Webinar on Livestock Management in Sustainable Landscapes

Courtesy of the e-Institute.

On 17 April, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) participated in a webinar entitled "The Role of Livestock Management in Sustainable Landscapes". It was hosted by the e-Institute of the World Bank and the discussant was Pablo Manzano (Global Coordinator of the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism, International Union for Conservation of Nature). On the basis that traditional pastoralists have thrived during millennia in areas with low productivity and hard conditions, the webinar considered questions such as what are the keys for sustainable pastoralism, what opportunities does livestock bring for environmental restoration and poverty reduction, and what is the role of mobile pastoralism for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Throughout Mr. Manzano's presentation and subsequent discussion with participants, topics included, among others, ecological benefits of agropastoralist systems; the interrelated pillars of pastoralist systems (namely, natural resources, the herd, and the family and wider social institutions); the central importance of mobility in food security; the role of rangeland soils in carbon sequestration; buffering against climate crises by increasing access to financial services (for example, to restock herds after a disaster); the use of pastoralist networks; and biodiversity conservation in large landscapes.

Please visit the e-Institute website for more information about free online courses, webinars, and more.

Guide to Investing in Locally Controlled Forestry

The Growing Forest Partnership initiative, in partnership with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, the International Institute for Environment and Development, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, The Forests Dialogue and the World Bank, has released a “Guide to Investing in Locally Controlled Forestry” authored by Dominic Elson. 

Per the press release, the guide “emerged out of 11 international dialogues that assembled more than 400 people to discuss how to make investing in locally controlled forestry (ILCF) happen. It is a primarily a tool for practical action – providing guidance on how to structure enabling investments and prepare the ground for asset investments that yield acceptable returns and reduced risk, not only for investors, but also for local forest right-holders, national governments and society at large. After providing strong justification for this approach, the guide sets out a framework for structuring investments with tactical advice for building the partnerships necessary for successful ILCF.” 

Read more about the guide here. Download the guide directly here.

Groundbreaking Resolution by Ecuador's National Court of Justice

Via iucn.org/

A resolution has been signed by all 21 judges of the National Court of Justice, a court with jurisdiction throughout all of Ecuador, declaring that judges in the province of Galapagos have the standing to hear cases on environmental crimes. Judges in the area had previously refused to hear around 100 cases, arguing lack of expertise. The cases then had to be heard in the Provincial Court of Justice, some 1 000 kilometres away, severely limiting access to justice. 

The Provincial Prosecutor of Galapagos sought a consultation with the National Court of Justice as several cases, including unauthorised fisheries and the capture of marine protected species, were not being heard. The National Court of Justice has the authority to issue rulings when there is doubt on the meaning of Ecuadorian laws. The consultation was formally requested by the Attorney General of Ecuador, and the consultation process included engagements with civil society. Ultimately, the National Court of Justice held that the judges of the territorial section where the offense occurred are the competent authorities to hear such cases in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of Ecuador. 

Hugo Echeverria, a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and a member of the Conservation Sector of Galapagos, says the resolution is important because it "answers a legal question on judicial competence, which had various legal criteria, all equally respectable; and historic, because it is the first time the Plenary of the National Court addresses an issue of environmental judicial procedure, showing the leading role that the judiciary has on the new legal field of environmental law."

Read more about the resolution in English here and in Spanish here.

UNEP Protected Planet Report

The United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC) has released its first ever "Protected Planet Report." The report seeks to track global progress towards achieving Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The report was compiled by UNEP-WCMC, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Commission on Protected Areas and a wide range of organisations that build on the work of the CBD-mandated Biodiversity Indicators Partnership.

The report, which will now be released semi-annually, notes that while the protected area network is growing towards achieving targets in terms of area covered, many protected areas do not offer adequate protection for endangered species. The report also reveals that protected area management is changing dramatically around the world. According to Nature's write up of the report, "in 1990, just 14% of protected areas allowed hunting and other sustainable uses of natural resources, but today that number has risen to 32%. At the same time, the amount of area managed exclusively by governments has declined from 96% to 77%, a trend reflecting the rise of community-based conservation and co-management schemes with indigenous peoples."

Nature's story on the report can be accessed here. IUCN's description of the report can be found here. The report can be downloaded here. 

IUCN Journal on PAs and Conservation Re-Launched

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released the first edition of its re-launched PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation. The journal includes contributions on a wide range of subjects important to protected areas and conservation including ocean protection, protecting indigenous grasslands in New Zealand, the impact of veterinary fencing in southern Africa, the linkages between human health and well-being and protected areas in Canada, and a discussion of motivations for hunting in Iran. The journal was co-edited by Sue Stolton and Nigel Dudley of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and Equilibrium Research. 

Two articles consider Target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which references "other effective area-based conservation measures", which can include Indigenous peoples' and local community conserved territories and areas (ICCAs). An editorial by Nik Lopoukhine, Chair of the IUCN WCPA, and Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, seeks clarity on which “management approaches are, and are not, to be included within the land and water areas established under the auspices of the target.” “Meeting Aichi Target 11: What Does Success Look Like for Protected Area Systems?” is authored by several  IUCN and United Nations Environment Programme staff and argues for “a holistic interpretation of Target 11 as a way for the global community to use protected areas to change the current unacceptable trends in global biodiversity loss.” 

The full journal can be downloaded here. Information on the journal and links to individual articles can be found here. Find IUCN on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IUCN. 

Natural Justice at 5th IUCN WCC

Harry Jonas and Holly Shrumm of Natural Justice are in Jeju, South Korea, to participate in the Fifth World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Congress will take place from 6-15 September and will be preceded by meetings of the volunteer Commissions. Natural Justice will present at and participate in a range of events related to Indigenous peoples' and local communities' conserved territories and areas (ICCAs), sacred natural sites, biocultural diversity, rights-based approaches to conservation, governance and management of protected areas, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and access and benefit sharing, among others. The official Congress programme is available here. Updates will be provided on this blog throughout the Congress. Find ways to engage with the Congress from anywhere here. 

Natural Justice is contributing two case studies to an IUCN Rights Based Approaches portal. A recent IUCN publication called Conservation with Justice focuses on rights-based approaches to conservation and sets out a "stepwise approach." With reference to the stepwise approach, we will detail how the capacity building work with the K2C's Bushbuckridge Traditional Healers and the development of a bio-cultural community protocol increased the healers' organization, governance and participation in community decision-making, and will illustrate how the Raika community protocol is helping the community to challenge their exclusion from the Kumbalgargh Forest.