Protected areas play an important dual role in addressing climate change through mitigation and adaptation. They mitigate climate change by capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere in ecosystems. They help adapt to climate change by maintaining ecosystem services that buffer impacts and support livelihoods as climates change. International organizations like IUCN and conventions like the UNFCCC and CBD recognize the role of protected areas in climate strategies and call for increased protection of natural areas to respond to climate challenges.

1. IUCN and Role of Protected Areas
in meeting climate challenges
Saadullah Ayaz
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

2. Definitions of Protected Areas
IUCN’s definition
‘A clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and
managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-
Term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and
cultural values’
Dudley, N.(2008); Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, IUCN
CBD’s definition
‘A geographically defined area which is designated or regulated and
managed to achieve specific conservation objectives’
www.cbd.int/protected/pacbd/
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

3. Protected areas helping people cope
with climate change
Protected areas already cover over 13.9 per
cent of the world’s land surface and growing
Protected areas are are proven “green”
and cost-effective natural solutions to
help address the climate change. They;
• reduce greenhouse gas emissions through
carbon storage and sequestration
• maintaining the essential ecosystem services
upon which people depend.
http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/natsols_4pp_highres_single
_pages_with_cropmarks.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

4. Dual role of Protected Areas
Mitigation
Capture: At least 15% of the world’s terrestrial carbon stock is stored in PA globally.
Storage: Natural ecosystems capture more than 4.7 gigatonnes of carbon annually
Adaptation
Protected areas maintain ecosystem integrity,
buffer local climate, and reduce risks and impacts
from extreme events
Maintain essential ecosystem services that help
people cope with changes in water supplies,
fisheries, disease and agricultural productivity
caused by climate change.
http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/natural_solutions.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

5. CC- Role of Protected Areas
Protected areas are proven tools for maintaining essential natural resources and
services, which in turn can help increase the resilience and reduce the vulnerability of
livelihoods in the face of climate change:
Water: both purer water and (especially in tropical montane cloud forests)
increased water flow
Fisheries: Marine and freshwater protected areas conserve and rebuild fish stocks
Food: Protecting crop wild relatives to facilitate crop breeding and pollination
services; providing sustainable food for communities
Health: Ranging from habitat protection to slow the expansion of vector-borne
diseases that thrive in degraded ecosystems to access to traditional
medicines
http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/natural_solutions.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

6. CC-PA in UNFCCC
• Recognises the role of protected areas as tools for permanent carbon
storage and sequestration and call for the implementation of robust
protected areas systems as a core component of national strategies to
achieve land-based emissions reductions
• Emphasises the role of ecosystems in climate change adaptation and
incorporate protection of natural ecosystems within national adaptation
strategies and action plans (including National Adaptation Programmes
of Action – NAPA) for protection of natural ecosystems as a cost-
effective alternative to technology- and infrastructure based adaptation
measures and to avoid mal-adaptation
• Permit nationally appropriate mitigation and adaptation actions that
involve the enhancement of protected areas or national protected area
networks to receive financial and technical assistance through climate-
related financial mechanisms
http://unfccc.int/
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

7. CC-PA in CBD
Convention on Biological Diversity has recognized the role of PAs in addressing climate
change in Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA):
“1.4.5 Integrate climate change adaptation measures in protected
Area planning, management
• Encourages development of tools and methods to support countries to evaluate climate
impacts and increase resilience of their protected areas systems, and ensure that their role
in mitigation and adaptation is fully explored
• Emphasizes the importance of increasing connectivity among national protected areas and
trans-boundary protected areas
• Cultivate political urgency for the development of marine protected areas and protected
areas in underrepresented biomes
• The Convention also recognizes that there are significant opportunities for mitigating
climate change and adapting to it, while enhancing the conservation of biodiversity
http://www.cbd.int/
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

8. PACT 2020:
Protected Areas and Climate Turnaround
PACT was formally launched at the IUCN World Conservation
Congress in 2008 and supported by IUCN’s Innovation Fund.
Under PACT 2020- Climate change was acknowledged to be’
the greatest threat to biodiversity and the global system of
protected areas was noted as one of the most powerful solutions.
PACT 2020 aims to
“Ensure that protected areas and protected area systems are recognised
as an important contribution to climate change adaptation/mitigation
strategies for biodiversity and human livelihoods”.
http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/wcpa_events/wcpa_climatepas
ummit/wcpa_pact2020/
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

9. The Issue
60% of global ecosystem services are degraded, reducing
their ability to mitigate the impact of natural disasters
Economic losses from climate disasters have increased
tenfold in 50 years, and “natural” disasters continue to
increase in frequency and intensity
Warmer regional temperatures, have already had
significant impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

10. CC as driver of Biodiversity Loss
A comprehensive assessment of the links
between ecosystem health and human well-
being, climate change is likely to become the
dominant direct driver of biodiversity loss by the
end of the century
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2007)
Projected changes in climate, combined with
land use change and the spread of exotic or
alien species, are likely to limit the capability of
some species to migrate and therefore will
accelerate species loss
(CBD, 2009)
www.cbd.int/doc/bioday/2007/ibd-2007-booklet-01-en.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

