem Conservation

and Restoration

Belize City

April 28, 2014

Rationale • ACP countries host a huge share of the

planet’s biodiversity • Well-managed protected areas (PAs) are a key

tool for: – in-situ conservation, – maintaining ecosystem services, – helping adaptation to climate change

• Biodiversity loss in ACP countries continues in

spite of national efforts to establish PAs – Limited human and institutional capacity – Lack of institutional coordination

• Four year initiative (2012-2016) of the ACP Secretariat funded by the European Union

• To improve access to and availability of information on biodiversity and socioeconomic issues to improve decisions for protected area management

Pacific – 15 countries

Caribbean – 15 countries

Africa – 48 countries

Structure of the programme

1. The Protected Areas Component

Result 1 – Improving the effective planning and management of PAs

by using the best available scientific and policy information

(JRC)

Result 2 – Establishing a “Centre for PAs & Biodiversity”

(Observatory) in each region and developing capacity building

programmes

(IUCN)

2. The Access and Benefit Sharing

(ABS) component

(ABS Initiative)

Expected Outcomes 1) Better policy and decision making • By making use of available science and

knowledge centred in regional observatories

2) Improved technical and institutional approaches

• To better plan and manage PAs through

capacity building • This will enhance their contribution to

biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods

Expected Outcomes

3) Enhanced regional cooperation

• Building political support for

biodiversity conservation and to achieve greater coherence for implementing/negotiating Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)

• Building up regional networks of

experts and enhanced networking to reduce external dependency

BIOPAMA Caribbean

15 participating countries Antigua and Barbuda Haiti Barbados Jamaica The Bahamas St. Kitts and Nevis Belize Saint Lucia Dominica St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dominican Republic Suriname Grenada Trinidad and Tobago Guyana

Capacity Needs • Sustainable financing

• Livelihood development

• Qualified field staff

• Managers with new skills

• Law enforcement

• Education, awareness and outreach

• Management planning/integrated conservation and development planning

• PA design (zoning, planning)

• Research, monitoring and data management

• Negotiation/ conflict resolution skills

Information Needs • Mapping the extent and condition of habitats, their threats and

changes to both of these

• Higher resolution and more accurate topographic and bathymetric

models

• Downscaled climate change models

• Development of regional and national scale benthic habitat maps

• Consistently mapped species of interest as point occurrences

• Improved ocean connectivity models in order to better understand

the life cycle of certain marine species

• Documenting the migratory routes/behavioral patterns for certain

land and marine species

• Mapping census information at the finest spatial resolution available

• Regular compilation of protected area management effective

scores

• Incorporating ecosystem services into the conservation planning

process

• Increased efforts towards documenting data

Regional Observatories for Protected Areas and Biodiversity

Caribbean Observatory

• Build awareness of regional and national institutions to strengthen biodiversity conservation and PA management through: – Facilitating data access – Developing knowledge products e.g. IUCN Red List of Species – Balancing political expectations and challenges on the ground – Providing practical advice regarding challenges in conservation

and PA management – Supporting effective implementation of the Regional Capacity

Building Programme

Caribbean Observatory Status

1. Identification of host institution (to be completed by April 30).

2. Identification of Technical Officer (underway)

3. Regional Reference Information System (RRIS) is being tailored for the Caribbean and will use the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) as it’s technical platform

4. Partnering with UNEP-WCMC to facilitate country updates to WDPA

5. Seeking integration of RRIS with the Decision Support System being developed by The Nature Conservancy for the ECMMAN project

Species information in DOPA

Caribbean Capacity Building

Programme

• Provide targeted support to countries through: – Direct requests e.g. Bahamas National Trust

Management Categories review and implementation

– Collaboration with existing regional projects/agencies e.g. Learning Exchange for Junior MPA Managers with UNEP-CEP/SPAW CaMPAM Network

– Direct access to regional and international experts e.g.

Caribbean CB Focus

• Provide technical support to countries in achieving objectives identified in NBSAPs/PoWPA action plans – direct request; actions from this workshop

• Provide training/technical support to countries in data management

• Facilitate/support professional development training and exchanges for terrestrial and marine PA managers – facilitate establishment of network for

terrestrial PA managers (similar to CaMPAM)

• Sponsor attendance of PA professionals/staff to relevant meetings and trainings coordinated by other projects

• Support development and production of relevant/needed knowledge product specific to the Caribbean experience e.g. Guidelines on how to

communicate effective messages for decision making

• Support Caribbean contribution to World Parks Congress

Caribbean CB Focus

Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Programme

An initiative of the ACP Secretariat, funded by the European Union

Implemented by:

www.biopama.org

www.iucn.org/biopama

www.yammer.com/biopama

HYACINTH ARMSTRONG-VAUGHN Protected Areas Officer, BIOPAMA

Centre for Resources Management and

Environmental Studies (CERMES)

Hyacinth.armstrongvaughn@iucn.org