Protected Areas - are they safeguarding biodiversity?

Protected Areas spearhead our response to the rapidly accelerating biodiversity crisis. However, while the number of Protected Areas has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years, the extent to which the world’s protected areas are effectively conserving species, ecosystems, and ecosystem services is poorly understood

Protected Areas - are they safeguarding biodiversity?

Organised by Lucas Joppa (Microsoft Research), John Robinson (Wildlife Conservation Society) and Jonathan Baillie (Zoological Society of London)

Protected areas spearhead our response to the rapidly accelerating biodiversity crisis. However, while the number of protected areas has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years, the extent to which the world’s protected areas are effectively conserving species, ecosystems, and ecosystem services is poorly understood. This information is essential for understanding the global, regional and national status and trends of the world’s biodiversity and is required in order to develop a strategic response to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2020 targets. It is also essential for assessing the overall role of protected areas in biodiversity conservation and identifying where protected areas need to be further integrated with other conservation efforts to achieve effective species conservation. A better understanding of which protected areas are more successful at conserving intact wildlife populations, and which are not, will enable the identification of conditions and management practices that lead to successful protection.

Photo: Jonathan Baillie, ZSL This symposium will provide a synthetic analysis of the world’s protected area portfolio. A key theme will be to identify components of the current portfolio: how is it funded, managed and monitored, and to ask how protected areas have performed from a biodiversity conservation perspective. The symposium will also address how we can most effectively manage the portfolio into the future, and identify the new tools and technologies, including governance and financing mechanisms, necessary for ensuring effective biodiversity preservation within the global protected area network.
Protected Areas Symposium programme (1.9 MB)

Presentations

Jonathan Baillie (ZSL) and John Robinson (WCS)
Protected Areas symposium_Introduction and Keynote (8.6 MB)

Session I: Protected areas and biodiversity conservation: global overview

Neil Burgess (WWF UK)
Status Of The Worlds Protected Areas Key Findings From The Protected Planet Report 2012 (28.3 MB)
Neil Burgess_Status of the world's protected areas (2.1 MB)

Linda Krueger
Government commitments on protected areas (24.2 MB)
Linda Krueger_Global commitments on protected areas (4.7 MB)

Session II: Protected areas and biodiversity conservation: successes and failures

Ben Collen (ZSL)
Species population trends in protected areas (27.7 MB)

Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International)
Monitoring protected area coverage and impact on Key Biodiversity Areas, Important Bird Areas and Alliance for Zero Extinction sites (29.5 MB)
Stuart Butchart Monitoring protected area coverage and impact on KBA IBAs and Alliance for Zero Extinction sites (5.4 MB)

Corey Bradshaw (University of Adelaide)
Long-term ecological threats and changes in tropical protected areas (26.5 MB)
Corey Bradshaw_Long-term ecological threats and changes in tropical protected areas (19.4 MB)

Luigi Boitani (University of Rome)
The role of Natura 2000 sites in conserving the large mammals of Europe (19.5 MB)
Luigi Boitani_The role of Natura2000 in conserving the large carnivores of Europe (3.2 MB)

Megan Barnes (University of Queensland)
Presentation not available

Session III: Safeguarding biodiversity: considerations in designing and monitoring a protected area portfolio

Alexander Pfaff (Duke Sanford School of Public Policy)
Principles for estimating protected area impacts (27.3 MB)
Alex Pfaff_Principles for estimating protected area impact (2.2 MB)

James Watson (University of Queensland)
Optimal protection of the world's threatened birds, mammals and amphibians (28.4 MB)
James Watson_Optimal protection of the world's threatened birds, mammals and amphibians (4.0 MB)

Andrew Hansen (Montana State University)
Respecting spatial ecology - linking protected areas to surrounding landscapes (22.7 MB)
Andrew Hansen_Respecting spatial ecology: linking protected areas to surrounding landscapes (6.1 MB)

Tim O'Brien (WCS)
Camera traps for conservation - monitoring protected area investments to safeguard biodiversity (29.7 MB)
Tim O'Brien_Camera traps for conservation (5.9 MB)

Nathalie Pettorelli (ZSL)
Monitoring protected areas from space (24.8 MB)
Nathalie Pettorelli_Monitoring protected areas from space (3.2 MB)

Session IV: The potential for different protected area approaches

Nigel Dudley (Equilibrium Research)
Protected area diversity and potential for improvement (22.0 MB)
Nigel Dudley_Protected area diversity and potential for improvement (22.5 MB)

Madhu Rao (WCS)
Biodiversity conservation in community conserved areas: analysis of synergies and tradeoffs (25.0 MB)
Madhu Rao_Biodiversity conservation in community conserved areas - analysis of synergies and tradeoffs (3.8 MB)

Joe Walston (WCS)
The importance and limitations of Asia's protected areas for safeguarding commercially high value species (31.8 MB)
Joe Walston_The importance and limitations of Asia's protected areas for safeguarding commercially high value species (8.9 MB)

Eric Sanderson (WCS)
Steps toward conceiving a well-protected world (29.3 MB)

Session V: New approaches to managing and financing protected areas

Kathy MacKinnon (IUCN/World Commission on Protected Areas)
Sound investments - protected areas as natural solutions to climate change and biodiversity conservation (27.4 MB)
Kathy MacKinnon_Sound investments - protected areas as natural solutions to climate change and biodiversity conservation (1.3 MB)

Mark Zimsky (Global Environment Facility)
Sustainable financing of protected area system. A long rode to ho - lessons from the biodiversity portfolio of the Global Environment Facility (32.9 MB)
Mark Zimsky_Sustainable financing of protected area systems (2.4 MB)

Tom Brooks (NatureServe)
Progress towards a standard for identifying significant sites for biodiversity (14.7 MB)
Tom Brooks_Progress towards a standard for identifying significant sites for biodiversity (2.6 MB)

Stephen Woodley (IUCN)
Measuring and predicting the success of protected areas (12.2 MB)
Stephen Woodley_WCPA-SSC Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas (1.9 MB)

Charles Besancon (CBD LifeWeb Initiative)
The CBD LifeWeb Initiative and closing the gap on financing for protected area systems (26.6 MB)

Scott Laorie (Stanford University)
Harnessing the crowd to scale protected area monitoring (22.7 MB)

Panel discussion
Panel discussion (49.9 MB)

Registration fees

Full rate: two days or part days £140; one day or part day £85.

Student/ZSL Friends and Fellows rate: two days or part days £70; one day or part day £45.

Lunch and refreshments are included in the registration fee and a three-course dinner with the speakers will be held on the Thursday evening; places at the dinner will cost an additional £40 per person.

Enquiries: Megan Orpwood-Russell, E-mail: megan.orpwood-russell@zsl.org tel: +44 (0)20 7449 6227.

Present a poster of your research or work in this area
Posters relating to the symposium topic will be displayed throughout the meeting. Posters will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis and abstracts of no more than 250 words outlining poster content should be emailed to megan.orpwood-russell@zsl.org by 1 November 2012 for consideration. Successful poster proposals will notified by 2 November 2012.

Related links
ZSL Science and Conservation Events
Map showing ZSL Meeting Rooms
Directions to ZSL London Zoo
Information on ZSL membership