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ECOSYSTEM INSIDER The Insider brings you news from the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management

June 2018 - Edition 2

Dear IUCN CEM member, Follow us for more news and updates We are pleased to bring you the Second issue of the

IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management

(CEM) Newsletter for 2018

CEM HIGHLIGHT

Technical Expert Meeting on Adaptation 2018

The technical examination process on adaptation (TEP-A) was established at COP 21 as part of the enhanced action prior to 2020 in the decision adopting the Paris Agreement. The TEP-A seeks to identify concrete opportunities for strengthening resilience, reducing vulnerabilities, and increasing the understanding and implementation of adaptation actions. During its May meeting in Bonn, Angela Andrade participated in Session #1 Adaptation Planning for Vulnerable where two issues led the discussion: 1) What are the barriers to more widespread adoption of ecosystem-based adaptation at the national level? How can these barriers be overcome? Does ecosystem-based adaptation contribute to increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities and groups? To learn more about the Technical Expert Meeting, visit their page. To learn more about this event, please visit the Earth Negotiation Bulletin.

CEM was present in the 3rd EbA Knowledge Day celebrated as a UNFCCC SB48 Side Event.

The 3rd EbA Knowledge Day was organized by GIZ and IUCN under the Friends of EbA (FEBA) network in the framework of UNFCCC SBSTA 48 with the aim to enhance knowledge on strategies and partnerships for upscaling EbA at policy and implementation level especially in the context of NDC implementation, public finance and key sector strategies such as agriculture/food security, water, forestry and fisheries. FEBA consists of more than 50 organizations including the UNFCCC and CBD.

Angela Andrade represented CEM with a presentation on policy and planning, examples EbA interventions at project level, barriers and main challenges, and experiences from Colombia. For more information please visit the adaptation community page.

CEM sessions at the Conservation, Communities and Livelihoods, Halifax, Canada, May 27-30, 2018

CEM members were present at the Conservation, Communities and Livelihoods Conference that was organized jointly by the Community Conservation Research Network and CEESP-IUCN. The meeting attracted people from over 50 countries, many of them being indigenous peoples. The presentation sessions and discussions were very productive and brought together nations in a very positive manner. The CCL conference also held a special event: a lunch to celebrate the 70th anniversary of IUCN. Over 80 participants coming from different commissions celebrated in a way to look at 70th more productive years. Two sessions were organized by CEM in the Conference:

Ecosystem governance in Biosphere Reserves for better conservation and livelihoods

Presented by Liette Vasseur (Ecosystem Governance Group), Esperanza Arnes (Biosphere Reserve Group) and Laura Loucks (from Clayoquot Sound UNESCO BR), the session discussed the importance of EG in BR and what ingredients may be important to consider enhancing collaboration, conservation, and community livelihoods. It was clear that there are opportunities but also barriers. Suggestions included matching developing and developed BR for greater sharing of practices, for example.

Ecosystem based climate change adaptation and mitigation: learning and sharing among cultures

Presented by Liette Vasseur, Pam McElwee (Cultural Practice Group) and Darwin Horning (North America Region) the session examined examples of EbA and planning, the discussion underlined the importance to considering cultures and values that indigenous peoples may have on the location where projects are being implemented. The discussion underlined the importance to better understand the issues and challenges that communities are facing when dealing with EbA planning and integration of cultural practices and knowledge can greatly help enhance sustainability.

CEM held a joint meeting with the Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)

After the CCL Conference, CEM and CEESP held a meeting where they discussed intersections between the 2 commissions’ workplans, and came up with a list of potential joint activities between CEM/CEESP, including a CEESP’s participation with case studies in the Compendium of cultural practices led by CPEM-CEM; generate a MOOC on capacity building and indigenous peoples; developing a cross-commission “IUCN Policy on Culture”; and generate joint publications on topics such as including cultural ecosystem services and value chains for products from buffer and transition zones of biosphere reserves.

