Protected Areas now and into the future: their role in biodiversity conservation

Jessa Battersby Head of European Advice, JNCC

Joint Committee paper: Advancing conservation science thinking on protected areas for biodiversity in the UK

• Is the contribution of protected areas to halting biodiversity loss as effective as it could be?

• ii. What factors influence the effectiveness of protected areas in relation to halting biodiversity loss?

• iii. Are there other approaches to nature conservation that contribute to wider objectives of sustainable communities?

Main points

• Despite PAs initiatives biodiversity still being lost – not sufficient on their own

• Biodiversity complex to define and measure. Genetic diversity is an important aspect of conservation. PAs struggle to cover that complexity

• UK PAs not an ecologically coherent network – noted by Lawton review

• The entire biosphere is now more or less anthropogenic

• Legal framework can make it difficult to adapt site management to changing circumstances

Main points contd.

• Ecosystems are dynamic – change is inevitable – we should manage PA with this in mind.

• Conservation is about development and management of novel systems as well as “protection”

• Set in holistic Ecosystem Approach, ecosystem services now an important consideration in terms of valuing nature and what we protect

• Biodiversity loss joint social and natural sciences issue – solutions must involve people

Protected Areas now and into the future – their role in biodiversity conservation

• How can wider countryside measures/ the ecosystem approach and protected areas be better integrated?

• How could conservation outcomes improve over the short, medium and long term? What role do we want protected areas to play at different spatial scales?

• How do we engage the public on protected areas?

• Reduced, level or increasing resources – where are the priorities under each scenario?

• What evidence do we need to inform decisions on the role of protected areas?

Outputs/next steps: Strategic planning and management

• Develop a future vision for PAs and nature conservation.

• A statutory definition of the EA

• A review process to re-evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of existing network in the wider context.

• Designing a network considering spatial scales

• Landscape scale working – extending natyre conservation beyond protected areas

Resource issues

• Understand the resource base

• Evidence on performance metrics

• Investigate the effects of perverse incentives

• Prioritise a list of important issues for PAs to target resources.

• PAs should be promoted as providing societal benefit.

• Sustainability of funding is an issue – need to discuss with governments

Communication and public engagement

• Statutory bodies communication remit

• Review the success of public engagement

• Develop communication methods and tools

• Improve communication of protected area evidence and examples

• Carry out public engagement activities

• Make relevant information on PAs more publicly accessible

Research priorities

• Decision making frameworks

• Develop a hypothesis led approach to monitoring

• Collate and collect key types of evidence

• Identify cost-efficient and robust approaches to collecting evidence

• Develop effective tools for valuing ecosystem services

• Develop examples relating to protected area effectiveness

• Improve flexibility in thinking and actions