No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Sacred natural sites as other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMS) for biodiversity conservation in South Africa: Key opportunities and challenges for policy and practice
... Such customary institutions facilitate harmonious human-nature interactions, support ecological resilience and promote biodiversity conservation (Berkes et al., 2000). They contribute to sustainable natural resource management and help prevent rangeland degradation (Sinthumule, 2025). As a result, such systems lead to increased plant species diversity, reduced grazing pressure ( For example, this year, Krishna Budha (name changed), a herder from Mahari village of Patarasi, and his group of six herds used the Hale-Chokse route, while another group from the same village followed the Nadai-Lere Dhara route. ...
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of pastoralist communities plays a vital role in the sustainable management of rangelands. This study documents the knowledge systems, practices, and governance mechanisms of high-altitude pastoral communities in Nepal and examines how these attributes contribute to rangeland management, biodiversity conservation, livelihood sustainability, and climate change adaptation. Data were gathered through focus group discussions (n = 12), key informant interviews (n = 103), participatory mapping (n = 12), and direct observations in two rural municipalities of Jumla, District, Nepal. Descriptive analysis was conducted for quantitative data, while thematic analysis was performed for qualitative data. Pastoral communities possess extensive knowledge of medicinal plant species and use them to treat livestock diseases. Herders practice a traditional transhumance system, guided by a customary grazing calendar that includes established 57 routes and 111 stopping locations for certain periods used for generations. They also adopt rotational grazing by dividing pastures into smaller paddocks and systematically moving livestock from one paddock to another, while also diversifying their herd composition. Customary rules, the designation of sacred places, and adherence to certain rituals help conserve ecosystems and foster their connection with nature. Despite the importance of traditional ecological knowledge, the pastoral knowledge system is being weakened by climate change, modernization, and changing perceptions among younger generations, leading to reduced rangeland productivity and decreased reliability of traditional practices. Documenting and preserving TEK not only supports pastoral communities in adapting to environmental and socio-economic changes but also provides valuable insights for policymakers and researchers.
Many protected areas worldwide overlap with ‘territories and areas conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities’ or ‘ICCAs’ (Indigenous peoples’ and community conserved areas’). These overlapped ICCAs include conserved commons, sacred places and Indigenous and community protected areas. Appropriately recognising and respecting overlapped ICCAs in protected area governance, management and practice can strengthen conservation, affirm rights and promote equitable protected area governance. This volume identifies six approaches or pathways and provides guidance on implementing 20 good practices for appropriately recognizing, respecting and supporting overlapped ICCAs in existing, new and expanded protected areas of all governance types and management categories.
Free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) is now a globally established norm and is a condition of equitable engagement with Indigenous peoples and local communities in biodiversity conservation. However, implementation is frequently questioned in terms of its efficacy in top‐down‐driven governance contexts. Local officials represent core voices often absent from mainstream discourse. Conservation practices are framed by local discourses, value frameworks, and relationships that offer critical opportunities to tailor localized consent processes. Relative to an FPIC process for a prospective World Heritage Site in Hin Nam No National Park, Laos, we examined the importance of mediation by local officials in a comanagement context. The mediation led to commitments to address long‐standing community grievances and reconcile conservation and development relationships in the area. Building the capacity of local officials as critical duty‐bearers helped shape rights‐based conservation and development outcomes. Enhancing nonconfrontational mechanisms for rights holders to air concerns and dialogue spaces for duty‐bearers to respond plays a key role in this respect.
Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are sites outside of protected areas that deliver the effective, long-term conservation of biodiversity. Both protected areas and OECMs contribute to the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 3, which calls for the conservation of 30% of marine, terrestrial and inland water areas by 2030. This paper provides the first global assessment of the contribution of OECMs to GBF Target 3. Between 2019 and 2023, 820 sites in nine countries and territories were reported to the World Database on OECMs, covering 1.9 million km2 of the Earth’s surface and, in the terrestrial realm, contributing over 1% to the 30% coverage target. Notably, over 50% of reported OECMs are under governance by governments and less than 2% are governed by Indigenous peoples and local communities. In countries and territories that have reported OECMs, a far greater proportion of OECMs than protected areas are under shared governance (40.9% compared to 2.5%), and collaborative governance is the most common governance sub-type among reported OECMs. This paper finds that almost 30% of the 820 reported OECMs overlap with identified Key Biodiversity Areas, which are one global classification of areas of particular importance for biodiversity. With Target 3’s pressing deadline of 2030, there is an urgent need to scale up understanding and local to national engagement with the OECM framework, ensuring that it fulfills its potential to recognize diverse forms of equitable governance and effective conservation.
The concept of 'long-term' is a key part of the definitions of both protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). Draft principles for OECMs in Australia developed by the Australian Government propose a minimum period for OECMs of 25 years, where a landholder is not able to commit to in-perpetuity conservation. The proposal suggests this is consistent with IUCN Guidelines for Privately Protected Areas. As authors of the Guidelines for Privately Protected Areas we contend however that Australia's proposed OECM guideline suggesting 25 years of "intention" to deliver biodiversity outcomes is 'long-term' is not supported by IUCN guidelines. Furthermore for protected areas, Australia has a long-established definition of 'long-term' - specifically a minimum timeframe of 99 years is required if permanent protection is not possible - embedded in both national policy and legal agreements. As national governments rapidly seek to define OECMs in response to the raised ambitions of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, there will be increasing interest in what counts towards Target 3. Ultimately, more land managed for conservation is good and all forms of area-based conservation should be encouraged. However, not all forms of area-based conservation qualify for inclusion in Target 3. Long-term intent and outcomes are fundamental, as outlined in the definitions of protected areas and OECMs.