Great news from the Systemic Pesticides Task Force: EU vote on banning three neonicotinoids:

On April 27th, the 28 member states of the EU voted in Brussels on the proposition of the E.U. Commission in regard to the usage of three neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. As from 1st January 2019 at the latest, their use will not be allowed outdoors and restricted to greenhouses and stables. Read more here. Although a great step forwards, this compromise still allows the use of these 3 neonics as biocide (instead of crop protection) in cattle stables, buildings, etc. a market of roughly half the size of the crop protection applications, while still allowing the of use three other neonicotinoid pesticides available on the E.U. market. The Directive was approved by 16 countries representing, about 75% of the European population. Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Denmark voted against. Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, Finland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia and Lithuania abstained. Immediately afterwards, the Swiss Ministry of Agriculture announced that they would follow the EU Directive as from January 1st 2019. Its major document “the Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the Impact of Systemic Pesticides” (WIA) was officially submitted to EFSA on whose report the E.U. decision was largely based.

70th Anniversary Celebrations

As part of IUCN's 70th anniversary celebrations, Crossroads features provocative insights on conservation today and its role in addressing

global challenges. The first post from influential IUCN Patron of Nature

HM Queen Noor of Jordan explores how the degradation of nature is fueling conflict and what we can do to reverse the trend.

The space was created to allow IUCN Members and partners to exchange ideas and opinions on some of the most topical and controversial issues. As many of today’s biggest global challenges are closely related to the destruction of the natural world, we feel that today such a platform is needed more than ever.

LEADERSHIP CORNER

Thematic Assessment on Land Degradation and Restoration

“Indigenous and local communities also have great contributions to make towards reversing land degradation and restoring ecosystems,” says Judith Fisher, Chair of the IUCN CEM Ecosystems and

Invasive Species Specialist Group and Coordinating Lead Author of Chapter 1 of the IPBES assessment.

“The establishment of the IPBES participatory mechanism which recognizes the importance of communities in the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems provides a blueprint to help governments integrate indigenous and local knowledge in efforts to conserve healthy soils.” To learn more about the IPBES Chapter led by our CEM group leader and IPBES expert, please click here.

Nature-based Solutions in the Conference “Ecosystem Services – from theory to practice in the Israeli context”

In the picture: panel of decision makers discussion the importance and relevancy of the Ecosystem Services concept in Israel.

Emmanuelle Cohen-Shacham (NbS TGL) led a workshop on Nature-based Solutions at theSteinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel-Aviv University, to raise awareness of NbS and discuss the framework with Israeli researchers and decision-makers. Emmanuelle also gave the keynote presentation at the Conference on “Ecosystem Services – from theory to practice in the Israeli context”, at IDC Herzliya. During the conference, several case studies that utilize the ES concept in Israel were presented, and a panel of high level policy makers discussed the concept’s use in planning and decision-making processes.

Ecosystem collapse: from science to policy

Prof David Keith and Dr. Lucie Bland delivered presentations at the Boden Conference on Ecosystem Surprises and Rapid Collapse in Canberra Australia in May 2018. Their presentations “Ecosystem collapse: from science to policy” and “Developing a standardized definition of ecosystem collapse for ” were well received. Dr. Emily Nicholson and Dr. Lucie Bland then attended a workshop focusing on developing a high-impact science paper and a number of policy documents to inform ecosystem management in Australia.

New President and Vice President appointed to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO

The Canada Council for the Arts is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Liette Vasseur as President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO). Dr. Vasseur is vice- chair for North America in the a CEM steering committee and is the leader of our Ecosystem Governance CEM Thematic Group. She has served as the UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability. Dr. Vasseur is a full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University, where she is also a member of the Women and Gender Studies program and the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre. You can learn more about her and her role in UNESCO here.

THEMATIC AREAS

Knowledge Systems and Indicators of Wellbeing

Cultural Practices Thematic Group cosponsored the workshop “Action Group on Knowledge Systems and Indicators of Wellbeing” at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, April. The goal of the workshop was to facilitate knowledge exchange on wellbeing indicators that embrace the links between biological and cultural diversity and build communities of practice that will share experiences in developing and using indicators that emphasize cultural contexts. Nearly 80 people attended from many different countries. This work will be ongoing so contact CPEM leader Pam McElwee if you wish to be involved.

