1
|
Carroll C, Rohlf DJ, Epstein Y. Mainstreaming the Ambition, Coherence, and Comprehensiveness of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Into Conservation Policy. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.906699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are finalizing a new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to more effectively guide efforts by the world’s nations to address global loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Each party is required to mainstream the new framework and its component targets into national conservation strategies. To date, such strategies have been criticized as largely aspirational and lacking clear linkages to national policy mechanisms, which has contributed to the world’s general failure to meet the Convention’s previous targets. We use the United States and European Union as examples to compare and contrast opportunities and barriers for mainstreaming the GBF more effectively into policy. The European Union and United States have unique relationships to the Convention, the former being the only supranational party and the latter, having signed but never ratified the treaty, adopting Convention targets on an ad hoc basis. The contrasting conservation policy frameworks of these two polities illustrate several conceptual issues central to biodiversity conservation and demonstrate how insights from the GBF can strengthen biodiversity policy even in atypical contexts. We focus on three characteristics of the GBF which are essential if policy is to effectively motivate and guide efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss: comprehensiveness, coherence, and ambition. Statutes in both the United States and European Union provide a strong foundation for mainstreaming the GBF’s comprehensiveness, coherence, and ambition, but policy development and implementation falls short. We identify six common themes among the reforms needed to successfully achieve targets for reversing biodiversity loss: broadening conservation focus to all levels of biodiversity, better coordinating conservation strategies that protect sites and landscapes with those focused on biodiversity elements (e.g., species), coordinating biodiversity conservation with efforts to safeguard ecosystem services including ecosystem-based climate mitigation and adaptation, more coherent scaling of targets from global to local extents, adoption of a more ambitious vision for recovery of biodiversity, and development of effective tracking and accountability mechanisms.
Collapse
|
2
|
Poley LG, Schuster R, Smith W, Ray JC. Identifying differences in roadless areas in Canada based on global, national, and regional road datasets. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.12656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lucy G. Poley
- Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Richard Schuster
- Nature Conservancy of Canada Toronto Ontario Canada
- Carleton University Department of Biology Ottawa Ontario Canada
| | - Wynet Smith
- Independent Researcher Ottawa Ontario Canada
| | - Justina C. Ray
- Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Toronto Ontario Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Lemieux CJ, Beazley KF, MacKinnon D, Wright P, Kraus D, Pither R, Crawford L, Jacob AL, Hilty J. Transformational changes for achieving the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework ecological connectivity goals. Facets (Ott) 2022. [DOI: 10.1139/facets-2022-0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The first draft of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) includes an unprecedented call for states that have ratified the treaty (Parties) to implement measures to maintain and enhance ecological connectivity as urgent actions to abate further biodiversity loss and ecosystem decline. Considering the challenges that lie ahead for Parties to the CBD, we highlight the ways in which effective and equitable connectivity conservation can be achieved through four transformative changes, including: (1) mainstreaming connectivity retention and restoration within biodiversity conservation sector and influencing sectors (e.g., transportation, energy, agriculture, forestry); (2) mainstreaming financial resources and incentives to support effective implementation; (3) fostering collaboration with a focus on cross-sector collective action; and (4) investing in diverse forms of knowledge (co-)production and management in support of adaptive governance. We detail 15 key actions that can be used to support the implementation of these transformative changes. While ambitious, the transformative changes and associated key actions recommended in this perspective will need to be put in place with unprecedented urgency, coherency, and coordination if Parties to the CBD truly aspire to achieve the goals and targets of the forthcoming Post-2020 GBF in this new decade of biodiversity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J. Lemieux
- Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA)/Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
| | - Karen F. Beazley
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - David MacKinnon
- Protected Areas and Ecosystems Branch, Nova Scotia Environment, Halifax, NS B3J 2P8, Canada
| | - Pamela Wright
- Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9, Canada
| | - Daniel Kraus
- Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Toronto, ON M5S 3A7, Canada
| | - Richard Pither
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3, Canada
| | - Lindsay Crawford
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3, Canada
| | - Aerin L. Jacob
- Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9, Canada
- Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, Canmore, AB T1W 1P6, Canada
| | - Jodi Hilty
- Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, Canmore, AB T1W 1P6, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Carroll C, Ray JC. Maximizing the effectiveness of national commitments to protected area expansion for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem carbon under climate change. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2021; 27:3395-3414. [PMID: 33852186 PMCID: PMC8360173 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Global commitments to protected area expansion should prioritize opportunities to protect climate refugia and ecosystems which store high levels of irrecoverable carbon, as key components of an effective response to biodiversity loss and climate change. The United States and Canada are responsible for one-sixth of global greenhouse gas emissions but hold extensive natural ecosystems that store globally significant above- and below-ground carbon. Canada has initiated a process of protected area network expansion in concert with efforts at reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and acknowledged nature-based solutions as a key aspect of climate change mitigation. The US, although not a party to global biodiversity conventions, has recently committed to protecting 30% of its extent by 2030 and achieving the UNFCCC Paris Agreement's mitigation targets. The opportunities afforded by these dual biodiversity conservation and climate commitments require coordinated national and regional policies to ensure that new protected areas maximize biodiversity-focused adaptation and nature-based mitigation opportunities. We address how global commitments can best inform national policy initiatives which build on existing agency mandates for regional planning and species conservation. Previous analyses of global conservation priorities under climate change have been tenuously linked to policy contexts of individual nations and have lacked information on refugia due to limitations of globally available datasets. Comparison and synthesis of predictions from a range of recently developed refugia metrics allow such data to inform planning despite substantial uncertainty arising from contrasting model assumptions and inputs. A case study for endangered species planning for old-forest-associated species in the US Pacific Northwest demonstrates how regional planning can be nested hierarchically within national biodiversity-focused adaptation and nature-based mitigation strategies which integrate refugia, connectivity, and ecosystem carbon metrics to holistically evaluate the role of different land designations and where carbon mitigation and protection of biodiversity's resilience to climate change can be aligned.
Collapse
|
5
|
Beazley KF, Olive A. Transforming conservation in Canada: shifting policies and paradigms. Facets (Ott) 2021. [DOI: 10.1139/facets-2021-0144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Karen F. Beazley
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Andrea Olive
- Departments of Political Science and Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Maanjiwe nendamowinan, 5th floor, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
| |
Collapse
|