10/25/2013 Transboundary Landscapes of the Mekong Sub-region Conservation Planning and Management Eric Wikramanayake, PhD Consultant, Landscape Conservation Specialist Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Ecosystems, the biodiversity that comprises them and the benefits they provide to people (ecosystem services) are the fundamental units for life support on Earth. They are the foundation for the natural processes of climate regulation and are a vital support for water quality, food security, and flood protection, amongst many others. (http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx) 1
10/25/2013 Conservation for a Green Economy The Ecosystem Management approach: “ an integrated process to conserve and improve ecosystem health that sustains ecosystem services for human well- being” Ecosystem management is the foundation on which a Green Economy is built http://worldwildlife.org/places/greater-mekong Conservation Landscapes in the GMS • Represent ecosystems and habitats with important and representative values of the region’s biodiversity • Provide the ecological requirements for globally threatened species populations; from iconic species such as tigers and elephants to endemic species such as Douc’s langurs and Sao La • Link core areas with habitat linkages to facilitate species movement and maintenance of viable metapopulations • Capture and sustain ecosystem processes and services • Transboundary areas have most intact forest areas 2
10/25/2013 Conservation Gaps in the GMS • Underexplored. New species being still discovered. Fill in the conservation gaps for these species • Previous analyses did not explicitly consider ecosystem services, especially in the context of Green Economies and Growth • Previous analyses did not consider climate change Existing and Planned Infrastructure in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region • 225 planned dams • 73 existing or planned dams in landscapes • 1324 km of planned roads in conservation landscapes Xue, Bottril, Forrest.1/22/10 based on infrastructure data collected in 2007, and tiger habitat representing 1995-2005. 3
10/25/2013 Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes • GMS landscape boundaries identified • Need spatial planning within the landscapes to identify the core areas, corridors and buffer zones • Institutional and policy structures that will allow integration of conservation and development Wikramanayake, E.D., M. McKnight, E. Dinerstein, A. Joshi, B. Guring, and D. Smith. 2004. • Monitoring plan Designing a Conservation Landscape for Tigers in Human-Dominated Environments. Conservation Biology. 18:839-844. Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 1. Modeling the conservation landscape spatial plans 1. Identify key ecological and biodiversity features to be used for spatial analysis and mapping the conservation landscapes. 2. Develop initial landscape spatial plans for the transboundary conservation landscapes. 3. Validate the draft conservation landscape spatial plans and conservation gaps through expert vetting. 4
10/25/2013 Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 2. Reconciling the ‘ideal’ landscape configuration with conflicting/competing land uses. 1. Spatial analyses to reconcile land-use for conservation and development priorities to identify the impacts of planned and ongoing development on conservation areas due to conflicting land uses and demand for lands . ‘Upstream’ assessments of landscape -scale land-use conflicts, such as through SEAs for proactive assessments to safeguard against the cumulative impacts in space and time. Balance Green and Grey Infrastructure From: Quintero, J., Roca, R., Morgan, A. J., Mathur, A. & Shi, X. 2010. Infrastructure in Tiger Range Countries : A Multi-Level Approach. Smithsonian at http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/download/GTI- Smart-Green-Infrastructure-Technical-Paper.pdf Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 2. Reconciling the ‘ideal’ Green Infrastructure: An landscape configuration with interconnected network of conflicting/competing land uses. green space that conserves natural ecosystem values Strike a balance between Green and and functions and provides Grey Infrastructure in land-use associated benefits to planning to: human populations. • Locate Green and Grey spaces where most needed and appropriate. • Identify vital ecological areas and connectivity • Identify opportunities for restoration of important natural areas • Create a vision that is greater than the sum of its parts • Enable conservation and development to be planned in harmony, not in opposition to each other. From: “Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st Century,” by Mark Benedict and Ed McMahon. 5
10/25/2013 Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 3a: Economic evaluation of the natural capital of conservation corridors 1. Assess the natural capital values of the landscapes • the sources of natural capital from landscapes • valuation of natural capital • who benefits? • Economic and livelihoods related benefits and losses from natural capital • Socio-political implications 2. Scenario-analyses for conservation areas under immediate stress from conflicting land-uses for socio- ecological and climate impacts Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 3b: Climate-integration of spatial landscape conservation plan. 1. Climate vulnerability analyses of landscape spatial plans 6
10/25/2013 Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes. • Identify points of entry to integrate the landscape plans into the land use planning systems and processes at national and sub-national (provincial and/or district-scale) in each country. • With appropriate institutions, integrate the conservation plans into the land use plans and planning systems. Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes. Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine The overall vision for the CFS is: “to establish a viable and contiguous or connected conservation area comprising both forest and non forest areas that will be maintained as the green lung of the environmentally sensitive area network in Peninsular Malaysia” 7
10/25/2013 Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into The National Physical Plan prepared by the national and sub-national land Town & Country Planning Department use planning systems and (TCPD) recognized that ‘ conserving forest processes. lands would be integral to optimizing the Best Practice Example from use of land in the country’ and that ‘the Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape multifunctional role of the forest lands should be enhanced through the recognition planning in the Central Forest Spine of the Central Forest Spine…to create linkages and corridors to the more isolated The overall vision for the CFS is: “to reserves ’. establish a viable and contiguous or connected conservation area In essence, NPP recognized that connecting comprising both forest and non these fragmented forests is important to forest areas that will be maintained secure mutual co‐existence and benefit for as the green lung of the development and conservation. environmentally sensitive area network in Peninsular Malaysia” Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes. Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine The NPP is the highest level spatial and is empowered by the Town & Country Planning Act 1976 (TCPA). The NPP is prepared in tandem with the Five Year Malaysia Plan and is the product of numerous negotiations and consultations with other federal agencies and all state governments. 8
10/25/2013 Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes. Best Practice Example from Peninsular Malaysia: Landscape planning in the Central Forest Spine Policy framework for the Peninsular Malaysia National Physical Plan and the Central Forest Spine Master Plan Spatial Planning of Conservation Landscapes Step 4: Integrating landscape conservation spatial plans into national and sub-national land use planning systems and processes. • Which areas of a landscape can be developed? • Which areas should be avoided? • What type of development is compatible with biodiversity conservation? • What is the cumulative impact of more than one project or land use? From: Quintero, J., Roca, R., Morgan, A. J., Mathur, A. & Shi, X. 2010. Infrastructure in Tiger Range Countries : A Multi-Level Approach. Smithsonian at http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/download/GTI-Smart-Green-Infrastructure-Technical-Paper.pdf 9
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