Australian Mangrove and Salt Marsh Network

Two members of the IUCN global Red List of Ecosystems team, Nick Murray and Calvin Lee, participated in the 2018 Australian Mangrove and Salt Marsh Network conference held in Sydney, Australia. A range of ecologists, government scientists, NGOs and managers attended the conference to present work related to the dynamics of coastal ecosystems in Australia. Nick and Calvin presented research on the global distribution and dynamics of tidal mudflats and on methods to remotely sense mangrove dynamics. Both studies are aimed at supporting a global red list of coastal ecosystems in the future. Get in contact with Calvin Lee ([email protected]) or Dr Nick Murray ([email protected]) for further information on the red listing of coastal ecosystems.

New Public Ecosystem-based Adaptation Document Repository

One of the goals of the Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Mitigation (EbA&M) Thematic Group is to advance understanding of how EbA&M compliments and overlaps with related concepts in adaptation, mitigation, disaster risk reduction, development, and conservation. We are therefore launching a review of documents that frame EbA&M from different perspectives, as well as those that discuss similarities, differences and synergies with other conceptual frameworks. The group invites members to contribute any EbA&M related resources they wish to share publicly in an open repository on The Open Science Framework (OSF). For more information on how to upload documents, you need to create an account here. Please visit theEbA page and download the instructions for more detailed information about the process.

Call for abstracts: Critical Approaches to Gender and Mountain Ecosystems.

The Mountain Ecosystems Specialists Group invites submissions of case studies on gender specific knowledge for ecosystem management in mountain regions. While critical feminist literature has deepened our understanding of gender in very important ways, the policy sphere is slow on its uptake. To rectify this lack, we are seeking to collate nuanced and innovative approaches to gender in relation to mountain ecosystems which push beyond existing tropes of “gender inclusivity” and “gender sensitivity.” We intend to reinvigorate the analytical category of “gender” outside its static and universalistic understandings in favour of those that capture its fluid, contextual, and relational nature, and which seek to urgently address issues of power. We are interested in recent initiatives from around the world which take on a fresh perspective to gender in mountain ecosystems. This includes but is not limited to biodiversity conservation, natural resource governance, protection of key ecosystem services, knowledge management, traditional knowledge initiatives, capacity building, management of heritage and/or spiritual sites, disaster risk reduction, displacement and migration, resource conflict, conflict resolution, land- grabbing, climate change adaptation, the financialization of nature (natural capital discourse), mining and resource extraction and diverse approaches to nature stewardship and values assigned to the environment. Deadline for abstracts: July 15. Submissions and queries should be sent to: Omer Aijazi and Sejuti Basu (Mountain Ecosystems Specialist Group leaders): [email protected]. Please mark the subject line as “Gender Abstract”. To learn more about this call for abstracts, please visit the MTE-SG page.

Nature based Solutions to Societal Challenges on ABC Australia

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Future Tense programme analyses the social, cultural and economic fault lines arising from rapid transformation - from economics to robotics to social interactions. On 6th May, it aired an interview with IUCN, TNC, Wageningen University and the Government of Netherlands on how Nature based Solutions can support EcoDRR and EbA. You can access the broadcast here.

Thanks Rebecca!

The RLE team would like to express their gratitude to Rebecca Miller for her contributions and hard work as Red List of Ecosystems programme officer since 2014. Rebecca’s work was instrumental to establishing an extensive network of RLE users and contributors. She left her role in IUCN secretariat in April 2018. She will continue as a CEM member and we wish her the best of luck in her next steps.

