Krybskytteri, landbrug, ulovlig tømmerhugst og overudnyttelse af andre skovprodukter er hovedtruslerne mod de beskyttede skovområder. WWF offentliggjorde mandag den hidtil største globale undersøgelse af styringen af beskyttede skovområder.
The largest ever global assessment of the management of forest protected areas was released today by WWF, the conservation organization, at the Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD CoP7). The survey shows that poaching, agricultural encroachment, illegal logging and over-harvesting of non-timber products are the main threats to forest protected areas.
Using a tracking tool developed over the past five years in partnership with the World Bank and the World Commission on Protected Areas, WWF scientists have been able to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of almost 200 forest protected areas in 34 countries worldwide – covering an area the size of Germany.
The results show that while performance on issues such as the establishment, demarcation and resource inventories of protected areas is acceptable, relations with local communities and indigenous people, planning and monitoring, law enforcement and lack of funding are recurrent problems in the surveyed areas.
For example, only 12 percent of these areas have an approved management plan. The report “How effective are protected areas?” also warns that poor governance and law enforcement – which results in sanctions not being applied – saps the motivation of rangers and encourages illegal acts by criminal groups such as those involved in illegal trade of rare species.
It further stresses that inadequate funding results in understaffing and lack of capacity, which make protected areas vulnerable to problems as they arise.
In the sample surveyed, the average budget per forest protected area in Europe is eight times that of Latin America. And while in Europe, an average staff looks after 2.000 hectares, his Latin American counterpart is responsible for an area forty times bigger.
– The recipe for successful protected area management should at the very least include ingredients such as secured funding, good law enforcement, and education and community outreach programmes, said Leonardo Lacerda, Manager of WWFs Protected Areas Initiative.
– Clear legal status, appropriate and well-trained staff, and a good system of monitoring and evaluation in place also crucial to maintain the biological wealth of protected areas, added he.
In the light of this survey, WWF calls on the CBD and its parties to recognize and respect the rights of local communities and indigenous people; substantially increase the funding needed to effectively manage protected areas; acknowledge and urgently address the key threats of poaching, encroachment and logging; recognize the fundamental role of rangers and environmental educators; and assess the management effectiveness of at least 30 percent of protected areas in each signatory country by 2010.
Furthermore, WWF is calling on the CBD to achieve effective protection of at least 10 percent of each ecological region by the same timeline.
– The future of the worlds biological richness relies very much on a strong network of protected areas, added Leonardo Lacerda.
– However, protected areas will only work if they are really protected, which is currently not always the case. We are committed to tracking progress of these protected areas every two years, and we invite all countries to follow suit: evaluate and periodically monitor their system of protected areas, said he.
The report can be found at:: http://www.panda.org/downloads/forests/protectedareamanagementreport.pdf
The 34 countries where management of forest protected areas has been analyzed are: Argentina, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Cote dIvoire, Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Russian Federation, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkmenistan,