Other effective area‐based conservation measures (OECMs) create opportunities for a wide range of area‐based conservation strategies. As countries seek to integrate OECMs into conservation planning, it is useful to consider the types of areas that might meet the formal criteria. To support this goal, I analyzed the different types of measures discussed as possible OECMs in the literature, identifying a wide range of measures, far more diverse than those currently recognized as OECMs. There was a strong emphasis on measures with conservation as a secondary management objective, with most studies being supportive of the potential to balance biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use. However, many studies have highlighted the need to ensure biodiversity outcomes are achieved and sustained, and that appropriate governance and management structures are in place. Concerns were raised about measures associated with resource extraction, such as fisheries and forestry, which were often considered incompatible with conservation. Very few studies offered a nuanced discussion of specific measures or evaluated whether sites offer conservation outcomes, leaving clear knowledge gaps in translating speculation into evidence. Nevertheless, the current literature offers a strong starting point from which to target potential case studies to build the evidence base necessary to advance OECMs.
Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) have been a feature of global biodiversity targets since 2010 (Aichi Targets, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework), although the concept has only relatively recently been formally defined. Although uptake has been limited to date, there is much interest in identifying OECMs to contribute to the target of protecting at least 30% of terrestrial, freshwater and ocean areas by 2030, in conjunction with protected areas. Australia has a long history of protected area development across public, private and Indigenous lands, but consideration of OECMs in policy has recently begun in that country. We review principles proposed by the Australian Government for OECMs in Australia and highlight where these deviate from global guidance or established Australian area-based policy. We examined various land use categories and conservation mechanisms to determine the likelihood of these categories/mechanisms meeting the OECM definition, with a particular focus on longevity of the mechanism to sustain biodiversity. We identified that the number of categories/mechanisms that would meet the OECM definition is relatively small. A number of potentially perverse outcomes in classifying an area as an OECM are highlighted in order to guide proactive policy and program design to prevent such outcomes occurring.
Area-based approaches are a central component of global efforts to conserve biodiversity. While the focus of many countries has been mainly on protected areas, other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMS) have been accorded global recognition in the past decade as a vital complementary approach to protected areas. This recognition has been reemphasised in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022, with its Target 3 ratchetting up area-based coverage targets to 30 per cent by 2030. A growing focus and reliance on OECMs to contribute towards achieving this target is anticipated. The international community has in the past few years introduced some guidance to identify, secure, manage, monitor and verify the anticipated long-term biodiversity conservation outcomes of OECMs. Some commentators have argued for domestic legal intervention to complement this general international guidance. The South African Government has recognised the potential contribution of OECMs towards the achievement of domestic and global area-based biodiversity targets in its National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy (2018) but has alluded to the need for legal intervention to ensure that they achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity. Some domestic commentators have highlighted the strong link between biodiversity stewardship (particularly conservation areas) and OECMs, advocating that these conservation areas should form the priority focus of domestic efforts to identify OECMs. This article scopes this potential link and specifically considers whether the current domestic legal and policy framework applicable to these conservation areas is sufficiently robust to ensure that only appropriate areas are identified as OECMs and that once recognised, they are governed and effectively managed in the long term. It highlights several frailties of the existing framework and drawing from anticipated legal reform in the Western Cape relating to biodiversity stewardship, it proposes a possible model for future national legislation regulating OECMs.
In 2010, the introduction of other effective area‐based conservation measures (OECMs) into international policy caused a paradigm shift in area‐based conservation, which included consideration of areas outside formal protected areas and places where biodiversity conservation may not be a management objective for the site. Despite the importance of this shift for global conservation, conservation science and policy have been slow to engage with the concept of OECMs. As the world moves toward protecting 30% of the Earth by 2030, it is imperative to develop evidence‐based guidance for how to identify effective conservation measures, especially tools to help evaluate and monitor the biodiversity outcomes associated with potential OECMs. To understand the current progress in developing the concept of OECMs, I evaluated the peer‐reviewed literature to consolidate and synthesize current knowledge. I conducted a thematic analysis of papers to identify the types of challenges and opportunities being discussed and lessons from studies evaluating the effectiveness of OECMs. Only 105 studies mentioned OECMs, and those that did rarely move beyond superficial mention of OECMs as part of area‐based conservation. Around one‐half of studies listed potential risks or benefits of OECMs but none provided evidence these issues have materialized. Twenty‐three studies attempted to identify potential OECMs, although specific case studies were rare. The 7 studies that evaluated existing OECMs were highly critical of how they had been implemented to date. Studies that evaluated conservation outcomes were extremely rare, and suggested effectiveness must be judged on a case‐by‐case basis. The current literature not only leaves many gaps in the science required to operationalize the concept of OECMs, but also often raises additional questions that need to be addressed. If these gaps are not filled by robust science, the promised benefits for biodiversity from OECMs may never be realized.
Scholarly discourse on sacred natural sites (SNS) has focused on ecological significance, associated impacts and traditional practices as the instruments of resource governance and management. As a result, little scholarship has examined the role of spirits in governing and managing SNS; these are inhabited by deities or numina, commonly known as nature spirits. This study aims to provide evidence of the importance of governance by spirits as a prerequisite for protecting biophysical resources. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observation. The respondents were selected through a purposive sampling approach. The author also attended a funeral that was held at one of the SNS discussed in this article. The collected data were analysed through a thematic content analysis. The study shows that, for biodiversity to be protected, there should be a good relationship between humankind and the spirits. The spirits place behavioural demands on humankind involving the performance of rituals. Ritual behaviour empowers the spirits to be placed as owner of SNS and to guard against intruders. In return, humankind receives blessings, protection, patronage and governance. The governance by spirits is complemented by traditional practices. I conclude that governance by spirits should be recognised both locally and internationally.
