1 July, 2013 Santiago

Common Guidance for the Interpretation &

Identification of High Conservation Values

HCV Common Guidance

• Update on P9 and Common Guidance

• Key considerations for interpretation

• The HCV definitions and examples

• HCV assessment process

• HCV management and monitoring

What is the High Conservation Value approach?

• A set of criteria (the six ‘HCVs’)

• An assessment process for environmental & social

priorities

• A management decision tool

• A key component of major sustainability standards

HCV Approach

Greater efforts needed to identify,

through more intensive assessments and

stakeholder engagement, through greater

attention to deciding and implementing

appropriate management measures, and

through monitoring both the

implementation and effectiveness of

these measures.

Manage

Monitor

Identify

Origins of HCV approach

• “High Conservation Value” approach conceived by FSC in 1994:

• All forests are valuable

• But some are more valuable than others

• Need safeguards for exceptional cases

• But defining exceptionalis difficult…

1999 Revision: FSC introduces HCVF

• P9: “Management activities in HCV Forests shall

maintain or enhance the attributes that define

such forest”

• HCVF caused some confusion over extent of HCV

area

HCV beyond forestry

• Agricultural commodities

• Investment policies

• Responsible production & sourcing policies

Certification

FSC Draft P&C v.5

• P9: “The Organization shall maintain and/or enhance high

conservation values through applying the precautionary

approach.”

• Drops the HCV Forest

• Lists 6 HCV categories

• Recognises other HCV ecosystems

• Emphasis on stakeholder engagement

• Notes on recognising significance & criticality

• Est. 2006 to support consistent, high-quality

implementation of HCV approach across uses

• A voluntary, Charter-based association

composed of:

• Multi-stakeholder Steering Group

• International Technical Panel

• Secretariat

• Charter Signatories (“Participants”)

The HCV Resource Network

HCV Network Steering Group

Practical interpretation of definitions

• HCV definitions are applicable in principle to any ecosystem

and country

• Need interpretation

• Best practice guidance

• National interpretation

• Each assessment to be done in a systematic and

consistent manner

HCV Common Guidance

• HCV Resource Network Steering Group decision

• Need for global guidance – user friendly

• Based on:

• FSC paper with HCV expert input

• Existing good practice

• Editorial Board

• Review (FSC, other schemes, WWF,

IUCN, etc.)

• Publication on HCV-RN site

• Living document

Common Guidance for Identification

• Across ecosystems and land uses

• More examples

• Case studies

• More guidance on key terms

• No sub-categories

• Undergoing review

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

FOR INTERPRETATION OF

THE HCV DEFINITIONS

AND ASSESSMENT

FINDINGS

The HCV process should be integrated with

responsible land management that respects the

HCV Resource Network charter

• Legality

• Tenure, rights, FPIC

• Impacts of conversion

• Other environmental & social values

HCV Resource Network Charter

Scales of application

• Site scale:

• HCV is primarily a site-level planning and

management approach, applicable for any

ecosystem

• Aims to identify conservation priorities, define

management targets, mitigate risk through

effective stakeholder participation

• Landscape scale:

• “Exceptional” value of HCVs often depends on

wider context (rarity, landscape configuration,

habitat quality etc.)

• Effective management requires taking into

account threats and opportunities in

surrounding landscape

Scale, intensity and risk

• The larger the scale, intensity and risk of project

activities, the more effort should be devoted to

detecting, identifying and understanding the

characteristics, distribution, sensitivity and

vulnerability of the HCVs.

Interpretation of findings

HCV assessment findings must be interpreted

keeping in mind:

• Reference to guidance documents (e.g. HCV-RN

documents, National Interpretation if available)

• Stakeholder concerns

• Precautionary approach

• Understanding of Significance

Precautionary approach

When there are credible and reasonable indications

that an HCV is present, the assessor should assume

that it is present and should take the appropriate

decisions for management strategies, actions and

monitoring.

Recognizing Significance

Significant values are those recognized as being

either unique, or outstanding relative to other

examples in the same region, because of their

sizes, numbers, frequency, quality, density or

socio-economic importance, on the basis of

existing priority frameworks, data or maps, or

through field studies and consultations undertaken

during the HCV assessment.

High Conservation Values

A High Conservation Value (HCV) is a biological, ecological,

social or cultural value which is recognised as having

outstanding significance or critical importance.

The “global” HCVs

Note that for HCV 1, 2, and 3, the values need to be

significant at a national or regional scale (or higher)

– with the understanding that countries are highly

variable and what is significant in one country may

not be significant in another

HCV 1 Biodiversity

Concentrations of biological diversity including

endemic species, and rare, threatened or

endangered species, that are significant at global,

regional or national levels.

HCV1 Examples include

• Protected areas may indicate the presence of high

levels of biodiversity in the landscape.

• The regular presence of multiple EN species.

• The regular presence of several restricted-range /

endemic species from different taxa.

• Mineral licks which are used by large numbers of

individuals

• Colonial nesting sites

HCV 2 Landscapes

Large landscape-level ecosystems and ecosystem mosaics

that are significant at global, regional or national levels,

and that contain viable populations of the great majority of

the naturally occurring species in natural patterns of

distribution and abundance.

HCV 2 Examples can include

• Emphasis on size, quality and function

• Frontier, intact forests. WRI Intact Forest

Landscapes, WCS ‘Last of the Wild’.

