Categoria: BLOG

The Micronesia Challenge is a commitment by the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands to preserve the natural resources that are crucial to the survival of Pacific traditions, cultures and livelihoods. Thomas Remengesau Jr, President of the Republic of Palau, talking about the Micronesia Challenge, declared that “Environment is our Economy”.

Palau has one of the largest portions of species that occurs nowhere  else in the world and its ecosystems provide many important services that positively support environmental dynamics and contribute to livelihoods.

The Micronesia Challenge in Palau has a proper financing mechanism, a fee system, based on the payment of ecosystem services and the generous assistance of foreign governments and NOGs, especially the Nature Conservancy.

At the global level, there are significant running costs associated with recurrent management and investments in protected areas. This is particularly evident in developing countries, where the total annual funding shortfall (total cost minus current funding) is estimated between USD 1.0 and 1.7 billion per year.

In this scenario, the Aichi Biodiversity Target n. 20 provides that “By 2020, at the latest, the mobilization of financial resources (…) should increase substantially from the current levels”

Mobilizing financial resources may be a difficult exercise for public administration and parks’ management bodies, particularly in those situations requiring self-financing mechanisms, as public contributions are not sufficient to guarantee an efficient management and effective conservation.

Palau may be considered a good case study, as the revenue generation mechanisms put in place currently provide significant funds for biodiversity conservation.

In Palau the taxes/ticketing system, which is based on the payment of fees for recreational activities, is one of the pillars of sustainable financing of conservation. Some of the components of this system are, for instance:

• A national green fee of 30 USD, to be paid when a tourist leaves from the Koror International Airport;
• A recreational activities permit fee of 50 USD (diving, snorkeling, kayaking), applied by the Koror State (it can also include Jellyfish lake; in this case the applied fee is 100 USD);
• A diving permit fee of 30 USD, applied by the Pelileu State;
• A diving permit fee (snorkeling, kayaking ) of 10 USD, applied by the Pelileu State and valid for 1 day;
• A ticket of 100 USD to take pictures in the east coast protected area.

These taxes are based on the willingness of tourists to pay for these activities; for them, these fees do not represent a relevant addition to their budget, and so they continue to travel to and visit Palau.

Considering that in 2015 about 165,000 tourists visited Palau, the total amount generated by these revenue generation mechanisms is huge and represents an important income for the implementation of conservation policies.

The main purpose of the protected areas designation is biodiversity conservation.

However, in many countries, other reasons can become the main motivations for  establishing a protected area, like, for example, the preservation of traditional values, the conservation of peculiar landscapes and seascapes, the protection of archeological and historical sites and the sustainable management of ecosystems goods and services.

In Palau, the Protected Areas Network (PAN) is not only the pillar of biodiversity conservation, but also the spine of sustainable management and conservation of ecosystems services.

Many protected areas were designated in Palau to preserve fish nursery areas, with a total prohibition of fishery and aquaculture activities, to manage tourist, recreational and fishery activities in a sustainable way, as is the case in the Southern Lagoon Management Area, or to promote the traditional sustainable use of forests.

In these cases, different ecosystem services, like recreation, cultural values preservation, food, regulation, are conserved in specific protected areas. Local communities’ members, as well as institutions, recognize in the protected areas system  a way to maintain livelihoods, well-being and a healthy environment for them and for future generations.

In small islands, natural ecosystems provide, through their goods and services, livelihoods for local communities and  are a great tourist attraction, with positive consequences in terms of prosperity, growth, socio-economic development and financing of public institutions. Marine and coastal ecosystems and biodiversity still remain essential for many islanders, particularly those living in traditional societies.

On the other side, human activities can be detrimental to natural ecosystems and their services, due to the limited resilience of small islands and significant changes in natural resources management.

Conservation of ecosystems and their services is a fundamental objective under the general scope of sustainable development in small islands and the Republic of Palau represents a concrete case study where the government and the society show awareness and commitment to this theme.

As a signatory of the Micronesia Challenges, Palau is committed to effectively conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources by 2020. The achievement of these objectives can significantly contribute to the conservation of ecosystem services and their valorization.

The Republic of Palau, where Giacomo is working on a GEF6 Project Proposal, recognizes the Ecosystem Services’ conservation as a pillar of this challenge and this Ecolinfa News special issue reports some of the initiatives implemented and the results achieved at the Country level.