REGIONAL NEWS

South Asia members celebrating the World Environment Day, 2018

This year's World Environment Day theme is “Beat Plastic Pollution” - the theme chosen by this year’s host: India. On this occasion the South Asia Chair Shalini Dhyani issued a call to all the 400+ CEM members to join the campaign to reduce, reuse and resist the use of plastic bags and products and eventually stop using polluting plastics. Land and ocean pollution due to rampant use and misuse of plastic bags and other plastic based products and materials are causing serious damage to environment. Among these one-time-use and throw plastic bags pose greatest threat due to their clogging of our water pipes, drainage systems and rivers. Madhav Karki, our CEM Deputy Chair, joined by the staff of Govt. Nepal’s Urban Development based Bagmati River Improvement Project (BRBIP) and Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park (SNNP) and the Centre for Green Economic Development,Nepal (CGED-Nepal) to clean up the upper part of the most revered river – the lifeline of the capital city Kathmandu, Nepal – Bagmati. Dr. Karki highlighted the implications of plastic pollution in the conservation of ecosystems by referring to the recently released IPBES Asia-Pacific Regional Biodiversity and Ecosystem Assessment Report findings that reveal that " the increase of waste and pollution in the Asia- Pacific region is impacting ecosystems and threatening the current and future health of nature and people; With the increase in consumption of natural resources in the Asia-Pacific region, there has been a rise in the subsequent production of waste. Household hazardous waste, e- waste and food waste are increasing with the growth of urbanization across the region. Plastic waste is of concern: 8 of the 10 rivers around the globe carrying the highest amounts of plastic waste are located in Asia. This waste accounts for up to 95 per cent of the global load of plastics in the oceans. Waste in water supplies and air pollution pose persistent threats to human and environmental health". To find out more about this event, please visit this page.

HarnessingNature

HarnessingNature is the blog of IUCN CEM South Asia, launched on the World Environment Day – 5 June 2018. The blog focuses on topographic regions and ecosystems in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Not only is this a platform for the CEM members across thematic groups to exchange knowledge with each other, but also to reach it to the world. Under the broad umbrella of nature based solutions, the blog especially invites articles on adaptation; disaster risk reduction; ecosystem based management; ecosystem restoration; and natural & green infrastructure. The blog is designed to highlight conferences, events and other public announcements as well.

Myanmar Red List of Ecosystems underway

In a major collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Myanmar Government, the initial work for a Myanmar Red List of Ecosystems began in late May. Initial work will involve fieldwork with local experts in Myanmar to develop ecosystem classification and mapping in support of a national ecosystem assessment. The Myanmar Red List of Ecosystems project includes a new ecosystem typology for Myanmar, the development of a new, high-resolution map of ecosystems produced through extensive field work and remote sensing, and an assessment of the risk of ecosystem collapse for each Myanmar ecosystem type. The project will run for the next year. Get in contact with Professor David Keith or Dr.Nick Murray for further information.

Systemic Pesticides Task Force East Asia coordination meeting in the Philippines:

As the request of the Asian members present at TFSP’s annual meeting at Padua University last November, Elizabeth Lumawig, coordinator for East Asia, organized a meeting on the island (Province) of Marinduque in the Phillippines from 26 February – 1 March. This coordinative effort, attended by members from Australia, China, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, started with an introductory meeting at the De La Salle University in Manila, to be continued on the island and Province of Marinduque where members were received at Government’s House in the capital Boac by Vice-Governor Romulo Bacorro M.D., President of CCPII, TFSP’s offshoot in the Philippines. A number of new initiatives were taken and their follow-up discussed at this productive and well-organized event, including the laying of the foundation stone of the Marinduque Biological Field Station, a new CCPII project.

