NEWS
Biodiversity standard
boosts NGOs
The standard sets out global criteria for the identification of key biodiversity areas
Heather Dugmore
Reprinted From: http://bit.ly/2RXtq0W
T
he recent adoption of the key bio-
diversity areas standard is a major
breakthrough for global conserva-
tion. It has brought together 12 of the
largest conservation nongovernmen-
tal organisations (NGOs) worldwide to
identify the most important sites for
conserving biodiversity while it is rapidly
declining. The standard sets out global
criteria for the identification of key bio-
diversity areas — places all around the
world where all living organisms in all
ecosystems are protected.
"This is the first time the conservation
community has come together to devel-
op a set of agreed-upon, standardised
criteria to identify sites of global im-
portance for biodiversity," says Daniel
Marnewick, manager of the important
bird biodiversity areas programme at
BirdLife SA.
"Establishing a single measurable for
all taxa [taxonomic groups] and eco-
systems to identify the most important
sites naturally required lengthy negotia-
tion and participation worldwide, but it
is the right way to go as it makes it so
much easier for policymakers, decision-
makers and spatial planners to identify
which are the most important sites to
conserve."
WWF, the International Union for Con-
servation of Nature (IUCN), Birdlife
International and Conservation Inter-
national were among the NGOs that
signed the key biodiversity areas agree-
ment in September 2016 at the IUCN
World Conservation Congress.
Within the next two months Marnewick,
in partnership with the SA National Bio-
diversity Institute and the newly estab-
lished key biodiversity areas national
co-ordination group, will work with a
conservation planner to start reassess-
ing and proposing SA’s comprehensive
list of areas to the agreement’s secre-
tariat in Cambridge, UK.
"We will be one of the first countries
worldwide to do a complete national
assessment of our key biodiversity ar-
eas," says Marnewick.
The WWF Nedbank Green Trust is fund-
ing his work and playing a regional sup-
port role in Africa. The reassessment is
co-funded by the SA National Biodiver-
sity Institute.
"The mountain fynbos in the Western
Cape is a good example of where we
expect to identify many key biodiversity
areas, as it has so many threatened and
endemic species," says Marnewick.
Another one is the remaining patches
of mistbelt grasslands in KwaZulu-Natal,
which have been severely fragmented.
These key grasslands form part of SA’s
strategic water source areas and are
home to several threatened species
such as the blue swallow and oribi.
SA is working with
four African coun-
tries to identify red-
listed species and
ecosystems
Figure 1: Fynbos on Table Mountain stands to benefit from the identifica-
tion of many key biodiversity areas, as it has many threatened and endem-
ic species. Picture: WIKIMEDIA COMMUNS / ABUS SHAWKA
11
The key areas will be identified and pro-
posed by local experts, and driven by
national co-ordination groups consist-
ing of scientists, conservation and spa-
tial planning experts, NGOs and gov-
ernment departments and institutes.
As advanced conservation and spatial
planning programmes do not exist in
many other African countries, key areas
Grassroots
Vol 18
No 4
December 2018