Mekong Sub-region Conservation Planning and Management Eric - - PDF document

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Transboundary Landscapes of the Mekong Sub-region

Conservation Planning and Management

Eric Wikramanayake, PhD Consultant, Landscape Conservation Specialist

Ecosystems, the biodiversity that comprises them and the benefits they provide to people (ecosystem services) are the fundamental units for life support on Earth. They are the foundation for the natural processes of climate regulation and are a vital support for water quality, food security, and flood protection, amongst many others.

(http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx)

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

10/25/2013 2 The Ecosystem Management approach: “an integrated process to conserve and improve ecosystem health that sustains ecosystem services for human well-being” Ecosystem management is the foundation on which a Green Economy is built

Conservation for a Green Economy

http://worldwildlife.org/places/greater-mekong

Conservation Landscapes in the GMS

• Represent ecosystems and habitats

with important and representative values of the region’s biodiversity

• Provide the ecological requirements

for globally threatened species populations; from iconic species such as tigers and elephants to endemic species such as Douc’s langurs and Sao La

• Link core areas with habitat linkages to

facilitate species movement and maintenance of viable metapopulations

• Capture and sustain ecosystem

processes and services

• Transboundary areas have most intact

forest areas

10/25/2013 3 Conservation Gaps in the GMS

• Underexplored. New species being still
• discovered. Fill in the conservation

gaps for these species

• Previous analyses did not explicitly

consider ecosystem services, especially in the context of Green Economies and Growth

• Previous analyses did not consider

climate change

Existing and Planned Infrastructure in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region

• 225 planned dams
• 73 existing or planned dams in

landscapes

• 1324 km of planned roads in

conservation landscapes

Xue, Bottril, Forrest.1/22/10 based on infrastructure data collected in 2007, and tiger habitat representing 1995-2005.

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• GMS landscape

boundaries identified

• Need spatial planning

within the landscapes to identify the core areas, corridors and buffer zones

• Institutional and policy

structures that will allow integration of conservation and development

• Monitoring plan

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Wikramanayake, E.D., M. McKnight, E. Dinerstein, A. Joshi, B. Guring, and D. Smith. 2004. Designing a Conservation Landscape for Tigers in Human-Dominated Environments. Conservation Biology. 18:839-844.

Step 1. Modeling the conservation landscape spatial plans

1. Identify key ecological and biodiversity features to be used for spatial analysis and mapping the conservation landscapes. 2. Develop initial landscape spatial plans for the transboundary conservation landscapes. 3. Validate the draft conservation landscape spatial plans and conservation gaps through expert vetting.

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

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Step 2. Reconciling the ‘ideal’ landscape configuration with conflicting/competing land uses.

1. Spatial analyses to reconcile land-use for conservation and development priorities to identify the impacts of planned and ongoing development on conservation areas due to conflicting land uses and demand for lands. ‘Upstream’ assessments of landscape-scale land-use conflicts, such as through SEAs for proactive assessments to safeguard against the cumulative impacts in space and time. Balance Green and Grey Infrastructure

From: Quintero, J., Roca, R., Morgan, A. J., Mathur, A. & Shi, X. 2010. Infrastructure in Tiger Range Countries : A Multi-Level Approach. Smithsonian at http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/download/GTI- Smart-Green-Infrastructure-Technical-Paper.pdf

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Step 2. Reconciling the ‘ideal’ landscape configuration with conflicting/competing land uses.

Strike a balance between Green and Grey Infrastructure in land-use planning to:

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

• Locate Green and Grey spaces where most needed

and appropriate.

• Identify vital ecological areas and connectivity
• Identify opportunities for restoration of important

natural areas

• Create a vision that is greater than the sum of its

parts

• Enable conservation and development to be

planned in harmony, not in opposition to each

• ther.

From: “Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st Century,” by Mark Benedict and Ed McMahon.

Green Infrastructure: An interconnected network of green space that conserves natural ecosystem values and functions and provides associated benefits to human populations.

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Step 3a: Economic evaluation of the natural capital of conservation corridors

1. Assess the natural capital values of the landscapes

• the sources of natural capital

from landscapes

• valuation of natural capital
• who benefits?
• Economic and livelihoods related

benefits and losses from natural capital

• Socio-political implications

2. Scenario-analyses for conservation areas under immediate stress from conflicting land-uses for socio- ecological and climate impacts

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Step 3b: Climate-integration of spatial landscape conservation plan.

1. Climate vulnerability analyses of landscape spatial plans

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

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Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

• Identify points of entry to integrate

the landscape plans into the land use planning systems and processes at national and sub-national (provincial and/or district-scale) in each country.

• With appropriate institutions,

integrate the conservation plans into the land use plans and planning systems.

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine

The overall vision for the CFS is: “to establish a viable and contiguous or connected conservation area comprising both forest and non forest areas that will be maintained as the green lung of the environmentally sensitive area network in Peninsular Malaysia”

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

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Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine

The overall vision for the CFS is: “to establish a viable and contiguous or connected conservation area comprising both forest and non forest areas that will be maintained as the green lung of the environmentally sensitive area network in Peninsular Malaysia” The National Physical Plan prepared by the Town & Country Planning Department (TCPD) recognized that ‘conserving forest lands would be integral to optimizing the use of land in the country’ and that ‘the multifunctional role of the forest lands should be enhanced through the recognition

• f the Central Forest Spine…to create

linkages and corridors to the more isolated reserves’. In essence, NPP recognized that connecting these fragmented forests is important to secure mutual co‐existence and benefit for development and conservation.

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine

The NPP is the highest level spatial and is empowered by the Town & Country Planning Act 1976 (TCPA). The NPP is prepared in tandem with the Five Year Malaysia Plan and is the product of numerous negotiations and consultations with other federal agencies and all state governments.

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

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Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine

Policy framework for the Peninsular Malaysia National Physical Plan and the Central Forest Spine Master Plan

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

• Which areas of a landscape can be

developed?

• Which areas should be avoided?
• What type of development is

compatible with biodiversity conservation?

• What is the cumulative impact of

more than one project or land use?

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

From: Quintero, J., Roca, R., Morgan, A. J., Mathur, A. & Shi, X. 2010. Infrastructure in Tiger Range Countries : A Multi-Level

• Approach. Smithsonian at http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/download/GTI-Smart-Green-Infrastructure-Technical-Paper.pdf

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Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes.

• Which areas of a landscape can be

developed?

• Which areas should be avoided?
• What type of development is

compatible with biodiversity conservation?

• What is the cumulative impact of

more than one project or land use?

Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes

Monitoring and Data Management Plan

1. Monitor at different scales: 1. Site-scale (for projects) 2. Landscape-scale 3. Regional-scale 2. Data management 1. Databases for landscapes 2. Regional database and knowledge centre for sharing information

Monitoring Plan for Conservation Landscapes

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