Financial Support by A.V. Jensen Charity Foundation and AECID Recommended Citation: Birdlife International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2013)
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Financial support by A.V. Jensen Charity Foundation and AECID Recommended Citation: BirdLife International and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2013). Site Casework. CONTENTS BirdLife International Africa Partnership Secretariat, Nairobi, Kenya. Compiled by: Message from ASCET ............................................. 3 Ken Mwathe, Africa overview .................................................. 4 Paul Mugo Helen Byron Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) Sarah Sanders in Africa ............................................................. 4 Acknowledgements: Key steps in Site Casework Julius Arinaitwe 1. Site surveillance ........................................ 5 BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat Olivia Adhiambo 2. Case selection and setting priorities .......... 5 BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat 3. Development of case objectives ............... 6 Sacha Cleminson The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 4. Establishing the facts ................................. 6 Carolyn Ah Sheen-Verdoorn BirdLife South Africa 5. Identifying potential impacts ..................... 6 Serah Munguti 6. Identifying mitigation measures ................ 7 Nature Kenya 7. Consider the context/framework Michael Opige Nature Uganda of the case ................................................ 6 Moses Nyoni 8. Identify contacts: friends and foe .............. 7 BirdLife Zambia 9. Analyse the sensitivities ............................. 7 Communications Taskforce, BirdLife Secretariat Nairobi 10. Choose appropriate Site Casework tools.......................................................... 7 BirdLife International, 11. Developing a case study ........................... 8 Africa Partnership Secreatariat, P.O. Box 3502-00100, Nairobi, Kenya. Case studies of Site Casework in Africa Jatropha threat to Dakatcha Design and Layout by: Woodlands, Kenya ............................................ 9 Irene Ogendo Soda Ash extraction threat to Lake Dezine Creationz Ltd. Natron, Tanzania ............................................... 9 Logging threat to Mutulanganga Cover photos: woodland, Zambia .......................................... 10 Madagascar Fody © M.D. England Open cast mining threat to An ariel view of Gola forest © David Zeller, RSPB Wakkerstroom, South Africa ............................ 11 Speke’s Weaver © Dr. Fabian Haas Wind turbines © World Bank Conclusions ...................................................... 11 MESSAGE and is available here: www.birdlife.org/datazone/info/ FROM ASCET IBAsInDanger. Limited skills and capacity are some of the challenges that BirdLife Partners encounter in effectively engaging in Site The African Site Casework and Emerging Threats Taskforce Casework. To begin to address this, BirdLife and RSPB organised training for 19 participants from 14 countries (ASCET) was established in 2010 to coordinate Site 2 Casework, i.e. action to safeguard threatened sites, in Africa. in June 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya . The participants were The Taskforce which comprises BirdLife Secretariat staff, the trained in Site Casework, policy engagement and advocacy Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife skills. The training was funded by the Spanish Agency for Partners: BirdLife South Africa, Nature Kenya and Wildlife International Development (AECID). ASCET hopes that there Conservation Society of Tanzania supports advocacy work will be further training to increase capacity at partner level. at sites and seeks to address emerging threats in a proactive way. ASCET is an arm of the Africa Policy and Advocacy Site Casework is defined as ‘any actions taken to safeguard Working Group (APAWG). APAWG was established in a key site (or species) from damaging development’. The 2003 by the Council for Africa Partnership (CAP). APAWG’s key focus is to be protecting Important Bird and Biodiversity role is to guide and advise the partnership on policy and Areas (IBAs). advocacy issues. Successful casework campaigns in the past have ASCET recently carried out an audit of Important Bird and demonstrated that it is possible to protect critically Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) facing threats across Africa. The endangered species and important ecosystem sites in Audit conducted in 16 countries1 revealed that a total of 61 Africa. More casework will lead to more sustainable IBAs were under some form of threat. The sectors (ranked developments where economic, social and development according to threat impact) found to pose the most serious benefits are achieved without compromising environmental threats to African IBAs were: goals. The purpose of this publication is to provide a step Agriculture by step guidance on how to undertake successful advocacy for threatened sites. It primarily targets BirdLife Partners Energy but is a useful resource for other organisations wishing to Settlement carry out campaigns to save threatened sites. Mining Infrastructure (mainly transport and water We hope you find this publication useful. infrastructure). Ken Mwathe, In addition BirdLife carried out a survey of IBAs in Danger Regional Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, based on threats they are currently facing. The initial list of BirdLife International Africa Partnership Secretariat 62 such IBAs in Africa and 334 globally has been published For: African Site Casework and Emerging Threats Taskforce (ASCET). 1 Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 2 www.birdlife.org/community/2012/06/policy-advocacy-capacity-birdlife-africa-partnership-boosted/ Africa Overview Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) in Africa Africa is the world’s second largest continent covering 30,221,532 km² (including its adjacent islands); 6% of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are sites of the Earth’s total surface area and 20% of the total land international significance for the conservation of birds area. Its northern half is primarily desert or arid, while and other biodiversity, recognised worldwide as practical its central and southern areas contain both savannah tools for conservation of nature. They are identified using plains and very dense forest regions. In between, there is internationally agreed, standard, objective, quantitative a convergence where vegetation patterns such as sahel, and scientifically defensible criteria. IBAs are part of and steppe dominate. a wider, integrated approach to conservation and sustainable use that embraces sites, species, habitats, The continent is endowed with over 2,310 bird species and people. of which almost 1,400 are endemic to the continent. This includes two endemic bird orders and 10 endemic There are 1,197 designated IBAs in the 58 countries families. Some 247 bird species in Africa are globally and territories of africa. These sites, in recent years, threatened and hence of global conservation interest. have been facing serious threats from the human needs for development. Large damaging development The major threats to biodiversity in Africa stem from projects and the pressures of population growth are agricultural expansion and intensification, logging, among the key threats. These threats could alter the unsustainable exploitation, urban expansion and habitat ecosystem composition, increase competition for limited alteration, industrialisation and the resultant pollution. The resources as well as introduce other threats which could underlying factors driving these threats include run-away cause severe damage to the IBAs, the biodiversity and population growth rates, ineffective governance systems, the birds within it. As a result lives and livelihoods of ineffective policies and conflicts. adjacent communities are put under threat. The African IBA programme seeks to identify, document and work towards the conservation and sustainable management of globally important places for bird conservation in Africa. Lesser Striped Swallows © Dr. Fabian HAAS KEY STEPS IN Imminence of threat – If the threat is urgent, an Site Casework urgent defensive action is needed or if proactive action is needed to set a precedent. Level of threat to community wellbeing – Prioritise cases affecting community livelihoods, cultural, Over time, the BirdLife Partnership has gained valuable religious, heritage or land tenure rights. experience in Site Casework. Below are the key steps Strategic considerations – Such a case could required in undertaking Site Casework. provide a precedent or tackle an emerging issue (e.g. climate change adaptation). 1. Site surveillance Operational considerations – There is need to consider if any other NGOs are leading on the case This involves collecting information on activities and threats and if sufficient resources to follow the case to the to a site from various sources. These sources could be end are available. The partner should also consider if people working in or familiar with the area, e.g.: there are other big cases going on at the same time. IBA caretakers Site support groups Since Partners cannot handle cases in every IBA, there is Partner members need to identify which cases to focus on. Priority should Other birdwatchers be given to sites which hold key bird species that are Local community vulnerable to global extinction or whose populations are Developers otherwise irreplaceable. Types of development requiring Decision makers priority attention include; mining, large scale agriculture, National, regional and local