Protected Landscapes Task Force

9 April, 2007

Dear members,

With this communiqué we are giving below reports from the TILCEPA Core Group members, of activities in their regions/themes of relevance to us. The reports would largely cover the period from August’06 till February’07.

In the last few months a number of TILCEPA activities have taken place, and members have tried to report on them from time to time. In particular, I would mention the following (which is not to exclude others, but these ones come to mind as I write this):

1. Initiation of the project on Community Conserved Areas, and commissioning of 5 regional assessments under this (contact: Grazia, and Barbara Lassen, ).

2. Inputs to a workshop on Social Assessment of PAs (UNEP/WCMC, Cambridge), and initiation of a process to develop a toolkit for this, with a possible writing workshop in September or October (contact: Allessandra Giuliani, .

3. Progress with the preparations of the Dance for the Earth event (see below; contact: Rob Wild, ; Rob is now also heading the WCPA Task Force on Cultural and Spiritual Values of PAs, so an even stronger link between TILCEPA and this TF can be expected).

4. Publication of the special issue of PARKS magazine, on CCAs http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/pubs/parks.htm#parks161.

5. We also have a new core member, Nicholas Conner, who would be the link between TILCEPA and the Task Force on Economic Valuation of Protected Areas (see his report below).

Grazia has been in the field in various countries helping with promoting collaborative management and CCAs, she will report soon on her hectic travels!

Talking about meetings, I was subjected to a weird case of censorship in relation to a CBD meeting. The CBD Secretariat organized a South and West Asian regional consultation on the implementation of the Protected Areas Programme of Work, in Dehradun, India, on 2-4 April. I was scheduled to speak on Governance issues (Nik, the WCPA Chair, had nominated me), but was told last minute that I could not be invited (and that Governance had been dropped from the consultation altogether)! Turns out the Secretariat was keen, but was censored by the Indian Government, which has been unhappy with some of us for a series of exposes on its rather abysmal recent track record in conservation. Nik sent off a note of concern, and the CBD Alliance (a global network of civil society organizations) has protested. More serious than my exclusion is the fact that community/equity/livelihood/governance issues (Element 2 of the Programme of Work) are completely missing from these regional consultations that are being organized by the Secretariat. NGO/indigenous participants at the Dehradun consultation, including Uday Sharma on behalf of WCPA, raised this concern. We are expecting IUCN as a whole to also take a strong view on this matter.

TILCEPA also missed out on a significant opportunity, to provide the CBD Secretariat with independent assessments of the progress (or lack of it) with national implementation of the PA Programme of Work. Only one country assessment (India) was sent in time for the deadline (March 31st). I’d informed TILCEPA members of this twice. I am sure many more TILCEPA members are informed and aware of the status in their countries, it would have been good to send in more assessments. Anyway, I hope we can avail of such opportunities in future.

A number of workshops and meetings are coming up, in various parts of the world, in which TILCEPA members are participating. All members are requested to pl. send in brief reports of these meetings, as also of other TILCEPA-related activities they are engaged in.

Thanks to Tasneem for putting this report together, and warm regards to you all,

Ashish

Congratulations to Vivienne Solis and CoopeTarcoles!

UNDP’s Equator Initiative recently selected 25 community initiatives as finalists of the Equator Prize 2006 in recognition of their outstanding efforts to effectively reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within the equatorial belt. We are pleased to hear that one of the finalists is CoopeTárcoles, R.L - Cooperativa de Pescadores Artesanales de Tarcoles, from Costa Rica. R.L is part of a wonderful initiative to recognize local efforts towards conservation and development. . Vivienne Solis, a core member of TILCEPA, has been an active player in this.