11. IPCC’s Analysis
“Observational evidence from all continents
and most oceans shows that many natural
systems are being affected by regional
climate changes, particularly Temperature
increases.”
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report
http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth
_assessment_report_synthesis_report.htm
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

12. Summary of IPCC-AR IV Conclusions (contd…)
There is also high confidence of the effects on hydrological systems including:
• Increased runoff and earlier spring peak discharge in many glacier- and snow-fed rivers
• Warming of lakes and rivers in many regions, with effects on thermal structure and water
quality
There is high confidence that changes in marine and freshwater biological systems
are associated with rising water temperatures and related changes in ice cover,
salinity, oxygen levels and circulation including:
• Shifts in ranges and changes in algal, plankton and fish abundance in high-latitude oceans
• Increases in algal and zooplankton abundance in high-latitude and high-altitude lakes
• Range changes and earlier fish migrations in rivers
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

13. Summary of IPCC-AR IV Conclusions (contd…)
there is very high (i.e. 90 percent) confidence that recent warming is strongly
affecting terrestrial biological systems, including:
• Earlier timing of spring events, such as leaf-unfolding,egg-laying and bird migration
• Plants and animals shift ranges pole-wards and upwards
There is high (80 per cent) confidence that natural systems related to snow, ice and
frozen ground (including permafrost) are affected, including the:
• Enlargement and increased numbers of glacial lakes
• Increasing ground instability in permafrost regions and rock avalanches in mountain
• Changes in Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems, including those in sea-ice biomes, and
affecting top predators
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

14. Summary of IPCC-AR IV Conclusions (contd…)
There is increasing evidence of climate change impacts on coral reefs. Sea-level
rise and human development are also contributing to losses of coastal wetlands
and mangroves and increasing damage from coastal flooding
In the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere agricultural and forest
management impacts include earlier spring planting of crops, and alterations in
disturbances of forests due to fires and pests
Some impacts on human health, such as excess heat-related mortality in Europe,
changes in infectious disease vectors in parts of Europe, and earlier onset of and
increases in seasonal production of allergenic pollen in the high and mid-latitudes
of the Northern Hemisphere
Impacts on human activities in the Arctic, in relation to hunting activities and shorter
travel seasons over snow and ice, and in lower-elevation alpine areas, such as
changes in mountain sports activities
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

15. IUCN’s Solutions
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

16. IUCN- at the Core of Solution
IUCN believes that conserving nature can help reduce greenhouse
gas emissions (mitigation) and help us adapt to the impacts of climate
change
IUCN’s work puts nature at the centre of climate change solutions in
hundred of programmes and projects across the world
IUCN’s Climate Change Network coordinates and facilitates climate
change work across the Union’s programmes, commissions and
member organizations. IUCN’s UN Observer Status offers a unique
position at key international decision-making fora, including the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
http://www.iucn.org/what/tpas/climate
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

17. IUCN’s Viewpoint
Wise conservation and management of
biodiversity, protected areas, World Heritage
and natural resources must be an important
component of any climate change adaptation
IUCN is uniquely positioned to support
climate change adaptation actions at all
levels from local to regional to global
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

18. Granada Summit on
Protected Areas and Climate Change
November, 2009
Reaffirmed that protected area systems can provide
cost‐effective means to combat climate change
Recognised that increasing ecosystem resilience
through effective protection will enhance the
persistence and functions of protected areas in
reducing climate change risks to society and
biodiversity.
http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/conclusiones_de_la_reu
nion_de_granada_final_3_.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

19. IUCN and Climate Change Adaptation
The Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Thematic
Group of IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem
Management (CEM), promotes the science and
practice of Ecosystem-based Adaptation.
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is the use of
biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an
overall adaptation strategy to help people to adapt to Ecosystem-based Adaptation
the adverse effects of climate change. A nature’s solution to climate change
EbA aims to maintain and increase the resilience and
reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and people in
the face of the adverse effects of climate change.
http://www.iucn.org/what/tpas/climate/key_topics/eba/
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

20. IUCN- People and Livelihoods
IUCN introduced “Community-based Risk Screening
Tool - Adaptation and Livelihoods”
(CRISTAL)
CRISTAL can reduce impacts of climate change on
community livelihoods
First tested in IUCN project in Mali
(Inner Delta of the Niger River)
Made available by IUCN for wider global use
(Aliou.Faye@iucn.org)
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

21. IUCN’s Guidelines for
Precautionary Principles
IUCN developed “Guidelines for Applying the
Precautionary Principle to Biodiversity
Conservation and Natural Resource
Management”
Responding to uncertainty
(also relevant to climate change)
www.pprinciple.net
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

22. CC-PA- Suggested Policy Response
Well managed protected areas can provide a cost effective option for
implementing climate change response strategies because start-up costs have
already been met and socio-economic costs are offset by other services that
protected areas supply
Protected Areas: helping cope people with climate change
http://www.undp.org.tr/publicationsDocuments/natural_solutions_original.pdf
Governments develop policies for “climate sensitive public goods including natural
resource protection, coastal protection and emergency preparedness
Stern’s Review on Economics of Climate Change
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/CLOSED_SHORT_executive_summary.pdf
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

23. Thank you
Saadullah Ayaz
Coordinator Climate Change/
Country Network Coordinator Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities
IUCN Pakistan
saad.ayaz@iucn.org
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature