IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
Dr. Jonathan Davies, Drylands CoordinatorIUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Conserving Biodiversity and Sustainably Managing Land through
Community Conserved Areas
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Land restoration in Jordan, Mali, Botswana and Sudan
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Between 10 and 20% of drylands are subject to desertification
Desertification exacerbates poverty, creates food and water insecurity and
aggravates conflict
Global cost of desertification: 42 billion USD annually
Estimated cost of preventing it: 2.4 billion USD
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Drivers of desertification• Poor understanding of dryland ecology• Weak consultation with resource managers• Weak communal tenure arrangements and
governance • Unsupportive policies and investments• Human poverty and population dynamics • Climate change and climatic uncertainty• Fragmentation of landscapes
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Governance: the bedrock of sustainable land management
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• Why implement good land management practices if you cannot stop others from abusing your land?
• What is the point of protecting your resources to improve production if somebody else can benefit and leave you with nothing?
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Creating and enforcing rules: what we mean by governance
• Governance is more than government• Interaction between citizens, between the
State and its Citizens, and between States – Rules – laws and other norms– Institutions– Processes
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Strengthening Governance
• Multistakeholder dialogue• Participatory planning and
problem solving to get to root causes
• Strengthening participatory practices in government and community
• Hima identified as the preferred mechanism
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Legitimising Hima
• Legal avenues identified and political dialogue to identify acceptable approaches
• Land for protection identified by communities • Allocation of land approved by government – Dept rangelands or forestry – Dept tourism and antiquities
• Rules and regulations developed by communities • Inter-community dialogue to enforce rules:
enforcement is key
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What we did not do• Investment in infrastructure• Fencing • Extensive technical advice
This can get in the way and can undermine governance• The key is community autonomy
and leadership with government support
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Results • 4 plots under improved
management and conservation (approx. 1000 ha)
• Running 2 years so end-results are modest
• Major change in attitude and behaviour amongst communities
• Significant change in support from Ministry of Agriculture
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Results
• Biodiversity benefits: recovery of floral species
• De facto IUCN Protected Area Category 5
• Built on local knowledge and expertise in conservation and rangeland management
• Dual development and conservation impacts
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Results
• Return of plants with medicinal values (e.g. artemesia spp.)
• Return of wildlife and possible hunting concessions (e.g. partridge)
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Questions
• Does HIMA management meet PA category 5 standards?
• Are these effective ICCAs that contribute to Aichi targets?
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Questions
• Can livestock management replicate natural herbivore processes?
• Where is the balance between livestock management and conservation?
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Questions
• Ecosystem-scale impacts – Can improved
rangelands vegetation lead to better water cycling and reduced drought?
– To what extent will we be able to rehabilitate rangelands?
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Lessons
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Community empowerment
• Local communities have unique skills for conservation that can be harnessed through Hima– Key is to use Hima to strengthen local land use, not to exclude land use
• Healthy, productive rangelands offer a genuine win-win of increased agricultural production (through livestock) and biodiversity conservation
• Communities have aesthetic as well as economic motives – Assume that most rural people desire a beautiful environment: but a
beautiful productive environment• Communities can be initially defensive towards any discussion of
land rights– Demonstrating progress leads to rapid change of view
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Government enabling • HIMA has positive effects on community-government relations • Political support gives high credibility
– To succeed, this approach requires sanctioning by government, and may require policy reform
• Not every government extension worker has the character to promote Hima – Requires a sensitive approach: only part of this can be taught
• Technical advice can play an important role, but comes later, and must build on (and complement) communal management and knowledge
• Government role in setting standards and evaluating progress needs to be developed through dialogue
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Conservation outcomes • HIMA can improve landscape-connectivity by including
community conserved areas in conservation strategies (including productive lands) – Requires new working relations between ministries that typically
compete against each other • Herbivores play a critical role in rangeland ecology and we
have to learn how to replicate this• Greater emphasis is needed on monitoring biodiversity and
ecosystem services to track long-term progress• Long-term impacts can be exponential as people gain
confidence in governance systems
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Wider impacts• Great appeal world-wide– Hima has parallels in other cultures – recommend to adapt to
other contexts and share experiences • Governance of water can undermine Hima systems in the
long term – Factor water into community-government dialogue
• The environmental services of Hima have hidden values (e.g. water cycling, migratory species, carbon sequestration)– These can be measured and should be compensated through
domestic and international channels
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Thank you
DAVIES Jonathan [email protected]