Debate about what proportion of the Earth to protect often overshadows the question of how nature should be conserved and by whom. We present a systematic review and narrative synthesis of 169 publications investigating how different forms of governance influence conservation outcomes, paying particular attention to the role played by Indigenous peoples and local communities. We find a stark contrast between the outcomes produced by externally controlled conservation, and those produced by locally controlled efforts. Crucially, most studies presenting positive outcomes for both well-being and conservation come from cases where Indigenous peoples and local communities play a central role, such as when they have substantial influence over decision making or when local institutions regulating tenure form a recognized part of governance. In contrast, when interventions are controlled by external organizations and involve strategies to change local practices and supersede customary institutions, they tend to result in relatively ineffective conservation at the same time as producing negative social outcomes. Our findings suggest that equitable conservation, which empowers and supports the environmental stewardship of Indigenous peoples and local communities represents the primary pathway to effective long-term conservation of biodiversity, particularly when upheld in wider law and policy. Whether for protected areas in biodiversity hotspots or restoration of highly modified ecosystems, whether involving highly traditional or diverse and dynamic local communities, conservation can become more effective through an increased focus on governance type and quality, and fostering solutions that reinforce the role, capacity, and rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. We detail how to enact progressive governance transitions through recommendations for conservation policy, with immediate relevance for how to achieve the next decade's conservation targets under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
In 2018, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted a definition and criteria for identifying other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). South Africa is one of the first countries to undertake a comprehensive national review of its potential OECMs. Previous research results already estimated that 48.5 per cent of sites within South Africa's unprotected Key Biodiversity Areas could potentially meet the OECM definition. A subsequent multi-stakeholder study provided an opportunity to assess the alignment between OECMs and national conservation policy and practice, to further determine the potential extent of OECMs, and whether OECMs may strengthen the country's collective conservation estate. This study led to several findings. First, the OECM framework facilitates the formalisation, expansion and reporting of South Africa's conservation areas estate. Second, OECMs strengthen interconnected landscapes and seascapes alongside protected areas. Third, OECMs can include a diverse range of rights-holders contributing to area-based conservation, including previously marginalised groups, land use types and sectors. Fourth, OECMs play a role in supporting local economies that are simultaneously safeguarding environmental assets. A significant challenge remains to leverage financial and human resources to assess, report, monitor and support OECMs, without diverting resources from other conservation priorities, especially protected areas.
In 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020. As international attention turns to the development of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, discussions are focusing on the way in which other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) should be reflected in the Framework. To inform this discussion, we gathered in-depth perspectives and expert elicitation on the opportunities and challenges that OECMs offer and present to biodiversity conservation. To do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews with experts involved in OECM-related deliberations. The explicit consideration of OECMs in conservation policy represents a recognition that there are sites outside of formal protected area networks that benefit biodiversity and ecosystems in important ways. However, these benefits and the future social and ecological impacts of OECMs will depend largely on robust guidelines for their identification, effective monitoring, and whether relevant actors report the areas they govern as OECMs.
Numerous initiatives and programmes were introduced to enable biodiversity conservation, and community involvement was among these propositions. In line with such initiatives, several frameworks were thus developed to ensure the sustainable implementation and realisation of such programmes. This saw the establishment of the Community‐Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). As such, numerous calls were made to explore community involvement strategies and associated socio‐economic impacts in nature conservation. Most studies and reports emanating from such calls demonstrate cases of failure of inter alia including poaching. This work, therefore, provides a detailed synthesis of the implications of involving local communities in conservation in protected areas (PAs) and further examines how spatial explicit methodologies can be adopted in enhancing nature conservation. Overall, the study has shown that community attitudes and perceptions towards nature conservation in PAs point towards the failure of the CBNRM approach. Weak, conflicted and sometimes corrupt governance and poor institutional arrangements seem to have contributed towards its failure. Overall, the review further indicates that most studies on community involvement in nature conservation have not fully considered the spatial dimension, and this has hampered holistic and effective monitoring and assessment of biodiversity in PAs to ensure sustainable management and the possible implications of such an approach towards conservation. This work, therefore, recommends a shift towards collaborative modelling, transdisciplinary monitoring and assessment approaches to improve biodiversity conservation as well as to determine the success and limitations of the CBNRM approach in Africa and the world over.
This study combined qualitative and quantitative research to identify and describe the key indigenous practices used to conserve/protect the sacred or “Holy” forest in Thathe Vondo, South Africa, and to examine the attitudes held by rural households regarding the value of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in forest conservation. Key informant interviews with sacred forest custodians (n = 6), household administered questionnaire surveys (n = 160) in three villages surrounding the sacred forest and field observations were employed to collect data. Data obtained from interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis, while the questionnaires were assessed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Field observations helped to corroborate the results from the interviews and questionnaires. The study found that the key TEK that is used to conserve sacred forest in the study area includes rituals (u phasa) and customs for the protection of ancient burial grounds. Other important TEK comprises myths (lightning bird–Ndadzi and ancestral lion) and taboos involving a complete ban on activities in the forest other than the above-mentioned rituals. The study also found that the local communities have positive attitudes towards conservation of the local sacred forest. The positive attitudes equated to compliance as local communities were found not to harvest fuelwood or hunt in the sacred forest because of respect for, and fear of, different forms of TEK. These findings confirmed that TEK contributes to the conservation and protection of sacred forest in the study area.
