2017-2020 North Africa Programme North Africa Programme 2017-2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 4 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 5 2. IUCN IN NORTH AFRICA .................................................................................................... 7 2.1 IUCN Members and partners in North Africa ..................................................................... 7 2.2 Results from previous programmes .................................................................................. 10 3. REGIONAL SITUATION ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 12 3.1 Overview of key biodiversity challenges and main actions implemented in North African countries ................................................................................................. 12 Overall situation: biodiversity status and trends in North Africa ...................................... 12 Protected areas ............................................................................................................... 13 Species assessments, protection and recovery .............................................................. 18 Conservation and recovery of ecosystems ...................................................................... 20 Addressing climate change and desertification .............................................................. 25 Assessing and preserving ecosystems services ............................................................. 29 3.2 Main needs and challenges to address in the North-Africa programme 2017-2010 ........ 30 4. THE NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME 2017-2020: CORE AREAS, RESULTS AND APPROACHES .................................................................. 34 4.1 Core programme areas .................................................................................................... 34 4.2 Overview of the programme ............................................................................................. 35 PROGRAMME AREA 1: Valuing and conserving nature ................................................. 36 PROGRAMME AREA 2: Promoting and Supporting Effective and Equitable Governance of Natural Resources .................................................................. 39 PROGRAMME AREA 3: Deploying nature-based solutions to address societal challenges ................................. 41 4.3. Description of the programme: results and approaches .................................................. 43 PROGRAMME AREA 1: Valuing and conserving nature ............................................... 43 PROGRAMME AREA 2: Promoting and Supporting Effective and Equitable Governance of Natural Resources ................................................................................... 51 PROGRAMME AREA 3: Deploying Nature-based solutions to address societal challenges ................................ 56 5. MODALITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME ............................ 61 Working together .............................................................................................................. 61 Efficient implementation and mobilisation of resources .................................................. 62 Programme monitoring and reporting .............................................................................. 64 6. HUMAN RESOURCES NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAMME ......................... 65 ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................... 66 Visitors at the Ichkeul National Park © IUCN/Irene Morell EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There is little doubt that 2015 will be looked back upon as pivotal year in the North Morocco coast © Miguel CC BY 3.0 relationship between people and planet. It will be seen as the year when the world finally agreed on a common vision for the future and demonstrated that the collective will to make it happen is there. But cautious optimism is warrant- ed. While the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the historic agreement in Paris to tackle climate change represent the end of an arduous journey, a new one every bit as challenging is barely beginning. In many ways, the IUCN Programme 2017-2020 in North Africa represents a blueprint for realising many of the ambitions of the post-2015 agenda. The Pro- gramme embraces and assimilates the new momentum generated by the 2015 agreements and captures them in a programme of work that exploits IUCN’s strengths, taking advantage of the Union’s knowledge and reach to move agreements into concrete action. Moreover, the Programme breaks away from the once-widespread misconception that global challenges must each be ad- dressed separately, and instead recognises that environmental, economic and even political concerns often share direct and indirect drivers, and can similar- ly benefit from common solutions. The Programme also reflects IUCN’s conviction that a steady increase in global wellbeing can only be achieved through an enhanced understanding of the planet’s complex life-support systems and the predominant global and regional trends currently acting upon them – urbanisation, economic growth, burgeoning consumption, disappearing biodiversity, wealth inequality, climate change, population growth and many others. The IUCN Programme 2017-2020 in North Africa represents a blueprint for realising many of the ambitions of the post-2015 agenda IUCN · NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME 2017-2020 4 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The UICN North Africa Programme 2017-2020 has been elaborated in con- sultation and with the participation of all IUCN Members and Partners in North Flamingos in Tunisia © Mikhail Yablokov African countries. The Programme takes into account the aims of the Global IUCN Programme for the same period, the specific needs of North Africa as identified in the situation analysis and the results and recommendations of the IUCN Regional Conservation Forum for North Africa that was held in El Cairo, Egypt, in October 2015. The Programme involves 5 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tu- nisia) and will be implemented in close cooperation with all UICN Members, national authorities and national and regional partners’ organisations. The in- volvement of all IUCN Members and partners is crucial to achieve the expected results of the programme. They will also contribute with their own activities to the achievement of the main targets set in the programme. IUCN-Med and its partners will undertake concerted action to further strengthen and amplify their efforts in developing effective solutions for nature conservation in North Africa. The current Programme builds on the work achieved in the previous pro- grammes (2008-2012, 2013-2016) and aims to contribute to implementing key international processes such as the Strategic Plan 2010-2020 for Biodiversity adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the post-2015 development agenda to reach, by 2030, the Sustainable Devel- opment Goals (SDGs). 5 NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME 2017-2020 · IUCN The Programme involves 5 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tu nisia) and will be implemented in close cooperation with all UICN Members, national authorities and national and regional partners’ organisations. The programme has been prepared also taking into account the IUCN Mediter- ranean programme and the most relevant initiatives and strategies in the Med- iterranean region, in particular the UNEP/MAP Mid-Term Strategy 2016-2021 (MTS) and the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016-2025 (MSSD). The MTS is meant to guide the path for the protection of the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean region to achieve Good Envi- ronmental Status, and the MSSD aims to harmonise the interactions between socio-economic and environmental goals, for securing a sustainable future for the Mediterranean region consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, a number of cooperation agreements have been signed between IUCN-Med and some national and international organisations for the imple- mentation of relevant actions in the Mediterranean region and in North Afri- can countries, which have been taken into account for the preparation of this programme. In particular, IUCN-Med implements a joint programme with the MAVA Foundation that aims to develop strategic actions to address key biodi- versity conservation challenges over the period 2015‐2019. IUCN-Med has also signed agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with international and regional organisations, as the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM-FAO), the Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP-MAP) Secretariat, the Union for the Maghreb Arab, as well with na- tional authorities (HCEFLCD of Morocco, DGF Algeria, Ministry of Environment Italy, etc.), which identify common areas of interest and specific activities to be jointly implemented. IUCN · NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME 2017-2020 6 2. IUCN IN NORTH AFRICA 2.1 IUCN MEMBERS AND PARTNERS IN NORTH AFRICA The long-term goal of IUCN in North Africa is to preserve biodiversity compo- nents and restore degraded ecosystems. The development of knowledge and skills to achieve this goal is one of the constants and strengths of IUCN. Following a recommendation from its Members in North Africa,