Ecosystem rehabilitation project in South East Asia

In 2017, IUCN CEM funded a pilot project of planting indigenous fruit-tree species via eco- farming in Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam in collaboration with Community Entrepreneur Development Institute (CENDI) and Human Ecology Practice Area (HEPA). In 2002, a massive flood occurred in the area, attributed to the illegal logging. This pilot project aimed to rehabilitate the deteriorated ecosystem caused by unsustainable logging on one hand, while strengthening the livelihood of the local community to discourage them from further planting Acacia trees for paper and pulp industry. The planting of fruit-tree seedlings began in 2017 and was completed in Spring 2018. Earlier in 2018, both the Regional Chair (Han KH) and the Regional co-Chair (Dang To Kien) of the CEM South East Asian Group jointly visited the planting site, meeting with the local farmers and community leaders of Son Kim 1 Commune. Enticed by the passion and determination of the local community in rehabilitating the badly deteriorated ecosystem of Son Kim 1 Commune, the CEM South East Asian Group is currently developing a grant proposal to raise fund from a regional organization for further expanding the fruit-tree planting project. We expect to submit the grant proposal in early August 2018.

SPOTLIGHT ON ECOSYSTEMS

Homing in on the Range. Updates on the Dryland Ecosystems Specialist Group The drylands, situated in the sub- humid, semi-arid and arid biomes, cover 42 % of the earth surface, and provide 44% of all cultivated land and 50% of the world’s livestock. Drylands and their rangelands are particularly

valuable for carbon storage due to their high degree of permanence— the duration that carbon is stored in the soil—compared to humid areas.In dryland areas, such as the Sahel, the Middle East, or Australia,most

biodiversity is found beneath the soil’s surface and conserving it is crucial for water and food security. Of these drylands 75% are rangelands that count for roughly one third of our planet’s terrestrial biodiversity, store one third of the world soil carbon (i.e. roughly 450 GtC or about as much as the organic carbon stocked in all terrestrial vegetation) and provide livelihoods to between 200 to 500 million people. As many as 2 billion people live in the drylands depend on ecosystem services from rangelands. Nevertheless, these rangelands are a rather neglected eco- geographic zone with multiple ecosystems that provide key services to mankind, in the form of rural livelihoods, hydrological flows, carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

The CEM Dryland Ecosystems Group has been working over the last 5 years closely with and in support of the Global Dryland Initiative, part of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Management Programme. During these 5 years, rangelands have got much attention, which has materialized in a number of IUCN/CEM Technical Briefs and reports which you

can find in the Drylands page.

Much of this work done on drylands and rangelands has found its way in the SDGs and most notably in under target 15.3 (Land Degradation Neutrality) and other global targets set under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. As mentioned by Alexander Muller and Inge Andersen in their foreword to the TB on Soil Carbon:

Acknowledging that there is still a long way to go, we feel that we are today in a strong position to turn the growing global awareness into action, and collectively work to arrest the decline of this magical, life-giving resource.

Holarctic Steppes of The IUCN/CEM’s Specialist Group on "Holarctic Steppes" has prepared a new page of the "Virtual Encyclopedia of the Steppes" - Steppes of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the support of CEM, project

partners and volunteer work of specialists.Kazakhstan is one of the largest country and ranks 9th in the world. The area of the Republic of Kazakhstan is 2,724,900 km², and more than 40% is occupied by

steppe ecosystems.

The Kazakhstan’s steppe is the world’s largest dry steppe region as the vast belt of dry running across the country approximately along 48° to 50°N. Its boundaries coincide with a center of high atmospheric pressure, summers are hot and dry, and winters are cold. Precipitation is 250 to 300 mm a year, most of it in the spring and summer. Turf graminoids dominate these formations, primarily species in the genus Stipa. Co-dominants include genus Festuca, Koeleria, Helictotrichon. Vegetation varies considerably from north to south due to change in hydrothermal conditions. In this regard, it is divided into two zones, forest- steppe and steppe, followed by their division into subzones.

Animals that can be found in the steppes of Kazakhstan include the Saiga Antelope, Siberian Roe Deer, wolves, foxes, badgers, susliks, marmots and big number of species of birds.

The "Encyclopedia" includes some information such as a brief description of physical and geographical conditions, location of the described steppe units, vegetation cover and soils, current status (including protected areas), valuable species of flora and fauna, current land use and threats.

We hope that new pages of the "Virtual Encyclopedia of the Steppes" will soon appear.

