biodiversity status – Protected Area Solutions

Management effectiveness in PNG’s protected areas

March 14, 2018

conservation issues, culture, endangered species, management effectiveness, people

IN 2016-2017 our small team (Fiona, Ann and Greg) in conjunction with staff from PNG’s Conservation and Environment Protection Agency conducted an evaluation of all the protected areas in the country. We worked for SPREP (Secretariat of the Pactific Regional Environment Council) and UNDP, with funding from the Global Environment Fund. Whew enough acronyms! Thanks also to all the wonderful people who gave freely of their time to come to workshops. The final report can be downloaded here.PNGPA-final-130318-lo

Green turtles in north Queensland are mainly all female and scientists are concerned for the species’ future

January 9, 2018

prote649

Climate change, conservation issues, endangered species

ABC News Report http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-09/pacific-green-turtles-future-under-threat,-scientists-warn/9311280 Almost the entire green turtle population in parts of the northern Great Barrier Reef is now female, and scientists are concerned about their future. Key points: Warmer temperatures generally produce more female hatchlings In northern areas 99pc of the juvenile and subadult populations were female Scientists found for the past 20 years in some areas there had been no male hatchlings A study published today in the journal Current Biology — led by the National Oceanic…

Side Events at the 28th SPREP Meeting – Effectiveness of Papua New Guinea’s Protected Areas

October 1, 2017

prote649

conservation issues, management effectiveness, people

Better understanding of protected areas management and priorities were some of the key outcomes from Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Protected Areas project highlighted during a side event at the 28th Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) meeting, in Apia, Samoa. PNG currently has 58 gazetted protected areas, both marine and terrestrial. Under PNGs new Protected Areas Policy it will regularly evaluate management effectiveness of these areas. The evaluation of the effectiveness of management within these protected areas was…

Natural Capital Accounting: Going beyond the numbers

November 15, 2015

prote649

Uncategorized

Here are some facts that you might not know: Over the last 60 years, Guatemala has lost almost half of its forests, much of it due to illegal logging. Built-up area around Lake Laguna in the Philippines has more than doubled between 2003 and 2010. The mining sector accounts for 10-15 percent of total water use in Botswana. Do these numbers just seem like bits of trivia? In fact, these are all important results that came out of natural…

Free e-book on Protected Area Governance and Management

May 19, 2015

prote649

Climate chnge, conservation issues, culture, endangered species, health, interpretation, management effectiveness, people, recreation, reserve types, World Heritage Sites

Fiona, MArc and some 200 other authors have combined to contribute to an ebook on protected area management. It is free to download – see the ANU website to download Protected Area Governance and Management presents a compendium of original text, case studies and examples from across the world, by drawing on the literature, and on the knowledge and experience of those involved in protected areas. The book synthesises current knowledge and cutting-edge thinking from the diverse branches of practice and…

Stampeding Black Elephants – NYTimes.com

November 26, 2014

prote649

Climate chnge, conservation issues, endangered species

It was great to hear Thomas Friedman talking at the World Parks Congress last week. If only we had some more press recognising the importance of keeping – and expanding – our protected areas! Read his article

Can we save the planet? Article in Science this week

October 5, 2014

prote649

conservation issues, endangered species, management effectiveness, Uncategorized

A mid-term analysis of progress toward international biodiversity targets. Tittensor, D.P., Walpole, M., Hill, S.L.L., Boyce, D.G., Britten, G.L et al (51 authors with Fiona Leverington a very minor contributor!) In 2010 the international community, under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, agreed on 20 biodiversity-related “Aichi Targets” to be achieved within a decade. We provide a comprehensive mid-term assessment of progress toward these global targets using 55 indicator data sets. We projected indicator trends to 2020 using…

Protected areas proven to protect biodiversity

September 8, 2014

prote649

conservation issues, management effectiveness

PLOS ONE: Local Scale Comparisons of Biodiversity as a Test for Global Protected Area Ecological Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Coetzee, BW, Gaston, KJ, Chown, SL. Published: August 27, 2014. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105824 Terrestrial protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation. Their efficacy in terms of maintaining biodiversity is, however, much debated. Studies to date have been unable to provide a general answer as to PA conservation efficacy because of their typically restricted geographic and/or taxonomic focus, or qualitative approaches…