IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species www.iucnredlist.org documents that the loss of natural habitats is a predominant threat to biodiversity. For example, around 90% of threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians are imperiled by the destruction of the places where they live. It therefore stands to reason that the first line of defense in conserving biodiversity must be to safeguard these places. Indeed, this approach of conserving biodiversity through protecting areas has been the foundation of conservation for many centuries. The World Database on Protected Areas www.wdpa.org documents approximately 148,000 protected areas worldwide, and the number continues to grow.

The establishment and management of protected areas to conserve biodiversity is complicated by the fact that biodiversity itself varies enormously. Biodiversity varies widely over time – the fact that biodiversity is declining so fast in many places provides the rationale for conservation itself. If protected areas are to be effective as a conservation tool, they must staunch this decline. Biodiversity also varies widely over space, with tropical mountains and islands reaching great peaks of “irreplaceability” (holding concentrations of biodiversity found nowhere else in the world). Again, if protected areas are to be effective, they must reflect this variation – they need to be located in the right places.

The objectives of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas – SSC/WCPA Joint Task Force are therefore twofold:

1.  Biodiversity outcomes.

The movement to establish protected areas has been around for over 100 years, leaving a legacy of areas of various types, sizes, configurations, management regimes and goals. Most of the historical set of protected areas was never designed to maximize their contribution to the contribution of biodiversity. We need to examine the range of variables that constitute a protected area and compare them against measures of how effective protected areas have been in conserving biodiversity. This will allow a determination of which variables are the best predictors of the of a protected areas effectiveness in conserving biodiversity. Is the best predictor variable protected area size, investment in management, skilled staff, regional context or something else?

The first objective of the taskforce is therefore to conduct a meta-study on the effectiveness of different IUCN categories and governance types in delivering biodiversity outcomes, drawing on available long-term data from protected areas around the world (and comparable data from outside protected areas where available). The project will draw on a number of individual studies and also develop, build up and analyze a larger database of information. Its objective for the life of the taskforce (i.e., by 2012) is a publication evaluating the biodiversity impacts delivered by protected areas.

2. Consolidating the global standards for the identification of sites of biodiversity conservation significance (“key biodiversity areas”).

A huge body of work and experience exists in the identification of important sites for biodiversity conservation – many of which are protected areas already, the remainder of which are targets for protecting through appropriate mechanisms. This process will undertake a broad community consultation to converge on common global standards and criteria, under the IUCN umbrella. The second objective of the taskforce is therefore to develop a comprehensive set of guidelines for measuring the biodiversity conservation significance of sites. This work is supported by an IUCN staff member, Annabelle Cuttelod annabelle.cuttelod@iucn.org (currently on maternity leave). For any queries please contact Diego Juffe diego.juffe@iucn.org.

To download the full terms of reference of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas – SSC/WCPA Joint Task Force, click here.

Membership of the task force is open to any interested commission members of the Species Survival Commission or the World Commission on Protected Areas, and managed through a GoogleGroups website.

The task force is co-chaired by a representative each from the Species Survival Commission and the World Commission on Protected Areas, and governed by a committee.

Committee members are as follows:
Thomas Brooks (NatureServe) – co-chair Bio
Stephen Woodley (Parks Canada) – co-chair Bio
Luigi Boitani (University of Rome)
Nigel Dudley (Equilibrium)
Gustavo Fonseca (Global Environment Facility)
Jaime Garcia-Moreno (Wetlands International)
Marc Hockings (University of Queensland)
Jon Hutton (UNEP-WCMC)
Topiltzin Contreras Macbeath (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos) 
Kathy MacKinnon
Paul Matiku (NatureKenya) 
Justina Ray (Wildlife Conservation Society)
Yvonne Sadovy (University of Hong Kong)
Yoshihisa Shirayama (Kyoto University)
Jane Smart (IUCN)
Ali Stattersfield (BirdLife International)
Sue Stolton (Equilibrium)

Thomas Brooks
Chief Scientist,
NatureServe
1101 Wilson Blvd.15th Floor
Arlington VA 22209
USA
Tel: +1-703-908-1889
tbrooks@natureserve.org

Thomas Brooks is an ornithologist and conservation scientist, with extensive field experience in Asia, South America and Africa. He is the Chief Scientist at NatureServe, and holds visiting positions at ICRAF-the World Agroforestry Center in the University of the Philippines Los Baños and in the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences of the University of Tasmania. His interests lie in threatened species conservation (especially of birds) and in biodiversity hotspots (especially in tropical forests).

Chief Scientist 
Ecological Integrity Branch
Parks Canada 
25 rue Eddy Street
Gatineau, Québec K1A 0M5
Canada
Tel: +1-819-994-2446
stephen.woodley@pc.gc.ca

Stephen Woodley is an ecologist, who has worked in the field of environmental management for 25 years. He is Chief Ecosystem Scientist for Parks Canada where he works on a number of issues related to protected areas, including developing techniques for monitoring and assessment of ecological integrity, and ecological restoration.