Contacts: Dr. Tatyana M. Bragina, [email protected]

Fisheries Experts Group (FEG)

During the first half of 2018, the Fisheries Experts Group of the IUCN Commission of Ecosystem Management (IUCN-CEM-FEG) has delivered substantial work in the field of fisheries. The work has contributed to CEM’s objective (as stated in the draft mandate for 2017-2020): To promote the adoption of, and provide guidance for, ecosystem approaches to the management of landscapes and seascapes and build resilience of socio-ecological systems to address global changes.

CBD workshop on Other Effective Area Based Conservation Measures

The IUCN-CEM Fisheries Expert Group (FEG) was invited to prepare on of a background paper (see full document here) on Other Effective Area-Based Conservation measures (OECMs), focusing specifically on area-based measures used in managing fisheries. FEG’s principal task was to help explain the potential role of area-based fishery management and conservation measures (other than MPAs sensu stricto) in marine biodiversity conservation. The Working Paper identified a diversity of spatial measures, analyzed their effectiveness for fisheries management and for broader biodiversity conservation, and identified both enabling and limiting conditions that would influence their effectiveness in delivering each outcome.

The Working Paper was tabled as one of the two inputs to the CBD Expert Workshop on Marine Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures for Achieving Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 in Marine and Coastal Areas in Montreal, Canada, from 6 to 9 February 2018. That workshop was held concurrently with a second CBD workshop intended to consolidate scientific and technical information on various approaches including MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) for the achievement of Target 11, as well as their integration into the wider landscapes and seascapes. The main background paper for that workshop was prepared by a team led by the IUCN-WCPA. The two workshops had several joint sessions, in which FEG members participated actively.

The two meetings, jointly, produced a Voluntary Guidance on the Integration of Protected Areas and OECMs into wider land and seascapes, and mainstreaming across sectors. These Guidelines propose a framework and process that would allow CBD Parties to analyze their area-based measures, identify potential OECMs among them and propose them to CBD for accounting in the achievement of Target 11. The workshop Report, its Guidelines, and the Background Papers will contribute to, inter alia, the dialogue and conclusions of SBSTTA 22 In July 2018 in Montreal.

FEG is invited to participate to SBSTTA and present the subject and outcomes of the Expert Workshop on OECMs in marine and coastal areas. It is also likely to attend the 2018 COP, again presenting the major findings and conclusions of the Working Paper and participating in presenting the outcomes of the workshop. Assuming a favourable response at SBSTTA, FEG may also participate in the 2018 COP in Egypt, where it would place a similar role.

Mainstreaming biodiversity in fisheries

Biodiversity mainstreaming in fisheries is the progressive consideration of biodiversity concerns in fisheries policy and management. During the last three decades, the fishery communities (at FAO, regional or national levels) have incrementally implemented sustainable development and biodiversity conservation principles, both before and after the 1992 adoption of the CBD, progressively integrating a broader set of biodiversity-related goals into legal, policy and management frameworks for an Ecosystem Approach to sustainable fisheries. In parallel the conservation communities have been increasingly adopting more economically rational and socially inclusive sets of goals and governance approaches. Cooperation between them has increased to resolve historical and emerging disagreements, despite tensions in core vested interests, challenging the pessimistic picture of obtuse confrontation promoted by some environment-focused advocacy papers. Many fisheries are not yet being sustainably managed, with significant adverse impacts on biodiversity, and many conservation initiatives are still insufficiently conscious of their impact on food security and livelihoods. However, looking ahead, biodiversity conservation will continue to be as important to fisheries sustainability as socioeconomic goals are for successful conservation. Biodiversity mainstreaming will therefore increase further but greater efforts are needed to deliver outcomes at all scales, increasing governance capacity, particularly in developing countries, and investment in integrated partnerships between fisheries and environment sectors. (see full paper here)

YOUTH SECTION

Martijn Visser began supporting the Business and Ecosystem Management Thematic Group as Secretary. Martjin holds the position of the UN Youth Representative for the Netherlands and is involved in different UN processes related to climate, SDGs and conservation. He

has just graduated from Wageningen University in Forest and Nature Conservation. Welcome Martjin!

