Placing the reconstituted NBWL in the Regulatory Framework

There has been a hue and cry over the newly reconstituted National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) as the same has inadequate representation from NGOs, eminent conservationists/ecologists/environmentalists and States from what is stipulated in the law. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (Section 5A of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972) mandates that 10 States (by rotation), 10 ecologists/conservationists/environmentalists and 5 NGOs need to be present in the 47 member body of the NBWL whereas the newly constituted NBWL has representatives only from 5 States, 2 ecologists/conservationists/environmentalists and  1 NGO.  

It is pertinent to note that the role played by the NBWL and the Standing Committee to the NBWL in regulating developmental and other activities in and around protected areas is crucial with the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (hereinafter the WLPA) vesting regulatory, recommendatory, advisory and consultative powers with the NBWL and the Standing Committee to the NBWL. The  Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest on 19^th December 2012 on taking up non-forestry activities in wildlife habitats (hereinafter the Guidelines) states that to undertake any non-forestry activities in any wild habitats, the project proponents requires Environmental Clearance, Forest Clearance and NBWL Clearance, making NBWL clearance another clearance process.   

Convening Stakeholders: An Inspiring Solution for Protected Areas Governance in Southern Africa

Protected areas can and do contribute to both improved livelihoods and improved conservation, but biodiversity continues to decline across most the Southern African region. A new strategy for protected areas for this region is therefore urgently needed. 

This is one of the most important messages highlighted by the participants at the High Level Dialogue on Improving Protected Area Governance for Livelihood Security and Biodiversity in Southern Africa (21-22 May 2014, Windhoek, Namibia). A report of the dialogue is available here. More on the Dialogue.

ICCA Consortium Newsletter Recaps 2012

The Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCA) Consortium has released the third edition of its newsletter, which focuses on Consortium events and activities from the final months of 2012. The newsletter blends coverage of work at the international and regional level with activities in specific countries and locations. The newsletter highlights the continued emergence of the ICCA Consortium, especially at the 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, as an influential actor representing various coalition partners supporting ICCAs. The steady expansion of national-level work from supporting individual ICCAs to developing nation-wide coalitions is also emphasised. Finally, the success of Consortium members in forcing policy conversations on conservation to always consider ICCAs, something unimaginable 10 years ago, is underscored. 

The newsletter can be downloaded here.

Presentation to GEF SGP - Kenya

Natural Justice was invited to present at a meeting of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Kenyan National Steering Committee on 9 November, 2012. The National Steering Committee includes representatives from  governmental, intergovernmental and civil society bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, WWF and Oxfam. It provides support to community based environment projects in the country with the aim of environmental conservation and sustainable livelihood development. Gino Cocchiaro presented on the work of Natural Justice, focusing on biocultural rights and biocultural community protocols as mechanisms to support the wellbeing of communities, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

International Conference on Heart of Borneo Initiative

The proposed Heart of Borneo boundary

(in yellow). Courtesy of WWF-Malaysia.

The island of Borneo is one of the world's major biodiversity hotspots, with thousands of plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. It is politically divided into the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, the Indonesian provinces of West, Central, South, and East Kalimantan, and the state of Brunei Darussalam. In 2007, the three national governments signed the Heart of Borneo Declaration, a unified conservation vision for "maintaining Bornean natural heritage for the benefit of present and future generations". The Heart of Borneo initiative, which is facilitated by the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia), aims to protect 22 million hectares of the largest contiguous forest in Southeast Asia through effective management of forest resources and a network of protected areas, productive forests, and other sustainable land uses.

From 6-7 November, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) attended an international conference entitled "Heart of Borneo +5 and Beyond: Shaping and Nurturing Sabah's Future Together". Held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the conference was organised by the Sabah Forestry Department and co-hosted by a range of other government agencies and non-governmental organisations, including the Sabah Biodiversity Centre, Partners of Community Organisations in Sabah (PACOS Trust) and Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP).

Namibian Press Conference at COP-11

On 16 October, 2012, Natural Justice’s Laureen Manuel attended a press conference held by the Namibian Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India. In addressing international media and other COP-11 delegates, the Honourable Minister of Environment and Tourism, Ms Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, shared the country’s experiences, challenges and successes in establishing and implementing its Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme. 

She said that the CBNRM programme is a powerful symbol of the potential for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity to alleviate poverty. Through the devolution of rights over wildlife and forest resources, indigenous peoples and local communities are now driving the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through communal conservancies and community forests. During COP-11, Namibia will be receiving an award for this community-based approach to conservation. 

Rio Tinto Mine's Net Biodiversity Impact Measured

A fascinating partnership between the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest environmental organisation, and Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining groups, has produced its first report on the net impact on biodiversity of a Rio Tinto ilmenite mine in southeastern Madagascar. The report is a product of IUCN’s effort to track Rio Tinto’s progress to meeting its commitment to a Net Positive Impact (NPI) on biodiversity, an initiative launched at the 2004 IUCN World Conservation Congress. 

The study seeks to measure Rio Tinto’s ilmenite mine as a pilot to test the tools designed to achieve and quantify NPI on biodiversity. Rio Tinto is using four different conservation actions to minimise the impact on biodiversity; avoidance, minimisation, rehabilitation and restoration, and biodiversity offsets. In the present analysis, biodiversity losses and gains were measured and forecast for the period 2004–2065 (i.e. from the date of the NPI commitment to the anticipated date of mine closure) in order to determine whether the mitigation activities are sufficient to achieve NPI by closure. The overall analysis shows that the mine “could be on track to achieve a Net Positive Impact on biodiversity by the date of closure of the mine” subject to key reservations. 

The full report can be downloaded here. Find more recent IUCN publications on marine protected areas management, ecological restoration for protected areas, conserving dryland biodiversity and other subjects here.

TCF Panel on Linking Agriculture and Conservation

Via www.christensenfund.org

Natural Justice partner and funder, The Christensen Fund (TCF), organised a panel discussion at the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC) entitled “from competition to collaboration between agriculture and conservation: moving toward convergence between agro-ecology and conservation biology.” The session included representatives from organisations working on issues such as biodiversity conservation, agriculture and Indigenous people. 

TCF described the session as coming in a “new phase of reflection and innovation around an agro-ecosystem approach as farmers, scientists and policy makers explore how to work with nature to reduce fossil energy subsidies, tighten nutrient cycles, better manage water use, contain the use of biocides, and take advantage of more complex and diverse systems to deliver more resilient and sustainable flows of food and fiber.” 

According to a report by the Earth Journalism Network, participants agreed on the need "to mainstream the idea that conservation of biodiversity need not only exist in places like national parks – which total less than 13 percent of the earth’s land area – but on the farms that cover much of the rest of the world.”  

Read the article by the Earth Journalism Network here. Find out more about The Christensen Fund here.