Aichi Target 11 of the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity commits countries to the effective conservation of areas of importance for biodiversity, through protected areas and "other effective area-based conservation measures" (OECMs). However, the prevalence and characteristics of OECMs are poorly known, particularly in sites of importance for biodiversity. We assess the prevalence of potential OECMs in 740 terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) outside known or mapped protected areas across ten countries. A majority of unprotected KBAs (76.5%) were at least partly covered by one or more potential OECMs. The conservation of ecosystem services or biodiversity was a stated management aim in 73% of these OECMs. Local or central government bodies managed the highest number of potential OECMs, followed by local and indigenous communities and private landowners. There was no difference This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Analysis of the management and sustainability of natural resources in Ghana reveals that indigenous knowledge systems have played major roles. The aim of this paper was to assess how indigenous knowledge systems used for sacred biological resources have resulted in the sustainability of resources in three selected communities in the Upper West Region. The study used researcher-administered questionnaires, focused group discussions and key informant interviews to collect data from traditional authorities, and community members. The concept of worldview was used to depict the ‘indigenous knowledge makeup’ of the inhabitants in northern Ghana. The study revealed that taboos and totems are the key indigenous knowledge system used in conserving biological resources. Whilst the traditional political institution plays out as custodian of the knowledge systems, sanctions in the form of fines, banishment and punishment by the gods are used to deter local communities from flouting the indigenous knowledge systems. Based on the perceptions of the respondents, indigenous knowledge systems were found to be very effective in conserving biodiversity. However, formal education, Christianity, Islam and modernisation emerged as key challenges which threaten the sustainability of existing indigenous knowledge systems and their potentials for biodiversity conservation in northern Ghana. The study recommends that the Forestry Division of Ghana, Forestry Commission and Ghana Tourism Authority integrate indigenous knowledge systems into modern laws and policies for effective conservation and management of biodiversity in Ghana.
The Global Deal for Nature (GDN) is a time-bound, science-driven plan to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth. Pairing the GDN and the Paris Climate Agreement would avoid catastrophic climate change, conserve species, and secure essential ecosystem services. New findings give urgency to this union: Less than half of the terrestrial realm is intact, yet conserving all native ecosystems—coupled with energy transition measures—will be required to remain below a 1.5°C rise in average global temperature. The GDN targets 30% of Earth to be formally protected and an additional 20% designated as climate stabilization areas, by 2030, to stay below 1.5°C. We highlight the 67% of terrestrial ecoregions that can meet 30% protection, thereby reducing extinction threats and carbon emissions from natural reservoirs. Freshwater and marine targets included here extend the GDN to all realms and provide a pathway to ensuring a more livable biosphere.
Views that protected area (PA) expansion relies predominantly on land purchased by government are increasingly being challenged. The inclusion of privately owned PAs (PPAs) in national conservation strategies is now commonplace, but little is known about their long‐term persistence and how it compares to that of state‐owned PAs. We undertook the first long‐term assessment of the dynamics of a national system of terrestrial PPAs, assessing its growth, as well as its resilience to downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD). Between 1926 and 2018, 6.2% of all private nature reserves established in South Africa were degazetted, compared to 2.2% of state‐owned nature reserves. Privately owned PA growth exceeded that of state‐owned PAs. Trends in PA establishment differed between privately owned and state‐owned PAs, reflecting different legislative, political, and economic events. Our findings highlight the value of enabling legislative environments to facilitate PPA establishment, and demonstrate the potential of PPAs as a long‐term conservation strategy.
In the Maghreb countries, the surroundings of Muslim saint’s tombs, which are also used as burial grounds by local people, often shelter the last remnants of forest vegetation in these otherwise intensively cultivated regions. After a brief introduction to the cults of Muslim saints and pilgrimage practises in Morocco, the results of a geo-botanical case study of two areas of sacred groves in northern Morocco (i.e. Tangier Peninsula) are presented. The sacred groves studied are characterised by a fine-grained vegetation mosaic that in part originate from multiple forms and intensities of human use (e.g. pasturing, small-scale burning, grave digging). The results of the vegetation analysis lead to discussion of the potential role of sacred
groves in nature conservation. The nature conservation value of sacred places is seen in their roles: as aesthetic elements of the landscape, as models for future attempts to reconstruct degraded areas with endemic forest vegetation, in biodiversity conservation, in the protection of rare plant species, in the protection of genetic
resources, and as habitats for animals. The high diversity of sacred groves is seen in relation to the level of human impact. The local society’s appreciation of some of these areas is changing. How these changes materialise will have an effect on the long-term conservation prospects for these areas.
There is an inextricable link between biological and cultural diversity, captured in the concept of biocultural diversity, whereby the former (genes, species, and habitats) co-adapt with the latter (knowledge, values, beliefs, practices and institutions). Sacred natural sites are increasingly considered showcases for the conservation of biocultural diversity, because their strong cultural importance derives from, and requires maintenance of, biodiversity. The research described in this paper is concerned with the conservation of the threatened “yellowwood” tree (Afrocarpus falcatus) in sacred natural sites of Sidama, southwest Ethiopia. Mixed methods were used to document types of sacred forests sites and the extent and distribution and dominance of A. falcatus in these, to identify drivers of endangerment of A. falcatus and other native woody species in Sidama, Ethiopia and to understand local explanations for the importance and maintenance of these sites. The results suggest that species such as A. falcatus owe their continued existence to resilience of ancestral tree-based rituals within informal protection areas and at homesteads and communal areas. Thus, the maintenance of an ancestral value system serves as an important motivation for the conservation of A. falcatus and other threatened native woody species.
Biodiversity experiments have shown that species loss reduces ecosystem functioning in
grassland. To test whether this result can be extrapolated to forests, the main contributors to
terrestrial primary productivity, requires large-scale experiments.We manipulated tree species
richness by planting more than 150,000 trees in plots with 1 to 16 species. Simulating
multiple extinction scenarios, we found that richness strongly increased stand-level
productivity. After 8 years, 16-species mixtures had accumulated over twice the amount of
carbon found in average monocultures and similar amounts as those of two commercial
monocultures. Species richness effects were strongly associated with functional and
phylogenetic diversity. A shrub addition treatment reduced tree productivity, but this
reduction was smaller at high shrub species richness. Our results encourage multispecies
afforestation strategies to restore biodiversity and mitigate climate change.