Reports on activities by Core Group members of TILCEPA

Reports by:

1. Dermot Smyth

2. Francine Madden

3. Jason Morris

4. Jessica Brown

5. Krishna Prasad Oli

6. Lea M. Scherl and Phil Franks

7. Marcus Colchester and Maurizio Ferrari

8. Phillipa Holden

9. Robert Wild

10. Vivienne Solis

11. Marco Bassi

12. Sandy Gauntlett

13. Hanna Jaireth

14. Tasneem Balasinorwala

15. Chief Edwin Ogar

16. Nicholas Conner

Dermot Smyth

Australian Region

The most significant development in the last four months has been the release of an independent review of Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in Australia. IPAs are a form of Community Conserved Area declared and managed by Indigenous landowners with the support of the Australian Federal Government (and sometimes with support from state and territory governments). The Federal Government commissioned the review last year to determine the effectiveness of IPAs and to help determine the continued level of government support for IPAs.

The review[1][1], undertaken by a former head of the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service (Brian Gilligan) found that:

The success of the Programme is widely acknowledged, particularly in bringing bioregionally significant lands into the National Reserve System as a voluntary contribution from Indigenous landowners without the land having to be purchased.

The review also found the IPA Programme is highly cost-effective and that the declaration and management of IPAs is typically accompanied by improved social, educational and economic outcomes for Indigenous communities, in addition to the environmental protection and biodiversity conservation outcomes. The review recommended that the Australian Government should significantly increase financial and other support to the IPA Programme. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage (Greg Hunt) responded in January 2006 by announcing a doubling of annual IPA Programme funding from $3 million to $6 million[2][2].

Dermot is currently completing a report, witha colleague (Toni Bauman), on three case studies of Indigenous management of protected areas in Australia. The case studies are Nitmiluk National Park (a co-managed park in northern Australia involving a partnership betweenlocal Indigenous people and the Northern Territory Government), Booderee National Park (a co-managed park in southern Australia involving a partnership between local Indigenous people and the Australian Federal Government) and Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area (an Indigenous owned and managed protected area in Northern Australia involving many partnerships between local Indigenous people, Territory and Federal Governments, conservation NGOs and industry).

Francine Madden

Human-Wildlife Conflict Initiative of TILCEPA

HWCC is currently in its Launch Phase where they are raising awareness, building the partnership, securing funds and developing projects.

§ Received and accepted invitation to contribute to the FAO Regional Publication for Africa. Submitted article for publication in Nature and Faune.

§ Developed governance and membership guidelines for collaboration

§ Drafted short article for The Wildlifer reporting on HWCC meeting.

§ Media: Spoke with Halcyon Media (Bristol, UK) about a 13 part series on HWC for Animal Planet Europe. Connected Halcyon with HWCC network for case studies.

§ Developed conceptual plan and methodology for creating a web-based, collaboratively authored resource center

§ Secured funding for travel to/presentation at 12th annual Wildlife Damage Management Conference in Texas in April 2007.

§ Secured 2/3 launch phase budget; began longer term fundraising

§ Building partnership and member organizations’ substantive and financial involvement

§ Developing conceptual and action plans to meet three goals of HWCC, including training/professional development

Jason Morris

Indonesia

Over the past six months, Jason has been involved somewhat in two initiatives to improve community management and ownership over conservation areas.

The first is around Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimanta, where he assisted the local NGO Yayasan Palung to win funds from the Feyerabend Foundation for a project to support community solidarity and legal gazettement of village forests in the face of looming oil palm plantations.Yayasan Palung will support two communities--one is Melayu and the other is indigenous Dayak--to gain information and facilitate community discussions on the pros and cons of oil palm. The funds will also be used to help build community support and gain legal recognition of village forests, as part of a broader strategy for sustainable natural resource management and, in the case of the Dayak village, protect traditional forests.

The second initiative concerns Mt. Merapi National Park in Yogyakarta. He has sent the report on a trip he made to Yogyakarta in May 2005 to discuss with local Civil Society Organizations about how they wanted tofollow-up on the response letter from the Government and how TILCEPA could support further support them in their efforts. This report has been circulated to the general TILCEPA membership with specific recommendations on how TILCEPA members could support the communities in Merapi, but the report elicited no responses from members. In the meantime, WALHI has helped to facilitate a mapping exercise with local communities living on the slopes of Mt. Merapi. A final report on that process is still awaited.

