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Agriculture and conservation (Arabic version)

In 2021, IUCN launched the IUCN Flagship Report Series, to help demonstrate the importance of conserving nature for human well-being and all life on Earth. This report, the second in the series, focuses on agriculture and nature. The interactions, synergies, and tradeoffs between the two sit at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for ending hunger and ensuring food security while also mandating the protection and restoration of nature. Whether the two can be achieved simultaneously, and if so how, are crucial questions for humanity and our planet. IUCN therefore explores the positive and negative relationships between agriculture and nature conservation and mobilises new modelling approaches to examine both imperatives within a range of realistic policies.

Global Species Action Plan (Arabic version)

The Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) is a critical initiative developed to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), to address the increasing biodiversity loss worldwide. The GSAP outlines strategic interventions and actions to conserve and sustainably manage species while ensuring equitable benefits. Emphasizing the critical role of species in ecosystem stability, human livelihoods, and cultural heritage, the GSAP seeks to prevent extinctions, reduce threats, and ensure equitable benefits from species use. Implementation involves diverse stakeholders, including governments, Indigenous peoples and Local communities, NGOs, academia, and businesses, fostering cooperation at global, regional, and local levels. The GSAP underscores the collective responsibility to safeguard Earth’s rich biological heritage for future generations.

IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions : first edition (Arabic version)

The IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions lists the Criteria and Indicators, as adopted by the 98th Meeting of the IUCN Council in 2020.

Guidance for using the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions : first edition (Arabic version)

This Guidance for using the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions accompanies the Global Standard to provide the scientific basis and guidance for users.

Site-level tool for identifying other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) : first edition (Arabic version)

Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are sites outside protected areas that deliver effective and long-term in situ conservation of biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation may be the primary objective of the site, a secondary objective of a site that is managed for other purposes, or it may be an unintended consequence of the way the site is managed. OECMs may be governed and managed by governments, private entities or Indigenous peoples and local communities, or a combination of these. This tool guides an assessor through three steps to apply eight criteria which determine if a site qualifies as an OECM as set out under the Convention on Biological Diversity. For sites which do not currently meet all the criteria, the tool serves to highlight areas where further information or improvements in governance and management are required.

Guidance and toolkit for impact assessments in a World Heritage context (Arabic)

As the World Heritage Convention celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2022, over 1100 sites around the world are recognized as World Heritage – places  that are so valuable to humanity that there conservation has been deemed our collective responsibility. Yet many of these exceptional places face  increasing pressure from diverse types of development projects within and around the sites. Assessing the impacts of such projects is essential to both prevent damage to World Heritage and identify sustainable options. This Guidance and toolkit explains the process for achieving these goals. Offering practical tips and tools including checklists and a glossary, it provides a framework for conducting impact assessments for cultural and natural heritage sites.

Building Climate Resilience of Urban Systems through Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in Latin America and the Caribbean

CityAdapt promotes climate resilience in urban areas through the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for adaptation. CityAdapt strengthens the technical capacities of municipalities, policymakers, and citizens to analyze the impacts and vulnerabilities to climate change and identify appropriate nature-based solutions for urban planning. The project’s goal is to reduce the vulnerability of urban communities to current and future effects of climate change (flooding, drought, landslides, etc.) by mainstreaming urban Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in city planning. It is carrying out EbA activities in urban areas and surrounding watersheds of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico; Kingston, Jamaica; and San Salvador, El Salvador. These activities consist of the restoration of mangroves, forests and riparian areas, implementation of climate-smart agriculture, construction of water retention structures, establishment of community gardens, and installation of roof rainwater catchment systems, among others.