There is a growing recognition of the contribution that privately-owned land makes to conservation efforts, and governments are increasingly counting privately protected areas (PPAs) towards their international conservation commitments. The public availability of spatial data on countries’ conservation estates is important for broad-scale conservation planning and monitoring and for evaluating progress towards targets. Yet there has been limited consideration of how PPA data is reported to national and international protected area databases, particularly whether such reporting is transparent and fair (i.e., equitable) to the landholders involved. Here we consider PPA reporting procedures from three countries with high numbers of PPAs—Australia, South Africa, and the United States—illustrating the diversity within and between countries regarding what data is reported and the transparency with which it is reported. Noting a potential tension between landholder preferences for privacy and security of their property information and the benefit of sharing this information for broader conservation efforts, we identify the need to consider equity in PPA reporting processes. Unpacking potential considerations and tensions into distributional, procedural, and recognitional dimensions of equity, we propose a series of broad principles to foster transparent and fair reporting. Our approach for navigating the complexity and context-dependency of equity considerations will help strengthen PPA reporting and facilitate the transparent integration of PPAs into broader conservation efforts.
Private land conservation has an increasingly important role in ensuring global conservation networks are comprehensive, adequate and representative. To contribute to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11, areas on private land must be either privately protected areas (PPAs) or ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs) on private land. Here we compare PPAs to OECMs on private land, clarify misconceptions and provide case studies for how two jurisdictions, Australia and South Africa, have worked through applying these categories to local private land conservation mechanisms.
This paper reflects on IUCN's ongoing progress to develop technical guidance on 'other effective area-based conservation measures' (OECMs) and begins to explore under what conditions OECMs - as a new form of recognition - might make a positive contribution to territories and areas conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities (abbreviated to 'ICCAs'). It argues that while the protected areas framework is a potentially useful means by which to recognise the biodiversity contributions of some ICCAs, it is not universally appropriate. In this context, and subject to important caveats, OECM-related frameworks offer an important opportunity to increase recognition and support for ICCAs. The paper concludes with two practical recommendations: first for the development of supplementary guidance on OECMs and ICCAs; and second, for further discussion by a wide range of interested parties on whether 'OECMs' should be referred to as 'conserved areas'.
This article explores the concept of "other effective area-based conservation measures" (OECMs) in the context of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 on marine protected areas and OECMs and its linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It argues that mainstreaming biodiversity through CBD Aichi Biodiversity Targets' implementation into the SDGs can contribute to a more systemic and comprehensive implementation of SDG 14.5 on conservation of at least 10% of marine and coastal areas. It argues that OECMs can complement MPAs and contribute to ecologically representative and effectively managed marine protected areas systems integrated into broader governance systems such as marine spatial planning. Selected global and local sectoral conservation measures are therefore highlighted in this analysis as potential forms of OECMs. At the local level, a case study of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas managed as locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) in Mozambique is discussed. This case study explores how multiple-use LMMAs, which respond to short-term fisher's needs and targeted biodiversity conservation, could contribute to the achievement of specific SDGs on food security, poverty elimination and resilient ecosystems if properly supported by long-term investments, strong institutions and integrated oceans management.
We assess progress toward the protection of 50% of the terrestrial biosphere to address the species-extinction crisis and conserve a global ecological heritage for future generations. Using a map of Earth's 846 terrestrial ecoregions, we show that 98 ecoregions (12%) exceed Half Protected; 313 ecoregions (37%) fall short of Half Protected but have sufficient unaltered habitat remaining to reach the target; and 207 ecoregions (24%) are in peril, where an average of only 4% of natural habitat remains. We propose a Global Deal for Nature—a companion to the Paris Climate Deal—to promote increased habitat protection and restoration, national-and ecoregion-scale conservation strategies, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples to protect their sovereign lands. The goal of such an accord would be to protect half the terrestrial realm by 2050 to halt the extinction crisis while sustaining human livelihoods.
A renewed global agenda to address biodiversity loss was sanctioned by adoption of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets in 2010 by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. However, Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 contained a significant policy and reporting challenge, conceding that both protected areas (PAs) and ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OEABCMs) could be used to meet national targets of protecting 17 and 10 % of terrestrial and marine areas, respectively. We report on a consensus-based approach used to (1) operationalize OEABCMs in the Canadian context and (2) develop a decision-screening tool to assess sites for inclusion in Canada’s Aichi Target 11 commitment. Participants in workshops determined that for OEABCMs to be effective, they must share a core set of traits with PAs, consistent with the intent of Target 11. (1) Criteria for inclusion of OEABCMs in the Target 11 commitment should be consistent with the overall intent of PAs, with the exception that they may be governed by regimes not previously recognized by reporting agencies. (2) These areas should have an expressed objective to conserve nature, be long-term, generate effective nature conservation outcomes, and have governance regimes that ensure effective management. A decision-screening tool was developed that can reduce the risk that areas with limited conservation value are included in national accounting. The findings are relevant to jurisdictions where the debate on what can count is distracting Parties to the Convention from reaching conservation goals.