• Un-dammed river systems, and wetlands with

natural flood regimes.

• Un-fenced rangelands, with nearly full

complements of wild ungulates.

• Areas with low levels of overall disturbance and

high connectivity have a high chance of being

HCV 2

HCV 3 Ecosystems

Rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems,

habitats or refugia

HCV 3 examples include:

• Ecosystems which are naturally rare,

e.g. forest on limestone

• Ecosystems which have lost a large

proportion of their historical range,

e.g. pampas

• Inselbergs, or forest patches in

grasslands

The “local scale” HCVs

In general, HCV 4, 5, and 6 are significant to the communities

that rely on them – so they are not relative to any scale but

absolute in their irreplaceability to a community.

HCV 4 Ecosystem services

Basic ecosystem services in critical situations,

including protection of water catchments and control

of erosion of vulnerable soils and slopes.

Examples of HCV 4 include:

• Vegetated riparian buffer zones or intact

floodplains

• Groundwater recharge zones

Which can:

• Protect vulnerable soils, aquifers and fisheries

• Prevent floods and fires

• Maintain downstream flow regimes

• Maintain water quality characteristics

HCV 5 Community needs

Sites and resources fundamental for satisfying basic

necessities of local communities or indigenous peoples

(e.g. livelihoods, health, nutrition), identified through

engagement with these communities.

Examples of HCV 5 include:

• Hunting and trapping grounds

• Fishing areas

• NTFPs such as nuts, berries, mushrooms

medicinal plants

• Fuel for household cooking, lighting and

heating

• Building materials (poles, thatching, timber)

• Fodder for livestock and seasonal grazing

• Water sources necessary for drinking water

and sanitation

HCV 6 Culture

Sites, resources, habitats and landscapes of global or national

cultural, archaeological or historical significance, and/or of

critical cultural, ecological, economic or religious/sacred

importance for the cultures of local communities or

indigenous peoples, identified through their engagement.

Examples of HCV 6 (local)

• Burial grounds

• Sites used for traditional ceremonies

• Sacred mountains, forests, rivers, caves,

waterfalls, trees, rocks, totem animals

• NTFPs used for traditional ceremonies

• Abandoned/ancestral village ruins

Examples of HCV 6 (global)

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites

• Important archaeological relics

• Prehistoric cave art

HCV Assessment

• An HCV assessment is the process by which HCVs

are evaluated and identified in practice, usually as

part of a certification scheme or a planning

exercise.

• Who should conduct the assessment?

• company management team

• independent team

• experienced in the ecosystems being assessed.

HCV assessment process

IDENTIFY

Planning and preparation

Scoping study and

more planning/prep

Full assessment and reporting

Preparation: data needs & desktop review

What is known, and what is still needed to identify

HCVs?

• Specific guidance on HCVs (e.g. NIs, HCV RN)

• Biodiversity (HCVs 1, 2 ,3)

• Ecosystem maps, forest inventories

• Species data (RTE species: IUCN, CITES, red lists)

• Protected area data

• Landscape context

• Ecosystem services (HCV 4)

• Soil, topography, watersheds, fire hazard

• Social and cultural data (HCV 5 and 6)

• Settlement maps and community data

• Sociocultural data, social impact assessments

Field assessment & data collection

• Forest inventory

• Faunal inventory

• Hydrological studies

• Socio-economic studies

• Participatory mapping

• LIDAR data

Stakeholder consultation

• Identify potential stakeholders, bearing in

mind the nature and vulnerability of the

anticipated HCVs, and the risks and threats

they face.

• Ensure key stakeholders are aware that an

HCV assessment is being made and that

they have an opportunity to participate.

• The effectiveness and success of the

consultation process is determined by

whether it identifies the great majority of

opinions, relevant information and options

Content of the HCV Report

The process should be well documented, with all important

decisions clearly justified.

• Reporting should show:

• What has been identified and where

• Justification for HCV

• Who was consulted

• What actions will be taken to manage and monitor

• Public availability of summary

• Sufficient information given to judge

• Adequacy of identification process

• Suitability of management & monitoring measures

HCV management approach

• Presence of one or more HCV does not preclude development operations

• Carries a responsibility to put in place extrameasures or safeguards

• Additional pro-active management or protection

• Must be sufficient to maintain or enhance the value

• Additional monitoring

• Requires consultation on options for management

• Must appear in Public Summary

Mapping HCVs

• Mapping is usually a fundamental part of HCV

identification & management

• Collection of spatial information is vital

• How far do you travel to get firewood?

• Where are high quality habitats and key

resources?

• What is the distribution of key species?

• Maps should be accompanied with info on data

sources, data quality and limitations.

• HCV distribution and HCV management areas

should be mapped; HCV MA’s should have

associated SOPs.

Guidelines for HCV management

1. Define your objectives

2. Identify baselines and targets

3. Identify threats

4. Identify management options

5. Use precautionary management

6. Monitor success to modify management

Management options

• Spatial planning

• Set aside zones, buffer zones, corridors etc.

• Improving operational plans

• Better management practices, low impact

operations

• Proactive community engagement

• Mitigating external threats

• Partnership with NGOs and local government

• Provision of alternative resources

Fundamental points

• HCVs are exceptional values

• Management must ensure that they are maintained

or enhanced.

• HCV definitions and approach are global and

flexible

• But…should be used within a certification scheme

and consistently interpreted and applied

Thank you for your attention

Questions?