Publisher : IUCN
Place of publication :
Publication year : 0
Thematic : Key Biodiversity Areas
Language :
Note
Over the last four decades, a large number of approaches
have been developed for identifying places
of significance for biodiversity. These generally focus
on one group of species or one biome, or are applied
at a very large scale. In consequence, they use a diverse
array of assessment criteria and thus produce a
variety of different results, which has caused some
confusion among decision makers and risked duplication
of efforts. Someone wanting to understand
sites of importance in an area will often need to look
at multiple, disconnected databases and other information
sources. To address this and to provide a coherent,
global approach, IUCN Member organisations
requested the IUCN to convene a worldwide
consultative process to agree on an overarching
methodology to identify Key Biodiversity Areas
(KBAs).
KBAs are sites that contribute significantly to the
global persistence of biodiversity. They are identified
using globally standardised criteria and thresholds
applied by national and international constituencies.
KBAs are sites, in that they are relatively
limited in extent, and could thus potentially be
managed as protected areas or by other effective
means to conserve biodiversity. They therefore differ
from broad-scale approaches, such as Ecoregions,
Endemic Bird Areas, Wilderness Areas and Biodiversity
Hotspots, which identify large regions of
interest, often spanning several countries. KBAs instead
identify the most important sites for biodiversity
within all countries and regions. However, while
identification of a KBA is recognition of a site’s significance
to biodiversity, it does not on its own imply
any one management response. KBAs are thus a
data set used to help processes such as systematic
conservation planning and implementation and
monitoring of intergovernmental commitments, as
well as responsible development plans and applications
of safeguards such as the International Finance
Corporation’s Performance Standard 6 on Biodiversity
Conservation and Sustainable Management of
Living Natural Resources.
The KBA standard builds on earlier, long-standing efforts
to identify sites of importance to biodiversity,
most notably the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas
(IBA) identified by BirdLife International and partners
for several decades now, and Important Plant
Areas (IPAs) identified by Plantlife International and
others. There are for instance already over 12,000
IBAs identified covering every part of the planet.
The concept of KBAs has been recognised for over a
decade and was the subject of an earlier IUCN publication
(Langhammer et al., 2007). Countries such as
Turkey have already identified national KBAs drawing
on this methodology (Eken et al., 2006). To update
this work, and consolidate it into a global standard,
the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and
World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) established
a Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected
Areas, one objective of which was to finalise a
standard methodology for KBA identification. This
has been approached through a series of expert
workshops, regional consultations and the end-user
interviews reported on herein.
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Keywords : record
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