The Tahiry Honko project: Community-led mangrove management to protect coastal ecosystems and livelihoods in the Bay of Assassins, Southwest Madagascar. PATHFINDER AWARD 2021 WINNER

The project, co-managed by Blue Ventures and the Velondriake Association in the Velondriake MPA, aims to establish  a sustainable, long-term mangrove payment for ecosystem services scheme which will reduce deforestation and degradation and restore mangroves in the Bay of Assassins (southwest Madagascar), avoiding emissions of over 1,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Carbon credits generated by conserving and restoring mangrove ecosystems will make an important contribution to poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation in the area by establishing a secure revenue flow offering communities the opportunity, where feasible, to construct schools, dig wells, provide community health services and other related services that will directly benefit community members of all ages. 

The Velondriake Association is progressively increasing their presence in the field in order to monitor the implementation of this project with relevant communities, playing a key outreach role.

Large-scale Ecosystem-based Adaptation in the Gambia river basin: Developing a climate-resilient, natural resource-based economy

The consequences of climate change in the Gambia are stark and Gambians are extremely vulnerable. Increased temperatures, wind storms, coastal erosion, erratic rainfall, droughts, and floods have intensified, resulting in reduced agricultural and livestock production and unsustainable extraction of resources from forest ecosystems by rural households.

 

UNEP is supporting The Gambia’s government with Gambia’s largest adaptation project. Funded by the Green Climate Fund, the aim is of this large-scale Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) intervention is to build climate resilience over large areas and promote climate-resilient sustainable development. This is achieved firstly by restoring degraded ecosystems, including forests, mangroves and savannahs, and agricultural landscapes with climate-resilient plant species that provide goods for consumption or sale; and secondly, by facilitating the establishment of natural resource-based businesses and management committees to manage the Gambian natural resource base sustainably.

Strengthening national and county level policy and regulatory frameworks to support forest and landscape restoration in Kenya

The Restoration Initiative (TRI) in Kenya arid and semi-arid lands region has assisted in strengthening policies and regulatory frameworks in support of forest and landscape restoration (FLR) in Kenya. One key product has been the Forest and Landscape Restoration Implementation Action Plan (FOLAREP), a national FLR strategy that includes a roadmap and monitoring framework to bridge existing gaps in FLR policy. The project has also contributed to the integration of relevant FLR and national natural resource management policies at the county and local levels by contributing to the elaboration of various county policies, including County Environment Action Plans and a Policy Influence Plan of FOLAREP. Additionally, TRI has elaborated a national strategy and action plan for sustainable commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and services as well as Forest (Equitable Benefit Sharing) Regulations.

TRI is a GEF-funded project

Trabajo decente en Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza 2022

Las soluciones basadas en la naturaleza (SbN) se consideran cada vez más como una forma de cumplir los objetivos de varios acuerdos globales y pueden ser fundamentales para una transición justa, si se implementa la combinación adecuada de políticas de transición justa. Pero actualmente no hay garantía de que las SbN generen trabajo decente. Este informe, desarrollado conjuntamente por la OIT, el PNUMA y la UICN, es el primero de una serie conjunta de informes bienales globales que tiene como objetivo llenar el conocimiento y las lagunas en la promoción sobre cómo las transiciones hacia una economía verde afectarán el mundo del trabajo, y sobre el papel que las SbN pueden y desempeñan en la creación de empleo, especialmente para las personas más pobres y vulnerables.

Le travail décent dans les solutions fondées sur la nature 2022

Les solutions fondées sur la nature (SFN) sont de plus en plus considérées comme un moyen d’atteindre les objectifs de plusieurs accords mondiaux et peuvent être essentielles à une transition juste – si la bonne combinaison de politiques de transition juste est mise en œuvre. Mais il n’existe actuellement aucune garantie que les SFN généreront du travail décent. Elaboré conjointement par l'OIT, le PNUE et l'UICN, ce rapport est le premier d'une série de rapports biennaux mondiaux conjoints visant à combler les lacunes en termes de connaissances et de sensibilisation sur la manière dont les transitions vers une économie verte affecteront le monde du travail, ainsi que sur le rôle que les SFN peuvent jouer et jouent effectivement dans la création d'emplois, en particulier pour les personnes les plus pauvres et les plus vulnérables.