USING A PARTICIPATORY ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE DINARIC ARC OF EUROPE TO SUPPORT PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT

Economic and non-economic benefits of protected areas were assessed in 58 national parks in the Dinaric Arc of Europe, involving over a thousand local people and identifying major economic benefits from tourism, rural development and water.  The results suggest that protected areas already provide significant economic benefits to local people in the region, often in places with few other options, and that further utilization of many ecosystem services is possible without undermining protected area objectives and effectiveness.

To read the full paper, click here.

Taking stock of Myanmar’s Natural Capital

The need for balance is critical to the well-being of Myanmar’s people and wildlife. For example, the country’s inland forests help purify drinking water and its mangroves help protect people from coastal storms. Natural areas also are habitat for Myanmar’s endangered wildlife and the source of food, medicine and building materials for people. Balance can be secured by connecting the dots. A new assessment led by World Wide Fund for Nature, at the request of the Government of Myanmar, will help Myanmar make those connections. The assessment includes information about where the country’s natural capital is located, what ecosystem services it provides to people, and how those services will change under different climate change and development scenarios.

If you want to know more, see on the website of Myanmar Natural Capital.

The benefits to people of expanding Marine Protected Areas

A report of the IVM Institute for Environmental Studies focuses on how the economic value of marine ecosystem services to people and communities is expected to change with the expansion of marine protected areas (MPAs).

The full report can be downloaded here.

New paper researches the role of protected areas in climate-change mitigation

Using an integrated earth systems model to generate climate and land-use scenarios for the twenty-first century, projections were made about climate-change mitigation within protected areas.

Read the Abstract here.

Access to Nature Reduces Health Inequalities: An IEEP Briefing

In a briefing for Friend of the Earth Europe commemorating the International Day of Forests, IEEP explored the links between access to nature and health inequalities in Europe.

To read more, see the IEEP news here.

Launch of the Natural Solutions website

The WCPA Natural Solutions specialist group has launched this website as a resource for members, and others, on the role of protected areas in providing ecosystem services. The website will contain news stories, key publications, case studies and links to other relevant websites and initiatives. Along with an irregular newsletter, it will highlight the work of the specialist group. Pressures on protected areas are increasing all around the world. Their long-term survival relies on broadening and strengthening the constituency of people supporting them, which in turn means explaining more clearly their wider benefits for humanity. This is the core task of the Natural Solutions Specialist Group. Welcome to the website! Please get in touch is you are a WCPA member interested in joining the group, or if you have news, publications or other items to share.