Browsing by Subject "Biodiversity conservation"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    'Balancing Biodiversity': A Global Instrument for Meeting the 2010 Biodiversity Target
    (2008-04-25T17:45:57Z) Peterson, Annah; Hill, Chloe; Gallagher, Louise
    Radically heightened extinction rates over the past 50 years have prompted the Convention on Biological Diversity to adopt the ‘2010 biodiversity target,’ which aims to significantly reduce global biodiversity loss by 2010. Despite the establishment of this ambitious goal, few policies have proven to be able to ensure its achievement. This paper explores the potential for biodiversity conservation policies to be developed on a global scale, with special emphasis on incentive-based instruments to curb biodiversity loss. By far, the primary cause of biodiversity loss is habitat destruction resulting from land-use change. Land-use change, however, occurs over a variety of spatial scales, making it difficult to utilise incentives in order to target the major actors engaging in land-use change activities. Specifically, land-use change is driven globally by international developers selling products for export, as well as locally by actors altering land to meet subsistence needs. In light of these two groups, the paper discusses the need for a two-pronged incentive system, which creates incentives for both international actors engaging in high-return development activities, particularly those from the private sector, and local actors engaging in lower-return subsistence activities. It then examines the potential for creating this two-prong incentive structure through the development of a global system of biodiversity offsets, referred to as ‘balancing biodiversity’. The paper concludes by establishing rudimentary guidelines for the implementation of such a system with the hope of initiating discussion over global instruments for meeting the 2010 target.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Equity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
    (2021-09-30) Campbell, Lisa; Horan, Rebecca; Fail, Robin
    The purpose of this report is to inform the EDF-Bezos Earth Fund Blue Carbon Pathways Working Group in its exploration of ‘blue carbon’ as a natural climate solution (NCS) in offshore ocean ecosystems. The report addresses one of the challenges in pursuing this work: i.e. how to understand, conceptualize, and pursue equity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The work is timely given increased recognition of the intersections of biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation; broader societal interest in equity, including within conservation organizations; and renewed interests in ABNJ for their conservation and development potential. The report has four substantive sections, reviewing definitions of and frameworks for equity and the related term justice, followed by equity in biodiversity conservation, oceans governance in ABNJ, and NCS carbon sequestration projects.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Institutional Innovation for Biodiversity Finance with Direct Financing from International Foundations to IPLCs
    (2024-04-28) Yang, Shangyi; Wang, Siming; Li, Muyang
    Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) are pivotal stewards of biodiversity-rich areas, yet they often face significant financial constraints that impede their conservation efforts. This study, conducted in collaboration with the Global Environmental Institute, investigates the funding practices of international philanthropic foundations to identify how these can be enhanced to support IPLCs more effectively. Through interviews with seven international foundations who made commitments to support IPLCs, two intermediary organizations, and one IPLC group, this study explores the challenges within current funding mechanisms aimed at supporting biodiversity conservation by IPLCs. Our findings illuminate a complex funding landscape where long-term, unrestricted financial support is recognized as crucial yet hindered by several barriers. These include inadequate capacity within IPLC groups, misaligned priorities between donors and IPLCs, persistent language obstacles, trust issues, and hard to satisfy financial reporting demands. We also find that some organizations are already pursuing innovative practices that have the potential to overcome these barriers and serve as reference for other donors. Our analysis suggests that international foundations should focus on providing long-term, unrestricted funding directly to IPLC organizations while investing more in building their capacity to manage funds and projects, as well as to enhance their decision-making roles. Moreover, they should adopt policies that promote the use of indigenous local languages in their programs to enhance understanding, participation, and effectiveness. Foundations and other donor organizations who want to support IPLCs should also reform their governance structures to enable greater IPLC representation, and set explicit targets for reducing the number of intermediaries while also increasing direct funding to them. It is highly recommended that foundations ought to clearly define and plan to increase direct funding allocations to grassroots communities and local organizations in future funding cycles. They should also reevaluate their risk perceptions related to biodiversity conservation, prioritizing investment over avoidance, and maintain transparency and collaborative practices to strengthen local organizational capacities in alignment with IPLC priorities. Despite ongoing challenges, there is an increasing acknowledgment of the necessity for inclusive strategies and partnerships that align conservation efforts with the unique needs and priorities of IPLCs. This study serves as a reference for optimizing fund distribution to those who are integral to safeguarding global biodiversity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Model the Hidden Cost of China’s 2060 Carbon Neutrality: Potential Biodiversity Impacts of Wind and Solar Energy Expansion