“A dead shark is worth several hundred dollars, but a live shark is worth $1.9 million in tourism during its life span.”

Thomas Remengesau Jr, President of the Republic of Palau

On October 10, 2016 there was a Kick-off meeting in Brussels  on “Information & Governance” LIFE projects,  financed in 2016. The main topic of the conference was the new financial reporting system of projects. Alessandro Piazzi attended the meeting as a representative and the coordinator of the ASAP LIFE Project.

As part of its Smart Regulation policy, the European Commission in December 2012 initiated the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT), a rolling programme to keep the entire stock of EU legislation under review. It affects the whole policy cycle, from initiation to evaluation, and aims to make EU law simpler and less costly.

On February 2, 2016 the review process of the Nature Directives was concluded^[1]. A process that started one year ago to promote citizen participation and raise awareness of the importance of protecting nature.

Through the international propaganda campaign Allarme Natura, environmental groups (coordinated by BirdLife International, WWF, EEB and Friends of the Earth) have been able to reach  500,000 people and businesses.

During the propaganda campaign, environmental associations have argued strongly that the European Nature Directives are very important, and  they expressed the need for the European Commission not to change them, and, indeed, reinforce their content and promote their concrete application.

A report compiled by technical experts and published by the European Commission on February 12, 2015 (Evaluation Study to support the Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives) states that it produces more benefits than costs. The study shows that the Natura 2000 network generates  benefits worth 200/300 billion euro in ecosystem services, compared to a cost of 5.8 billion euro.

On the date above, the European Parliament approved with 592 votes in favor (and only 52 against) the report on “2020 Biodiversity Strategy“. This was essential to reach targets set for improving biodiversity protection in Europe, and to  strengthen the force of Nature Directives.

The great success of the petition and the position taken by the nine environment ministers (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia and Luxembourg ) have  halted the “bad” intentions to change and weaken the Directives, reinforcing the importance of the European legislation and the need to strengthen the protection and management of nature  in our continent.

ENEP, the European Network of Environmental Professional (Giacomo is its General Secretary), participated in the REFIT, attending  several round tables organized by the EC.

Ecolinfa works on Nature 2000 Network since 2015, in Management and Planning of Nature 2000 Sites, LIFE Projects and Conservation Measures.

[1] The Nature Directives refer to the “Birds” and “Habitat” Directives; they give protected status to species and habitats, and are used by  Member States, together with other crucial environmental legislation, to defend wildlife.

Stopping the illegal wildlife trade is one of the most important and urgent problems of international organizations for  biodiversity protection.

There’s been an unprecedented growth in illegal wildlife trade across the world in recent years, which is threatening to overturn decades of conservation successes. Especially for iconic animals like rhinos, elephants and tigers.

The numbers are horrific: around 20,000 African elephants killed by poachers each year, and the number of rhinos killed  in South Africa has consistently increased since 2007.

But it’s not just an issue that affects wildlife. The illegal wildlife trade is a huge international organized crime – the fourth biggest illegal trade in the world.

For the first time, the Analysis of International Funding to Tackle Illegal Wildlife Trade fills the gap between the growing interest of the international community on the theme and the lack of information on donor funding.

The report draws people’s attention on a number of key findings:

1. a) A total of $1.3 billion was committed by 24 international donors between 2010 and June 2016, funding 1,105 projects in 60 different countries and various regional and global projects.
2. b) The top five donors were the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Germany, the United States, the European Commission, and the World Bank Group, who together contributed $1.1 billion of the total funding (86%).
3. c) The top five recipient countries were Tanzania (8%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (5%), Mozambique (5%), Gabon (3%), and Bangladesh (3%).
4. d) 46% of the funding supported protected area management.

Due to the cross-border and multi-dimensional nature of illegal wildlife trade, the development community must partner with stakeholders from multiple sectors and countries to reduce poaching, trafficking, and the demand for wildlife and wildlife products.

The report was released ahead of the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, hosted by the Government of Vietnam on November 17-18, 2016, where global leaders discussed the best way forward to eradicate illegal wildlife trade.

