Recommendation 29
Poverty and Protected Areas

Protected areas play a vital role in sustainable development through protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of natural and associated cultural resources. Protected areas cannot be viewed as islands of conservation, divorced from the social and economic context within which they are located. Poverty, displacement, hunger and land degradation have a profound impact on bio-diversity and protected areas, and pose a very serious threat to their survival. Poverty is multi-dimensional (lack of assets / opportunities, vulnerability, and lack of power or voice), and protected areas have a powerful potential to make a significant contribution to poverty reduction and to the broader development framework established by the Millennium Development Goals and the WSSD Plan of Implementation.

Protected areas generate significant economic, environmental and social benefits. These benefits are realised at local, national and global levels. Unfortunately, a disproportionate amount of the costs of protected areas are borne locally. As with other forms of large-scale land use, many local communities have been marginalised and excluded from protected areas. Given that their natural and cultural wealth often constitutes an important asset for local communities, denying rights to these resources can exacerbate poverty. Protected Area establishment and management cannot be allowed to exacerbate poverty.

However, given the fact that many local communities living in and around protected areas have limited development opportunities, protected areas offer a currently untapped opportunity to contribute to poverty reduction while continuing to maintain their vital function in conserving biodiversity. Recognising the importance of people in conservation, we need to support poor communities to act as the new front-line of conservation. This implies new ways of working with local communities to act as custodians of biodiversity through working with Protected Area authorities, and to build their ability to manage their own areas.

Increasing the benefits of protected areas and reducing their costs to local people can help mobilise public support and reduce conflicts and the enforcement costs of Protected Area management, particularly in areas of widespread poverty. The long-term sustainability of Protected Area networks (including their growth through new forms of protected areas) and the achievement of poverty reduction are inextricably linked. The practical implications of realising this linkage will require new investment to enhance benefits and reduce costs. There is a need for strengthening existing and developing new financial mechanisms that can provide fair reward for stewardship of nationally and globally important biological resources. The convergence of the poverty reduction and Protected Area agendas represents a real opportunity to generate new and additional resources for conservation.

Therefore, PARTICIPANTS in the Stream on Building Broader Support for Protected Areas at the Vth World Parks Congress, in Durban, South Africa (8-17 September 2003):

1. CALL ON governments, inter-governmental organizations, private sector and civil society to adopt the following overarching principles on the linkage between protected areas and poverty:

a. In order to achieve their potential both to conserve biodiversity and to assist in reducing poverty, protected areas should be integrated within a broad sustainable development planning agenda;

b. Protected areas should strive to contribute to poverty reduction at the local level, and at the very minimum must not contribute to or exacerbate poverty;

c. Biodiversity should be conserved both for its value as a local livelihoods resource and as a national and global public good;

d. Equitable sharing of costs and benefits of protected areas should be ensured at local, national and global levels;

e. Where negative social, cultural and economic impacts occur, affected communities should be fairly and fully compensated; and

f. A gender perspective should be incorporated that encompasses the different roles of women and men in livelihood dynamics, thus contributing to equitable benefit sharing and more effective governance systems;

2. RECOMMEND that local actors, communities, governments, Protected Area authorities, inter-governmental organizations, private sector and conservation agencies develop policy, practices and forms of inclusive government for Protected Area management that enhance opportunities, reduce vulnerability, and empower the poor and vulnerable, especially in areas of severe poverty, based on:

a. Building partnerships with poor communities as actors and shareholders in Protected Area development;

b. Strengthening mechanisms for the poor to share actively in decision making related to protected areas and to be empowered as conservators in their own right;

c. Developing pro-poor mechanisms to reward environmental stewardship, including payments for environmental services, minimise and mitigate damages to both biodiversity and to livelihoods, and provide fair compensation for losses incurred from human-wildlife conflicts and from restricted access and decreased environmental services;

d. Respecting and recognising customary ownership, use and access rights for local people, particularly for the poor, during the negotiation and decision making processes, and preventing further loss of customary rights;

e. Improving accountability and transparency of decision making processes related to protected areas;

f. Developing more inclusive interpretations of Protected Area categories that reflect the interests and initiatives of the poor, including the role of community conserved areas;

g. Fostering programmes of restoration to deal with modified and degraded areas that yield biodiversity benefits as well as providing goods and services to improve livelihoods within protected areas and in the landscape surrounding them; and

h. Encouraging governments to reflect the above principles regarding local rights and opportunities related to protected areas in their legal and regulatory frameworks;

3. RECOMMEND that Governments, donors and other development partners consider how to maximise the contribution of protected areas to sustainable development, and in particular poverty reduction efforts, by:

a. Mainstreaming protected areas into national and international development planning and policy, particularly poverty reduction strategies and the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals;

b. Develop innovative financial and governance systems to optimise synergies between Protected Area management and poverty reduction efforts;

c. Increasing financial resources available for rewarding poor communities and poor countries for their stewardship of global public goods; and

d. Improving knowledge and understanding of linkages between protected areas and poverty reduction, and specifically the impact of protected areas on the livelihoods of the rural poor, negative and positive; and

4. RECOMMEND that the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity:

a. Develop guidelines on the management of protected areas based on the principles mentioned in paragraph 1 and 2, and ensure that National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans are aligned with poverty reduction strategies; and

b. Extend the principle of equitable benefit sharing to include all components of biological diversity.

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