WHAT 'S ON THE CALENDAR ?

One Day Technical Training on IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE)

The International Union for Conservation (IUCN) of Nature, together with its Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), are pleased to invite you to one-day training on The Red List of Ecosystems (RLE). This ecosystem assessment tool is a sister product to the IUCN’s influential Red List of Threatened Speciesmethodology, and

comprises five rule-based criteria for assigning ecosystems to a category of risk of collapse. The IUCN RLE, underpinned by strong scientific-foundations, evaluates the change in ecosystem distribution and function using quantitative measures and thresholds, to identify the level of risk of collapse of an ecosystem, thus informing better ecosystem management solutions and helping identify areas that need fast and effective actions to be preserved.

If you would like further information on the one day workshop, please [email protected] , register by 25th June, 2018, and visit the RLE page:

International Conference on Biodiversity “A Territorial Rights based Approach to Biodiversity”

The Government of Azuay, together with the Network of Regional Governments forSustainable Development – nrg4SD and CONGOPE (Consortium of Ecuadorian Provincial Governments), as well as the technical support of the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador, would like to invite you to the International Conference on Biodiversity “A Territorial Rights based Approach to Biodiversity” that will take place on 21 and 22 June in Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador. The event will be held alongside the nrg4SD Annual General Assembly meeting, which will take place on 19 and 20 June, and will be an important step towards the CBD COP14, to be held in November 2018 in Egypt.

Two symposia on ‘the Impacts of and Alternatives to Systemic Pesticides’ ahead

One of the results of the Systemic Pesticides Task Force meeting in Marinduque-Philippines in February, are two ymposia organized by the University of the Southern Philippines (UseP) in Davao on 27 June, 2018 and the Taiwan National University (NTNU) in Taipei on 29 June 2018, and co-hosted with TFSP.

19th World Congress of Sociology

The International Sociological Association is having its 19th World Congress of Sociology in Toronto-Canada, from July 15-21. The theme this year is Power, Violence and Justice: Reflections, Responses and Responsibilities. The Congress focuses on how scholars, public intellectuals, policy makers, journalists and activists from diverse fields can and do contribute to our understanding of power, violence and justice.

Ecosystem Services (ESP Asia) Conference: “Communicating and Engaging Ecosystem Services in Policy and Practice in Asia”

The 2nd ESP Asia conference will be held at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, India 9-12 October 2018 will have as its main theme Communicating and Engaging Ecosystem Services in Policy and Practice in Asia. 24 Sessions have been submitted covering a wide range of topics and currently the call for abstracts for presentations is open. Deadline 25 June 2018. For further information, registration and abstract-submission see here

PUBLICATIONS

Bycatch biodiversity impact mitigation

FEG has published two papers on the issue of fisheries bycatch, proposing innovative approaches to its mitigation.

1. Bycatch, conservatory offsets and least-cost biodiversity impact mitigation

Fisheries bycatch management is a central issue in modern fisheries management and biodiversity conservation. Its effective control can be considered under the conventional Biodiversity Impact Mitigation (BIM) hierarchy. Conservatory offsets which, contrary to conventional compensatory offsets used as measure of last resort, constitute an integral part of conservatory

measures, can be used to achieve least cost conservation and optimize conservation outcomes for a given budget. A collaboration between the US NMFS, ISSF and IUCN-CEM-FEG illustrates the concept and its ongoing implementation in a sea turtle conservation programme by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation. (see full paper here)

2. The Biodiversity Impact Mitigation (BIM) hierarchy and marine megafauna by-catch management: economic instruments as bridge between conservation and fisheries. A new conceptual model applying the BIM to bycatch management has been developed by a team lead by Dr Milner-Gulland and colleagues, including Serge M.

