The real extension of Venezuelan Protected Areas - recommendations to assess Aichi Target 11
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Transcript of The real extension of Venezuelan Protected Areas - recommendations to assess Aichi Target 11
Edgard Yerena, Universidad Simón Bolívar
Jorge Naveda, Inparques. Venezuelan WCPA members
The real extension of Venezuelan protected areas: recommenda7ons to assess Aichi Target 11
VI World Parks Congress -‐ Sydney – Australia -‐ November 2014. Stream 1 -‐ Reaching Conserva7on Goals. Session: Protected Planet: status and trends of protected area coverage across countries *
Edgard Yerena (Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela)** Jorge Naveda (Ins7tuto Nacional de Parques, Caracas, Venezuela) **[email protected] ● According to the Aichi Target Nº 11 seventeen percent of terrestrial and inland water, and ten percent of coastal and marine areas of the world should be under effective and well-‐
managed protected areas (PA). Although that is not a country-‐by-‐country target, it is obvious that such limit may provide a criterion to assess the compliance of any country with
such a global goal. On the other hand, politically it is a good thing for a country to show itself as if it has reached or is about to reach such goal. The attention of the global community obviously focuses on those countries that are either low below or high above the 17-‐10% threshold. For more than twenty years Venezuela has stated that somewhere
between 40 and 50 % of its terrestrial ecosystems are under PA. This is also reflected in the World Data Base on Protected Areas. (WDPA) At the beginning that was a reason for aw and congratulations. But as time passes that belief has solidified and attention is no more focused on Venezuela: it is considered it has already reached a very challenging limit,
and it is logical that no special attention should be put on it at least regarding PA coverage. But the reality is very different. A thorough exam on the self-‐called “Venezuelan PA system” or ABRAE (Spanish acronym for “areas under special administration”) reveals that only 5 among 15 categories of ABRAE are real PA sensu IUCN. According to this we
calculate that no more than 17-‐19% of Venezuela´s terrestrial ecosystems are under real PA. This case highlights the importance of the IUCN PA categories system. It is a powerful tool to assess to what extent any country is really taking actions to conserve Nature, and therefore matching the Aichi target or any other international criteria. It also highlights
the importance of updating WDPA, since many wrong conclusions can be reached using wrong data contained in it. It is not simply a matter of accepting “official” data supplied by Government agencies. Such data should be double-‐checked with the help and participation of national WCPA members and other independent sources. No official data should
be taken for granted. This may lead to over estimations and sub estimations, making the focus of international agencies, or NGOs be placed in the wrong direction.
● * Protected Planet: status and trends of protected area coverage across countries
● Launch and explanation of the second Protected Planet Report. Where are we as a planet as we move to meet all elements of Aichi Target 11 by 2020? What is the progress of the elements of Target 11 on land and sea?
● Key Speakers
● Assessing progress towards Aichi Target 11: where are we now? -‐-‐ Brian MacSharry (UNEP-‐WCMC)
● Mapping Aichi Target 11: Progress towards meeting global MPA targets -‐-‐ Hannah Thomas (UNEP-‐WCMC) Protected Areas and Biodiversity: Managing our Impacts and Risks -‐-‐ Mark Johnston
● The real extension of Venezuelan protected areas: lessons to assess Aichi Target 11 -‐-‐ Edgard Yerena
● The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas: Providing the right information to the right people with the right tools -‐-‐ Gregoire Dubois (JRC, European Union)
● Dynamics of the Conservation Estate -‐-‐ Nyeema Harris
● Session / Event Manager: Brian MacSharry Hannah Thomas Mark Johnston Edgard Yerena Gregoire Dubois Nyeema Harris
● Sessions / Events: Stream 1 -‐ Reaching Conservation Goals
● Language: English. Location: Hall 3A1. Friday, November 14th, 1:30 pm -‐ 3:00 pm.
●
● Source: http://wpc2014.eventranet.com.au/program/
Edgard Yerena, Universidad Simón Bolívar
Jorge Naveda, Inparques. Miembros venezolanos de la CMAP
What is our message?
● The real achievement of Aichi Target 11 may be masked by the wrong information supplied by official sources, country by country. ● Some sources of error: ● A wrong assessment of the IUCN/CBD concept of Protected Area
● Physical (spatial) overlaps among PAs ● Incoherence between official boundaries description and reported PA area (km2)
Nuestro mensaje…
● El verdadero cumplimiento de la Meta 11 de Aichi puede estar oscurecido por la información errada suministrada por fuentes oficiales, país por país. ● Algunas fuentes de error: ● Equivocada aplicación del concepto de Área Protegida según UICN/CBD
● Solapamiento espacial entre AP ● Incoherencia entre los linderos oficiales y la superficie (km2) reportada para cada AP
What do we propose ? ● The official information should be double checked by local experts: i.e. NGOs , WCPA members, Universities, etc, through some efficient mechanism.
¿Qué proponemos ? ● La data oficial debería ser corroborada por expertos locales independientes: ej. ONG, miembros de la CMAP, Universidades, etc, mediante algún mecanismo eficiente.