Environment Action Programmes provide a general policy framework for the European Union’s environment policy in which the most important medium- and long-term goals are defined and set out in a basic strategy, if applicable, including concrete measures to be taken. Environment Action Programmes date back to a Conference of Heads of State and Government held in October 1972, where States agreed that a common Community environmental policy was essential and called on the Commission to develop an Environment Action Programme. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht created a contractual basis for the adoption of Environment Action Programmes. When the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, this contractual basis was set out in Article 192 (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Under this provision, Environment Action Programmes are issued based on a proposal from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with an ordinary legislative procedure, and are thus formal legislative acts.

The 7th Environment Action Programme (EAP) will be guiding European environment policy until 2020.

To realise this vision, priority objectives to be achieved by 2020 have been identified for nine areas.

Three are sectoral: 1) Natural capital; 2) Energetic resource efficiency (green and competitive low-carbon economy); 3) Environment and health. Four are horizontal measures: 4) Implementation; 5) Knowledge base; 6) Environmental externalities; 7) Coherence. And two have a spatial dimension: 8)  Sustainable cities; 9) International environmental protection.

The programme entered into force in January 2014. It is now up to the EU institutions and the Member States to ensure it is implemented, and that priority objectives set out are met by 2020.

Ecolinfa is working of some of the areas and measures of the EAP. Particularly: Natural Capital, Sustainable cities and International environmental protection.

Sustainable development has since long been at the heart of the European project and the EU Treaties give recognition to its economic, social and environmental dimensions that should be tackled together.

The essence of sustainable development is a life of dignity for all within the planet’s limits and reconciling  economic efficiency, social inclusion and environmental responsibility.

The EU, to achieve these objectives, sets out its priorities with “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets.

The journey started in June 2012, with the “Rio+20” Conference on Sustainable Development, where Governments decided to develop global Sustainable Development Goals, building on the Millennium Development Goals but also including issues such as natural resources management, sustainable consumption and production, effective institutions, good governance, the rule of law and peaceful societies. The reports of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing formed the basis of the final Agenda package, through a series of intergovernmental negotiations in partnership with major groups and stakeholders, ensuring the broadest possible ownership of this new Agenda.

The 2030 Agenda is based on the concept of global partnership, supported by a comprehensive approach to the mobilisation of all means of implementation, and is complemented by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which is an integral part.

The 2030 Agenda itself consists of 4 sections: 1) A Political Declaration; 2) Goals and Targets; 3) Means of Implementation; 4) A framework for follow up and review of the Agenda.

One key feature is that the SDGs are global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account national realities, capacities and levels of development and specific challenges. All countries have a shared responsibility to achieve the SDGs, and all have a meaningful role to play locally, nationally as well as on the global scale.

IAS (Invasive Alien Species) have become, over the years, a real problem for the conservation of nature in all Member States of the European Community.

On the basis of risk assessments and scientific evidence, Member States (represented through the Scientific Forum and the Committee on Invasive Alien Species) have drawn up the recently published List of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern.

Several Projects have targeted many invasive species by establishing control, eradication, prevention and early warning measures in line with the IAS Regulation (1143/2014) which came into force on 1 January 2015.

The majority of the projects have been particularly important in the control and eradication of listed species that have already become established, particularly inside Natura 2000 sites. Many have also developed early warning and rapid response systems to deal with IAS before they gain a foothold.

Recent projects include:

– LIFE IAP – RISK (LIFE15 PRE/FR/000001). The project’s main objectives are to determine which species from the EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants and the horizon scanning exercise (ENV.B.2/ETU/2014/0016) have the highest priority for a risk assessment; risk assess 16 invasive alien plants by performing a risk assessment which is fully compliant with the Regulation (EU) no. 1143/2014; facilitate knowledge transfer and capacity building in pest risk analysis within the EU.

– LIFE ARTEMIS  (LIFE15 GIE/SI/000770). The project aims to contribute to the reduction of the harmful impacts of IAS on biodiversity in Slovenia,  by increasing public awareness and by setting up an efficient early warning and rapid response system to manage their impacts on forests.

– LIFE ASAP  (LIFE15 GIE/IT/001039).  The general goal of ASAP is to reduce the introduction rate of alien invasive species and their impacts  by raising public awareness of the topic in Italy and by promoting increased active participation in their management. Alessandro Piazzi, associate of ECOLINFA, plays an active role in LIFE ASAP as a project manager.

 

More details are below:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/features/2016/invasive2.htm

http://www.ecolinfa.org/eng/2016/10/12/asap-life-project-was-approved-by-european-commission/

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/impacts-of-invasive-alien-species