Many protected areas (PAs) have followed the conventional and exclusionary approach applied at Yellowstone in 1872. As such, many parks have failed to fully integrate other important factors, such as social, cultural, and political issues. In some cases, this has triggered adverse social impacts on local communities, disrupting their traditional ways of living and limiting their control of and access to natural resources. Such an outcome can undermine protection policies through conflicts between park managers and local communities. The success of conservation strategies through protected areas may lie in the ability of managers to reconcile biodiversity conservation goals with social and economic issues and to promote greater compliance of local communities with PA conservation strategies. However, there are very few quantitative studies identifying what the key factors are that lead to better compliance with PA conservation policies. To address this issue, we conducted a meta-analysis of 55 published case studies from developing countries to determine whether the level of compliance of local communities with PA regulations was related to: (1) PA age, (2) PA area, (3) the existence of a buffer zone, (4) the level of protection as defined by IUCN categories, (5) gross domestic product per capita, (6) population density in the vicinity of PAs, and (7) the level of local community participation in PA management. We found that local community participation in the PA decision-making process was the only variable that was significantly related to the level of compliance with PA polices. In general, the higher the level of participation, the higher the level of compliance. This has important implications for PA management and suggests that greater inclusion of local communities in management should be a key strategy for ensuring the integrity of PAs.
Existing global protected area networks have two shortcomings: (1) they do not cover certain habitats, and (2) local people often resent their formal management. Here, we show that communities around the world traditionally protect natural sites that are dedicated to ancestral spirits or deities. Such sites cover a wide variety of habitats and are often located in biodiversity rich regions. Case studies on sacred groves show that these small forest patches play an important role in biodiversity conservation. Furthermore, natural sacred sites are maintained through traditional methods of community based conservation that do not require governmental involvement. Incorporating these sites into conservation networks could enhance the effectiveness of protected areas by covering a wider variety of habitats and by harnessing the support of local people. In this article, we discuss current threats to sacred groves that need to be addressed through management approaches. More research on the ecology and underlying socioeconomic mechanisms of natural sacred sites is required to fully reveal their potential for biodiversity conservation.
Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.
Sacred groves are tracts of virgin forest with rich diversity, which have been protected by the local people for centuries for their cultural and religious beliefs and taboos that the deities reside in them and protect the villagers from different calamities. Every sacred grove carries its own legends, lore, and myths which form the integral part of the sacred grove. An inextricable link between present society and past in terms of biodiversity, culture, religious and ethnic heritage exists in sacred groves. Sacred groves are distributed across the globe, and diverse cultures recognize them in different ways encoding various rules for their protection. Sacred groves occur in many parts of India viz., Western Ghats, Central India, northeast India, etc. particularly where the indigenous communities live. These are known by different names given to them by the ethnic people. Sacred groves act as an ideal centre for biodiversity conservation. Several plants and animals that are threatened in the forest are still well conserved in some of the sacred groves. It has been observed that several medicinal plants that are not to be found in the forest are abundant in the sacred groves. Further, rare, endangered, threatened and endemic species are often concentrated in sacred groves. The sacredness, religious beliefs and taboos play a significant role in promoting sustainable utilization and conservation of flora and fauna of the region. However, with the passage of time, considerable changes have taken place in the extent of the sacred groves, in their vegetation structure, peoples' perception towards them and the religious beliefs and taboos. Therefore, a holistic understanding of the current status, structure and function of sacred grove is essential for assessing their ecological role and formulating strategies for their conservation. This paper briefly reviews the studies on sacred groves across the globe in general and India in particular, highlighting that the tradition of sacred groves could provide a powerful tool for ensuring biodiversity conservation through community participation.
Expert knowledge is used widely in the science and practice of conservation because of the complexity of problems, relative lack of data, and the imminent nature of many conservation decisions. Expert knowledge is substantive information on a particular topic that is not widely known by others. An expert is someone who holds this knowledge and who is often deferred to in its interpretation. We refer to predictions by experts of what may happen in a particular context as expert judgments. In general, an expert-elicitation approach consists of five steps: deciding how information will be used, determining what to elicit, designing the elicitation process, performing the elicitation, and translating the elicited information into quantitative statements that can be used in a model or directly to make decisions. This last step is known as encoding. Some of the considerations in eliciting expert knowledge include determining how to work with multiple experts and how to combine multiple judgments, minimizing bias in the elicited information, and verifying the accuracy of expert information. We highlight structured elicitation techniques that, if adopted, will improve the accuracy and information content of expert judgment and ensure uncertainty is captured accurately. We suggest four aspects of an expert elicitation exercise be examined to determine its comprehensiveness and effectiveness: study design and context, elicitation design, elicitation method, and elicitation output. Just as the reliability of empirical data depends on the rigor with which it was acquired so too does that of expert knowledge.
"Displacement resulting from the establishment and enforcement of protected areas has troubled relationships between conservationists and rural groups in many parts of the world. This paper examines one aspect of displacement: eviction from protected areas. We examine divergent opinions about the quality of information available in the literature. We then examine the literature itself, discussing the patterns visible in nearly 250 reports we compiled over the last two years. We argue that the quality of the literature is not great, but that there are signs that this problem is primarily concentrated in a few regions of the world. We show that there has been a remarkable surge of publications about relocation after 1990, yet most protected areas reported in these publications were established before 1980. This reflects two processes, first a move within research circles to recover and rediscover protected areas' murky past, and second stronger enforcement of existing legislation. We review the better analyses of the consequences of relocation from protected areas which are available and highlight areas of future research."