    (2023-05-04) Zhou, Zhijie
    Large-scale renewable energy deployments, as urgent solutions to mitigate climate change and its consequences, are reshaping the landscape in the human-environment nexus. Albeit promoted as pathways to bend the curve of biodiversity loss through their emission reduction and habitat restoration potential, renewables require significant land assets per unit energy and could impose high cost to ecosystems, triggering potential conflicts between global climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. As China expanding its landscape of large-scale wind and solar energy facilities to fulfill its ambitious “2060 Carbon Neutrality” goals, an assessment of the potential areas of such concerns at a high resolution can provide insights for stakeholders to effectively manage biodiversity impacts of renewable power transitions. This project used suitability analysis to identify and predict the potential land use conflict between wind and solar energy expansion and biodiversity conservation in China under the 2060 announced pledge scenario in contrast to the biz-as-usual model of renewables expansion rate. We also quantify the biodiversity impacts of such expansion scenarios by estimating the mean richness and rarity scores, along with ecosystem service values and conflicting zones with Key Biodiversity Areas. Although our results indicated the renewables expansion under China’s ambitious goals tend not to encroach a high ratio of prioritized areas for biodiversity, the potential impacts in regions without the strictest protection are still worth investigation, as illustrated in our case studies for the Qilianshan-Qinghaihu Region and Hainan Province. The study provides insights for decision-makers to develop renewable energy facilities while protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Opening the black box of conservation philanthropy: A co-produced research agenda on private foundations in marine conservation
    (Marine Policy, 2021-10-01) Gruby, RL; Enrici, A; Betsill, M; Le Cornu, E; Basurto, X
    In the ‘new Gilded Age’ of mega-wealth and big philanthropy, academics are not paying enough attention to private foundations. Mirroring upward trends in philanthropy broadly, marine conservation philanthropy has more than doubled in recent years, reaching virtually every globally salient marine conservation issue in all corners of the planet. This paper argues that marine conservation philanthropy warrants a dedicated research agenda because private foundations are prominent, unique, and under-studied actors seeking to shape the future of a “frontier” space. We present a co-produced social science research agenda on marine conservation philanthropy that reflects the priorities of 106 marine conservation donors, practitioners, and stakeholders who participated in a research co-design process in 2018. These “research co-designers” raised 137 unique research questions, which we grouped into five thematic research priorities: outcomes, governance roles, exits, internal foundation governance, and funding landscape. We identify issues of legitimacy, justice, and applied best practice as cross-cutting research priorities that came up throughout the five themes. Participants from the NGO, foundation, and government sectors identified questions within all five themes and three cross-cutting issues, underscoring shared interest in this work from diverse groups. The research we call for herein can inform the practice of conservation philanthropy at a time when foundations are increasingly reckoning with their role as institutions of power in society. This paper is broadly relevant for social and natural scientists, practitioners, donors, and policy-makers interested in better understanding private philanthropy in any environmental context globally.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Unexpected Alliances: Biodiversity conservation through Payments for Ecosystem Services, Protected Areas, and Sustainable Timber Management in three regions of Mexico
    (2019-04-26) Depenthal, Johanna; Alatorre-Troncoso, Andrea
    Our research investigated biodiversity conservation through three strategies – payments for ecosystem services (PES), protected areas, and sustainable timber management (STM) – and their interactions with each other and local social and environmental conditions in Mexico. Multiple strategies have been implemented to conserve Mexico’s biodiversity-rich communally-owned forests while also meeting economic needs. PES programs incentivize good forest management through direct payments to forest-owning communities. Protected areas such as federal biosphere reserves incorporate participatory planning and allow limited economic activities within buffer zones. Voluntary protected areas are established by communities that decide to formally conserve land. STM requires communities to implement sustainability and biodiversity conservation measures. Though these strategies often interact with each other at the community-level, previous research has often studied them independently. This multiple-case study addresses these complex interactions through 56 semi-structured interviews with experts and communal land tenure communities. We conducted our research in three contrasting regions with various combinations of these conservation strategies. We find that interactions among strategies are generally perceived as positive and complementary. Local conditions, such as internal governance and ecosystem type, determine the viability of the different strategies. Numerous participants credited the combination of strategies with improving attitudes towards forest conservation and management.