Venezuela: case study ● According to official sources:
● Every “protected” area under Venezuelan law is reported as a “Protected Area” (mimicking IUCN/CBD definition) ● called “areas under special management regime” (acronym “ABRAE”)
● Therefore, “protected” cover is reported to be between 40% and 74% of country area
● Country’s marine int’l boundaries are not 100% set: ”protected” cover is always reported on emerged (land) area
● 400 “protected” units ● 21 categories of “protected” areas -‐ ABRAE.
El caso de Venezuela: ● De acuerdo a fuentes oficiales:
● Toda área “protegida” de acuerdo a la legislación nacional es reportada como Área Protegida (asimilándose a la definición UICN/CBD) ● denominadas “áreas bajo régimen de administración especial” (acrónimo: ABRAE)
● Por tanto la cobertura “protegida” oficialmente reportada se ubica entre 40 y 74% del país
● Los límites internacionales marinos del país no están establecidos en un 100%: la cobertura “protegida” siempre se reporta en relación a la superficie terrestre (emergida)
● 400 unidades “protegidas” ● 21 categorías de áreas “protegidas” -‐ ABRAE.
Venezuela: case study ● We systematically analyzed the ABRAE concept and all of its categories.
● Findings: ● Only 7 out of 21 categories (ABRAE) are true “Protected Areas” sensu IUCN/CBD: ● National Park (II) ● Wildlife Sanctuary (II) ● Natural Monument (III) ● Wildlife Refuge (IV) ● Wildlife Reserve (VI) ● Forest Reserve (VI) ● Biosphere Reserve (variable)
El caso de Venezuela: ● Sistemáticamente analizamos el concepto de ABRAE y todas sus categorías.
● Hallazgos: ● Sólo 7 de las 21 categorías (ABRAE) son verdaderas “Áreas Protegidas” según UICN/CBD: ● Parque Nacional (II) ● Santuario de Fauna (II) ● Monumento Natural (III) ● Refugio de Fauna Silvestre (IV) ● Reserva de Fauna Silvestre (VI) ● Reserva Forestal (VI) ● Reserva de Biósfera (variable)
Venezuela: case study ● Findings…
● Correspondingly only 111 designated units are true PAs ● There is substantial cover overlapping among some of the PA units
● The national PA cover % is calculated over emerged land (continental + islands) not considering the marine area.
● Some “decrees” are arbitrarily interpreted in relation to their boundaries leading to wrong area calculations.
El caso de Venezuela: ● Hallazgos…
● Correspondientemente, sólo 111 unidades decretadas son verdaderas AP
● Existe un considerable solape entre algunas de estas unidades de AP
● La cobertura (%) de AP se calcula sobre su área terrestre sin considerar las áreas marinas.
● Algunos decretos son interpretados arbitrariamente en relación a sus linderos conllevando a cálculos de superficie erróneos.
Venezuela: case study ● Correcting above findings (mistakes), the final result is: ● The real PA extent, no overlapping, is 309,930 km2 ● Within them 4,220 km2 is strictly marine area ● Emerged land: 305,710 km2 ● Therefore the % PA cover of Venezuela in relation to emerged land is 33.36 %
● A whole country (marine+emerged) figure can’t be provided until all marine int’l boundaries are set.
El caso de Venezuela: ● Corrigiendo los errores encontrados, el resultado final es: ● La extensión real de las AP, sin solape, es 309.930 km2 ● De ella 4.220 km2 son estrictamente marinos ● Superficie terrestre (emergida): 305.710 km2 ● Por tanto el % de cobertura de AP en relación a la superficie emergida del país es 33,36%
● Una cifra para todo el país (marino+terrestre) no se puede suministrar hasta que todos los límites marinos internacionales sean establecidos.
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Venezuela: case study ● …not considering “management effectiveness”…that’s another matter …
● Most of Category VI is “Paper PAs” and/or subject to conventional natural resources exploitation (some of them completely wiped out)
● Not considering them: PA is 18.85% of Venezuela’s emerged land
El caso de Venezuela: ● … eso sin considerar la “efectividad de manejo”…ese es otro tema ….
● Casi todas las categorías VI son “AP de papel” y/0 están actualmente sometidas a extractivismo convencional (algunas totalmente arrasadas): Reservas Forestales.
● Al no tomarlas en cuenta: El 18,85% de Venezuela (emergida) es AP.
Conclusion ● If a real estimation of how far/close the World is with respect to Aichi Target 11 is needed, then it should be wise to conduct an independent double checking of the official statistics and numbers supplied by Governments, country by country, and with a strict compliance with the conceptual definition of Protected Area according to IUCN/CBD.
Conclusión ● Si se quiere tener una estimación realista de cuán cerca o lejos está el mundo de alcanzar la Meta 11 de Aichi, entonces es necesario efectuar una corroboración independiente de la data oficial suministrada por los gobiernos, país por país, y con un apego estricto a la definición de Área Protegida de UICN/CBD.
Epílogo…
km2 AP s/ReFor terrestre-‐marino 178.591,80 % total Vzla mar+terr es AP s/ReFor 12,61
km2 terrestre AP s/ReFor 172.792,19
% terrestre AP s/ReFor 18,85
km2 marinos AP 5.799,61
% marino AP 1,16
km2 pais terrestre 916445
km2 país marino 500000