Increasing conservation targets to protect biodiversity and safeguard sustainability is seen as one-way for humankind. The Half earth concept proposed by E.O. Wilson led to a debate over whether and how this can be achieved given increasing societal needs and pressure for land. The new European Biodiversity Strategy (EBS) for 2030 calls among other things for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems setting an ambitious target of 30 % of the EU’s land areas under legal protection with 10 % of EU land under strictly Protected Areas. A concept which is gaining ground globally as a potential ally in this effort is ’other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs). The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how biodiversity conservation can be achieved on a Mediterranean island, beyond existing Protected Areas, by ’giving nature half’ on the terrestrial realm. We assess the role of conservation ’allies’ in Cyprus, by identifying potential OECM areas on the island, according to the IUCN criteria. We mapped their spatial relationship with the Natura 2000 network and propose OECM areas, which present greater conservation potential in the long term. Potential OECM areas, which may act complementary to the N2K, extend to c. 50 % of the island. What we propose herein can serve as a model for rethinking and redesigning nature conservation in Mediterranean islands
In the emerging global knowledge economy, a country's capacity to build and mobilize knowledge capital, is equally essential for sustainable development as the availability of physical and financial capital according to the World Bank (World Bank, 1997). The basic component of any country's knowledge system is its indigenous knowledge. This knowledge encompasses the skills, experiences and insights of people, applied to maintain or improve their livelihood. The World Bank, which launched the Indigenous Knowledge for Development Programme in 1998, documented several cases to illustrate how IKS can play a crucial role in development. Significant contributions to global knowledge have originated from indigenous people, for instance in medicine and veterinary medicine with their intimate understanding of their environments. Indigenous knowledge is developed and adapted continuously to a gradually changing environment and passed down from generation to generation and closely interwoven with people's cultural values. Indigenous knowledge is also the social capital of the poor, their main asset to invest in the struggle for survival, to produce food, to provide for shelter or to achieve control of their own lives. However there are several threads to African indigenous knowledge systems. First, indigenous knowledge is always passed by word of mouth from one generation to another. Many of the bearers of indigenous knowledge are from the older generation and now find it difficult to communicate their beliefs and practices to the scientifically educated younger generation; once the older generation passes away, the knowledge disappears with them. Second, there is still resistance in the use of IKS, and considered unscientific in the development processes. The third is that IKS in Africa are being wiped out as a result of the rapid changes in the economic, cultural and development models through globalisation. Universities in Africa are the obvious institutions to undertake this important task. It is imperative therefore that, without delay, IKS in Africa be protected, documented, studied and be widely disseminated to promote development. Given this context, this purpose of this paper is to essentialise IKS in the global and modern world.
Continued biodiversity loss has prompted calls for half of the planet to be set aside for nature – including E. O Wilson's “Half-Earth” approach and the Wild Foundation's “Nature Needs Half” initiative. These efforts have provided a necessary wake-up call and drawn welcome global attention for the urgent need for increased action on conserving biodiversity and nature in general. Yet they have also sparked debate within the conservation community, particularly due to the huge practical and political obstacles to establishing or expanding protected areas on this scale. The new designation of “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs) provides the opportunity for formal recognition of and support for areas delivering conservation outcomes outside the protected area estate. We argue that OECMs are essential to the achievement of big and bold conservation targets such as Half-Earth. But integration of OECMs into the conservation estate requires fundamental changes in protected area planning and how the conservation community deals with human rights and social safeguards issues; it therefore challenges our understanding of what constitutes “conservation”. It will only succeed if the key drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem service loss are addressed in the whole planet. A broad, multifaceted and innovative approach, coupled with ambitious targets, provides our best hope yet of addressing complex conservation challenges.
Cultural ecosystem services related to urban green spaces contribute significantly to liveable cities. While previous studies highlight the intersection of cultural ecosystem services with societal values, spiritual or religious values associated with urban nature have received less attention. In India, as in other parts of the world, sacred sites are known for their biological richness, but analyses from urban sacred sites are largely missing. Based on a stratified random sampling approach, we analysed the cultivated and wild plant species assemblages of 69 sacred sites in the megacity of Bengaluru, India, in relation to biological and cultural features, and parameters related to the urban matrix and type of sacred sites (temple vs. katte). Unlike other urban studies, we found a dominance of native species in the cultivated and spontaneous species pools (121 species in total), with Ficus religiosa and Azadirachta indica as most frequently planted species. Culturally relevant species prevailed in the species pool (89%), with overlaps between religious (36%), medicinal (50%) and ornamental (62%) plants; only 11% of species were weeds. Urban matrix parameters (age of development, housing density) and size and type of sacred sites were related to differences in species assemblages. We identified key species for different classes of age and housing density, and for types of sacred sites. Our study demonstrates that urban sacred sites have an important potential in harbouring both native and culturally significant species that can support urban livelihoods in developing countries by a range of cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, including medicinal uses. As such sites are conserved by communities for spiritual or cultural beliefs, local biodiversity can be enhanced, e.g. by adapting management practices through community participation. This would strengthen the important contribution of sacred sites within the green infrastructure of rapidly growing megacities.
A vast number of national parks and protected areas throughout the world have been established in the customary territories of Indigenous peoples. In many cases these conservation areas have displaced Indigenous peoples, undermining their cultures, livelihoods, and self-governance, while squandering opportunities to benefit from their knowledge, values, and practices. This book makes the case for a paradigm shift in conservation from exclusionary, uninhabited national parks and wilderness areas to new kinds of protected areas that recognize Indigenous peoples conservation contributions and rights. It documents the beginnings of such a paradigm shift and issues a clarion call for transforming conservation in ways that could enhance the effectiveness of protected areas and benefit Indigenous peoples in and near tens of thousands of protected areas worldwide. "Indigenous Peoples, National Parks, and Protected Areas" integrates wide-ranging, multidisciplinary intellectual perspectives with detailed analyses of new kinds of protected areas in diverse parts of the world. Eleven geographers and anthropologists contribute nine substantive fieldwork-based case studies. Their contributions offer insights into experience with new conservation approaches in an array of countries, including Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, South Africa, and the United States. This book breaks new ground with its in-depth exploration of changes in conservation policies and practices and their profound ramifications for Indigenous peoples, protected areas, and social reconciliation."
How native people—from the Miwoks of Yosemite to the Maasai of eastern Africa—have been displaced from their lands in the name of conservation.
