IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

The workshop was supported by the government of Korea and the IUCN Protected Areas Programme, along with governments of Finland, the Netherlands and Canada, UNEP – Spain Lifeweb Project, and Conservation International. It attracted 83 people, from 43 countries and 6 continents. Over 20 different international organisations were represented along with three IUCN commissions – the World Commission on Protected Areas, Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy and the Species Survival Commission – plus representatives from the World Bank, UNDP, governments and protected area agencies. The Ramsar Convention was represented, as was the CBD and in the latter case there were also 11 national focal points for the Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA). The meeting responded to a CBD COP-9 Decision inviting IUCN to contribute to the review process of PoWPA leading up to COP 10. It is being followed by five regional workshops organised by the CBD in preparation for SBSSTA, taking place in South Korea (immediately after the international meeting) and during October 2010 also in Côte d’Ivoire, India, Germany and Colombia.

In Korea, the workshop discussion centred on an issues paper that had previously been widely circulated in English, French and Spanish and commented on, plus feedback from over 60 national reports from Parties to the CBD, regional workshops and a UNDP/GEF PoWPA project.

Eight critical recommendations to COP10 are outlined below:

• Marine: COP 10 urges far greater efforts to set up marine protected areas, especially in high seas. PoWPA should address MPAs within national jurisdiction and the CBD Marine and Coastal POW address goals and targets concerning Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
• Climate: COP 10 strongly endorses inclusion of protected area systems and surrounding landscapes / seascapes in international agreements regarding climate change response strategies, including for both mitigation and adaptation purposes
• Governance: COP10 recommends establishment of a time-bound working group and action plan for joint activities between PoWPA, the PoW on Forests and on Articles 8j and 10c of the Convention regarding Access and Benefit Sharing
• Costs and benefits: COP 10 recommends completion of an agreed framework for cost-benefit analysis, in order for Parties to undertake assessments of the values, costs and benefits of protected area systems and individual sites
• Reporting: COP10 invites adoption of a reporting process that: allows periodic reporting; uses a standard, user-friendly, web-based framework; and includes key assessments and actions on targets
• Master plan: COP10 invites Parties to develop, through inter-agency coordination, an overall, long-term strategic plan for protected area systems, taking into account key PoWPA assessments
• Timetable: COP10 adopts a schedule of indicators and revised timelines for PoWPA, based on agreed Post 2010 targets and the revised CBD Strategic Plan and disaggregated for each Party. Reporting by Parties should be based on these national targets/indicators
• Finance: COP 10 encourages Parties to determine funding needs based on assessments of national priorities, and to express these as proposals via the LifeWeb and other multilateral and bilateral funding mechanisms

Other key recommendations are outlined below:

For the CBD Secretariat

• Increasing coordination with other CBD programmes
• Running a global pilot study on the implementation of PoWPA governance aspects
• Developing a resource kit for implementation of Element 2 on “Governance, Participation, Equity and Benefit Sharing”
• Promoting greater involvement of and training for indigenous/local communities
• Highlighting marine protected areas across PoWPA implementation
• Working more with training institutions
• Increasing awareness of PA benefits to health, water, etc sectors
• Producing guidance on cost and benefit assessments
• Expanding the “PoWPA Friends” network

For IUCN-WCPA

• Publishing guidance on:
  • ecological restoration
  • conservation connectivity
  • PoWPA implementation (a master plan with the CBD Secretariat)
  • managing for climate change impacts, adaptation & mitigation
• WCPA marine: focus on big wins, producing guidance on no-take zones
• Further developing social and governance indicators in ME assessments
• Focusing on regional initiatives: re fundraising, PoWPA best practices/implementation, cooperation

For donors

• Encouraging investment in LifeWeb – prioritising climate change adaptation and mitigation
• Dedicating funds and incentives for marine protected area establishment

For Parties

• Developing long-term strategic master plan for the PA System
• Mainstreaming, funding and supporting PoWPA implementation

This listing is not a preferential selection and all recommendations should be referred to in the paper. This summary focuses on those that require concrete actions by Parties and others and those that are likely to require discussion in Japan (i.e. issues that are already happening, or are non-controversial, or statements of a more general nature have not been listed here).

The five regional workshops will examine these proposals, doubtless further refine them and produce others. IUCN-WCPA and the CBD Secretariat will undertake a final consultation and draw together a consolidated list of recommendations to take forward to the COP10 meeting in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010.