mekong protected areas resilience to climate change
DESCRIPTION
Mekong Protected Areas Resilience to Climate Change and key drivers of change to protected areas in the Mekong Delta was presented in the the workshop on Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study in Vientiane, Lao PDR during May 7 - 11, 2012.TRANSCRIPT
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Mekong Protected Areas Resilience to Climate
ChangeMay 2012
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Protected area safeguard natural resilience to climate change in agro-ecological systems
“natural resilience” represents the capacity for species and natural habitats to maintain viable populations and avoid significant extinction risk despite climate change.
Bio-diverse systems are naturally resilient. Protected areas:• maintain viable populations of species;• conserve blocks of natural habitat large enough to resist large-scale
disturbances and long-term changes• provide refuges and migration corridors (ie room to move when
conditions change);
Other pressures constraint movement of species, habitat and genes.
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Protected area are an essential economic development strategy for the agriculture sector with climate change
PA development footprint Zones of economic influence
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Protected area development footprintProducts and services
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Protected areas, agriculture and livelihoods
Protected areas and sustainable agriculture
Food security Genetic biodiversity of crops and animals (wild species, pollinators, and
crop wild relatives) Food and livelihood products (fish, NTFPs, timber etc) Safety net for livelihoods and subsistence during extreme events and
seasons.
Ecosystem services Water supply and regulation Microclimate maintenance and regulation Habitat for crop pollinators and crop pest predators Maintenance of soil biodiversity Natural buffer for extreme events
• Reducing vulnerability to floods, droughts and other weather-induced problems;
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Protected areas in the Lower Mekong Basin
Key issues for resilience: Size Connections Representativeness
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LMB PA trends
During the 1990’s:• The number of PAs increased rapidly• The total PA coverage as a % of national land area
increased rapidly
And since then• The increases in nationally established PAs halted • The number and coverage of locally established and
management PAs continues to increase• The national natural forest estate is shrinking - increasing
% of remaining natural forest falls within PAs • Relatively few PAs and little coverage in floodplains, deltas
and aquatic systems (fresh and marine)
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Growth in Pas (% of national land area)
Proposed additions
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Protected areas in the LMB
Cambodia
Lao PDR Thailand Vietnam
Pas as a % of land area
21% 21% 19% 8%
% of national PA system managed at local levels
1% 100% 2% 94%
Forests in existing and proposed PAs as a % of total forest area
40% 39% 65% 26%
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KEY DRIVERS OF CHANGE TO PROTECTED AREAS
REDUCING NATURAL RESILIENCE
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Forces reducing natural resilience
Drivers of change are:• Population pressures (land use activities, primarily livestock grazing,
hunting, logging, subsistence activities and encroachment)• Development pressures (roads, land conversion, irrigation, hydropower,
logging and fringe agriculture)
Threats to natural resilience in the Mekong region include: • Land clearing and fragmentation of core habitats and migration corridors;• Livestock grazing, hunting and logging; • Changed hydrology and extraction of water• Invasive weeds and animals;• Inappropriate fire regimes (intensities, frequencies and timings).
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Population/agriculture - natural systems use cycle
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% losses in area of original forest, wetlands and marine systems
Cambodia Lao PDR Thailand Vietnam
Forest 48% 46% 71% 75%
Wetlands 45% 30% 96% 99%
Mangroves 15% NA 84% 37%
Coral reefs*
100% NA 77% 96%
* Severely threatened by human activities
Only 2-10% of remaining original forests is relatively undisturbed
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Protected areas and demographics
• Protected areas tend to fall in the least populated and less accessible locations (with roads and hyrdo-power this is changing rapidly)
• 80% of protected areas are situated in regions of medium to high poverty incidence;
• There is increasing migration towards protected areas and regions of biodiversity wealth;
• Populations within and around PAs are increasing along with natural resource demand and,
• There is a direct correlation between population density and the level of community pressure on protected areas.
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Population per province – Lower Mekong Basin
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Forests and wetlands – Lower Mekong Basin
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Poverty incidence – Lower Mekong Basin
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PROTECTED AREAS IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
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Protected areas and sea level rise
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PAs and sea level rise
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Potential effects of climate change
Biological effects (ecosystems, species dynamics): Increased or decreased growth related to temperature, CO2 and moisture
tolerances of individual species Change in ecosystem composition and local food webs Changes in biological processes – flowering times, reproductive cycles,
migration routes, Shifts in species distribution Opportunities for invasive species and pests to flourish Extinctions Disruption to ecosystem services such as pollination, soil conservation, water
supply and regulation, micro climate
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TASK 2 APPROACH
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Task 2 assessment steps
1. Document importance of protected areas to agro-ecological systems
2. Overlay climate change on LMB protected areas system
3. Identify protected areas most exposed
4. Assess impact of climate change on PA ecology (habitat and framework species?)
5. Assess impact on linked agro-ecological systems
6. Propose adaptation options
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BUFFERING AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
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Buffering against climate change
• Identify and protect climate refugia; • Conserve large-scale migration corridors; • Maintain viable populations• Reduce threatening processes at the landscape scale; • Conserve natural processes and connectivity at the landscape
scale; and– Increase PA size to ensure populations can absorb higher
levels of disturbance; and– Enhance conservation outside PAs.
• Special interventions to avert extinctions.
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Protected areas safeguard representative examples of biodiversity
1. Zone of original habitat
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2. Zones of remaining habitat
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3. Critical areas