Jessica Brown

Link between Protected Landscapes Task Force and TILCEPA; Northern America

Review of main results and achievements of the Protected Landscapes Task Force

1. Contributing to the review of IUCN Protected Area Management Categories

· A discussion paper on Category V protected areas exploringthe role, definition, application and importance of this category, was prepared. This paper is one in a series of papers on each of the management categories that has been commissioned by the Management Categories Task Force as part of the review process.

· In September 2006, in cooperation with the Management Categories Task Force, a workshop on Category V protected areas in preparation for the upcoming Categories “Summit” in 2007 was convened. Hosted by the General del Medi Natural of Catalonia, the workshop brought together selected members from both Task Forces, as well as specialists from Catalonia. Participants discussed key issues related to Category V, provided input into the discussion paper, and developed plans for a research project that will document examples globally of the contributions of Category V protected areas to bio-diversity conservation and other natural values.

· Task Force members are now preparing a paper providing a response to some of the criticisms of Category V Protected Areas in advance of the Categories Summit.

2. Research on Impact and Effectiveness of Category V Protected Areas

· They have just launched a global research project to document examples globally of the impact and effectiveness of Category V protected areas in conservation of diverse values.

· As a first step in this initiative Task Force members are preparing a publication on the role of Category V protected areas in conserving and sustaining agro-biodiversity. A small editorial team is now reviewing submissions of 10 -12 case-studies and, with support from GTZ, will produce a draft publication on this topic in advance of the Categories Summit.

· Funding is now being sought to support a series of research projects and related publications on topics including the value of Category V protected areas in conservation of wild biodiversity; the value of Category V protected areas in contributing to local communities and regional development; and the value of Category V protected areas in conservation of cultural and spiritual values of landscapes.

3. Support of IUCN’s role related to World Heritage Cultural Landscapes

· Several Task Force members have assisted with reviews of selected World Heritage Cultural Landscape nominations in 2006.

4. Regional and global workshops

· Several members of the Protected Landscapes Task Force participated in the QLF Alumni Congress (Hungary, March 2006), a global event that brought together 160 alumni, partners and donors of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment (QLF). Task Force members contributed case-studies illustrating the Protected Landscape Approach to a day-long workshop on “New Directions in Protected Areas: Protected Landscapes and Partnership Parks,” which was one of six workshop streams at the Congress.

· Presentations on “The Protected Landscape Approach” have been made to regional workshops, most recently a workshop for protected areas managers and municipal officials in the Stara Planina Nature Park, a Category V protected area (Serbia, December 2006).

5. Dissemination of information

· They have provided Task Force publications for recent regional and global meetings. For example, copies of The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community were provided to all participants in a recent workshop on World Heritage and Cultural Landscapes in Malawi for protected areas managers from East Africa (IUCN and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre); and a workshop on Mountain Conservation Connectivity Management in Ecuador (IUCN WCPA Mountains Biome.

Fundraising

· In December they secured a grant of £10,000 from the Countryside Council for Wales; a request is pending with Natural England (formerly the UK Countryside Agency) which has provided past support for the Task Force’s work. They are approaching a few foundation sources for support of specific projects as well

· The German aid agency, GTZ, has committed a grant of €17,000 in support of the publication on Category V protected areas and agro-biodiversity.

Upcoming Projects and Activities

· As noted above, the Task Force will be engaged in research and producing a series of publications on the role of Category V protected areas in conserving biological diversity, cultural diversity and contributing to landscape-scale conservation.

· In cooperation with UK partners, they hope to convene a working session of the Task Force in autumn 2007, bringing together 20 PLTF members and other practitioners from diverse regions. The meeting will be followed by a field visit to a cultural landscape, and possibly a seminar with UK protected area managers, modeled on a similar session in 2001. Emphasis will be on exchange of experience. At this meeting the Task Force will develop and approve a work-plan in response to the conclusions of the IUCN Categories Summit. The meeting will also provide an opportunity to review the current status of regional research projects on the impact and effectiveness of Category V Protected Areas