Garcia and Tony Charles from IUCN-CEM-FEG. The BIM is widely used on land to promote development with No Net Loss (NNL) of biodiversity. The conceptual

model applies the approach to marine megafauna bycatch impact mitigation, starting with an overarching goal with associated quantitative target, and proceeding through the BIM steps of avoidance, minimization, remediation and offsetting, where the latter is acceptable. Issues addressed include: the hierarchical nature of mitigation; out-of-kind offsets; research as an offset; implementation incentives; societal limits and uncertainty. The paper (see full paper here) stresses the importance of clear agreed goals, multiple-species perspectives, cross-jurisdictional frames, and further empirical testing applications in fisheries, accounting for complex interactions, policy leakage and uncertainty to improve both conservation and fisheries outcomes. The paper is a follow-up to the FEG Multidisciplinary workshop addressing Ecosystem-Level Impacts of Fisheries Bycatch on Marine Megafauna organized in 2014 (see full report)

Fisheries livelihoods, vulnerable ecosystems and MPAs

Within the context of CEM’s priority to promote Resilience of Ecosystems and of the communities that depend on their services, FEG has published a report on Fisheries livelihoods, vulnerable ecosystems and MPAs. The report summarizes the sessions organized by FAO regional and central offices, REDPARQUES and the IUCN Fisheries Expert Group (IUCN-CEM- FEG) at the 4th international marine protected areas congress (IMPAC4). The sessions provided opportunities to discuss: (i) the important role of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and scientific research in the spatial management of sustainable fisheries and protection of VMEs in the high seas; (ii) the complexity surrounding the impact of MPAs on food security and livelihoods; (iii) and the fundamental role of participatory approaches involving fishers and local communities in ensuring positive benefits of MPAs to both the environment and the fishing communities.

<< Read more >>

Solid foundations

The Public Library of Science recently honored the seminal scientific work describing the scientific foundations of the Red List of Ecosystems by including it in PLoS ONE’s 10thanniversary collection on policy impact. The collection includes 10 papers judged to be the most influential on policy in the fields of climate change, conservation and health conservation out of more than 16,000 published in PLoS ONE in its first ten years. << Read more >>

The Biology of Mediterranean- Type Ecosystems. Authors: Karen J. Esler, Anna L. Jacobsen, and R. Brandon Pratt . Oxford University Press, South Africa.www.oxford.co.za

This book provides a concise but comprehensive Introduction to mediterranean-type ecosystems. As with other books in the Biology of Habitats Series, the emphasis in this book is on the organisms that dominate these regions although their management, conservation, and restoration are also considered. The book is intended for students, naturalists, practitioners, and professionals without any previous knowledge of mediterranean-type ecosystem ecology. It is an accessible text suitable for graduate

students and researchers of mediterranean-type ecosystem ecology and geography, as well as professional ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and conservation biologists requiring a concise, authoritative overview of the topic. You can buy the book here.

A Mongoose Family Visits Home : Link to video

The article published in the Expanded Environment on an urban experience that encaptures interaction between a mongoose and a cat in an urban household. Access the Full Article here.

REMAP in Nature

Our Red List of Ecosystems online remote sensing app was recently featured in Nature. Remap allows users to make maps of ecosystems which are suitable for assessing the RLE criteria by applying cutting edge remote sensing methods to a range of satellite data. Remap is unique in its ability to provide end-to-end support to assessors by providing the data (including Landsat data), classification methods (remap uses machine learning) and spatial analysis to assess Criteria A and B of the RLE. Since its launch in December 2017, Remap has already been used by more than 5000 people from more than 140 countries, and continues to grow strongly. For further information or if you would like to support the ongoing provision of remap get in contact with Dr Nick Murray. The paper describing remap is also freely available here.

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) © 2018

The quarterly monthly e-Bulletin of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) aims to keep IUCN CEM members, IUCN staff, and the wider IUCN network up-to-date with Ecosystem news and announcements. Past issues are available on the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management website.

Other IUCN Commission Newsletters: SSC - WCPA

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