Systematic conservation planning

Question 1

Conservation priorities

Answer 1

Conservation status - rare and threatened species

Irreplaceability - e.g., endemic species

Complementarity - polar bears don’t live in desserts

Urgency - are there threats facing the areas/species

Opportunity - where do we get the most for our money

Values - natures contribution to people

Question 2

Systematic Conservation Planning

Answer 2

1. Measure and map biodiversity
2. Measure and map other values
3. Identify conservation goals
4. Review existing area-based conservation units
5. Select additional sites
6. Assess costs
7. Identify and implement actions
8. Monitoring

Question 3

Integrating economic costs into conservation planning

Answer 3

Conservation plans cannot be implemented for free.

By ignoring the
cost side of conservation planning, ecologists and conservation biologists are missing great opportunities to achieve more efficiently
conservation objectives in a world of limited conservation resources

• Acquisition cost: getting the rights/ownership to land
• Management cost: down stream costs after planning
• Transaction cost: Other cost associated with rights/ownership
• Damage cost: consequence to surroundings
• Opportunity cost: What could have been gained from alternative uses

Question 4

Measure and map biodiversity values, and measure and map other values

Answer 4

What is the focus and the objectives?

What data is available and what is the quality?

What are you missing (e.g. biases)?

Question 5

Identify conservation goals

Answer 5

The overall goals of SCP: representativeness and persistence

Based on a specific areal target?

Importance for biodiversity

Close to or far from people

Large/small sites - connected and how

Question 6

Review existing conservation units

Answer 6

Gap-analysis - what are the current network of sites missing?

Question 7

Select additional sites

Answer 7

Complementarity

Irreplaceability

Preferences (often idiosyncratic)

Site design

Question 8

Assess costs

Answer 8

Acquisition cost

Transaction cost

Damage cost

Opportunity cost

Question 9

Identify and implement actions

Answer 9

Legal status

Good governance

Effective management

Management costs

Question 10

Monitoring

Answer 10

Monitoring both outcomes, inputs/actions

Link to adaptive management strategies

Question 11

Conservation planning in practice

Answer 11

Using primarily the:
- World database on protected areas (WDPA)
- Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)
- Map of life

1. Beyond reaching 30%, what is important when setting a national goal for
   protected and conserved areas?
2. Use the WDPA to asses your country’s protected areas coverage. How
   many sites are there? How much do they cover? What types? Any issues or
   concerns about the current coverage?
3. Use the KBA website to identify for your country: how many KBAs are
   there? What habitat do they cover? What taxa are they based on? More?
4. What are the gaps in the current conservation prioritization – maybe use
   Map of Life and other online sources?
5. If, expansion is needed, what would be priorities for expansion?
6. What would be important to consider when expanding?
7. What would be important to consider to make it effective?