Since 1900, more than 108,000 officially protected conservation areas have been established worldwide, largely at the urging of five international conservation organizations. About half of these areas were occupied or regularly used by indigenous peoples. Millions who had been living sustainably on their land for generations were displaced in the interests of conservation. In Conservation Refugees, Mark Dowie tells this story. This is a “good guy vs. good guy” story, Dowie writes; the indigenous peoples' movement and conservation organizations have a vital common goal—to protect biological diversity—and could work effectively and powerfully together to protect the planet and preserve biological diversity. Yet for more than a hundred years, these two forces have been at odds. The result: thousands of unmanageable protected areas and native peoples reduced to poaching and trespassing on their ancestral lands or “assimilated” but permanently indentured on the lowest rungs of the money economy. Dowie begins with the story of Yosemite National Park, which by the turn of the twentieth century established a template for bitter encounters between native peoples and conservation. He then describes the experiences of other groups, ranging from the Ogiek and Maasai of eastern Africa and the Pygmies of Central Africa to the Karen of Thailand and the Adevasis of India. He also discusses such issues as differing definitions of “nature” and “wilderness,” the influence of the “BINGOs” (Big International NGOs, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Conservation International, and The Nature Conservancy), the need for Western scientists to respect and honor traditional lifeways, and the need for native peoples to blend their traditional knowledge with the knowledge of modern ecology. When conservationists and native peoples acknowledge the interdependence of biodiversity conservation and cultural survival, Dowie writes, they can together create a new and much more effective paradigm for conservation.
In the Maghreb countries, the surroundings of Muslim saint's tombs, which are also used as burial grounds by local people, often shelter the last remnants of forest vegetation in these otherwise intensively cultivated regions. After a brief introduction to the cults of Muslim saints and pilgrimage practises in Morocco, the results of a geo-botanical case study of two areas of sacred groves in northern Morocco (i.e. Tangier Peninsula) are presented. The sacred groves studied are characterised by a fine-grained vegetation mosaic that in part originate from multiple forms and intensities of human use (e.g. pasturing, small-scale burning, grave digging). The results of the vegetation analysis lead to discussion of the potential role of sacred groves in nature conservation. The nature conservation value of sacred places is seen in their roles: as aesthetic elements of the landscape, as models for future attempts to reconstruct degraded areas with endemic forest vegetation, in biodiversity conservation, in the protection of rare plant species, in the protection of genetic resources, and as habitats for animals. The high diversity of sacred groves is seen in relation to the level of human impact. The local society's appreciation of some of these areas is changing. How these changes materialise will have an effect on the long-term conservation prospects for these areas.
Togo is a country located in the Dahomey corridor, which is an interruption of the West-African forest. The forests are mainly found in the sub-humid zone of the country, and are very fragmented due to human activities, generally reduced to forested strips along waterways. Sacred forests in Togo are protected by the local communities. In this very constraining forestry context, our study aims to reconsider these sacred forests as important centres of biodiversity and promote their inclusion in frameworks of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM). Our results are based on research that has been undertaken for more than 10 years, and show that local communities have a greater respect for riverside and sacred forests than they do for government protected areas which are being degraded. Several of these forest fragments are modern relics of old and disappearing plant communities in Togo. Our inventories show that there are 1500 taxa in these areas, representing ∼45.5% of the local and introduced flowering plants of Togo. Some of the plant species are not found outside the forest fragments. Plant diversity is higher than that found in the surrounding vegetation communities. In the sacred forests, harvesting of minor NTFPs is frequent, while in the riparian forests timber harvesting is having an impact. Unfortunately, threats to the forest are numerous, leading to their disappearance. Many species recorded are potentially threatened because of the current pressure being placed on the forest fragments. It is in this sense that our study provides essential information aimed at valuing these sacred forest fragments which, up until now, have not been addressed in the criteria and indicator frameworks of SFM.
Sacred sites, particularly in forests, often form unofficial protected areas because their biodiversity is preserved and protected by the local people looking after the sites. Here, we survey the biodiversity of the Three Sisters Cave complex, a sacred site or kaya in a fragment of East African coastal forest in south-east Kenya. We show that, despite the tiny size of this non-gazetted forest reserve, it contains many of the threatened species of both flora (121 species) and fauna (46 species) representative of Kenya's coastal forest. Following the overexploitation and widespread destruction of coastal rainforests in Kenya, such sacred sites represent key biodiversity hotspots as well as forest islands in the now largely deforested coastal plain. Other non-gazetted forest sacred sites may represent undocumented sources of biodiversity that may contribute towards conservation of this threatened coastal habitat.
Land use is expanding and intensifying in the unprotected lands surrounding many of the world's protected areas. The influence of this land use change on ecological processes is poorly understood. The goal of this paper is to draw on ecological theory to provide a synthetic framework for understanding how land use change around protected areas may alter ecological processes and biodiversity within protected areas and to provide a basis for identifying scientifically based management alternatives. We first present a conceptual model of protected areas embedded within larger ecosystems that often include surrounding human land use. Drawing on case studies in this Invited Feature, we then explore a comprehensive set of ecological mechanisms by which land use on surrounding lands may influence ecological processes and biodiversity within reserves. These mechanisms involve changes in ecosystem size, with implications for minimum dynamic area, species-area effect, and trophic structure; altered flows of materials and disturbances into and out of reserves; effects on crucial habitats for seasonal and migration movements and population source/sink dynamics; and exposure to humans through hunting, poaching, exotics species, and disease. These ecological mechanisms provide a basis for assessing the vulnerability of protected areas to land use. They also suggest criteria for designing regional management to sustain protected areas in the context of surrounding human land use. These design criteria include maximizing the area of functional habitats, identifying and maintaining ecological process zones, maintaining key migration and source habitats, and managing human proximity and edge effects.