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Protecting the Amazon can protect the Climate
Amazon Protected Areas as Natural Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation
Amazon Protected Areas are key in helping communities and nature adapt to a changing climate. They build resilience to climate change globally, mitigate the impacts of climate events, ensure provision of ecosystem services and protect biodiversity. Protected Areas should be included in climate change strategies and development plans of the Amazon countries in order to facilitate climate-resilient development and promote a safer climate future.
The Latin American Network for Pro-tected Area Systems RedParques and WWF Living Amazon Initiative are leading a regional effort to strengthen Amazon Protected Area Systems and include the role of Protected Areas in climate change strategies and de-velopment plans through the project ‘Amazon Biome: Natural Solution to Climate Change’ as part Implemen-tation of the Amazon Conservation Vision
Policy Recommendations
• Strengthen regional collaboration to-wards the implementation of the Am-azon Conservation Vision
• Recognize the importance of Pro-tected Areas within the wider climate- resilient development planning con-text in the Amazon region
• Assess and improve contribution ofProtected Areas to climate change vulnerabilityreduction,resilienceandecosystem services provision
• Monitor Amazon ecosystem changesinducedbyclimatechangeandiden-
tify potential responses through an integrated network of Protected Area Systems
• Recognize Protected Areas as successful and cost-efficient tools for ecosystem management that can support climate change adaptation strategies
• Integrate the role Protected Areasplay in adaptation and resilience in regional, national, subnational andsectorial climate change and devel-opmentpolicyinstruments,strategiesand action plans
WWF Guyanas
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The Amazon plays a key role in addressing climate change impactThe Amazon is the world’s largest tropical forest, a complex and fasci-nating biome that covers an area of6.7 million km2 and plays an important partinregionalandglobalclimatere- gulation. The amazon holds 10% of the planet’s known biodiversity and its rivers discharge 15% of the world’s freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Amazon is also home to over 34 million people who live in eight dif-ferent countries:Bolivia,Brazil,Colom-bia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname,Venezuela, and the overseas terri-tory of French Guiana. This population includes 2.7 million indigenous peo-plesfromover350ethnicgroups,60of which live in voluntary isolation. Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas cover nearly 50% of the Biome Amazon, presenting impor-tant management and conservation opportunities.
Climate regulationTheAmazon, due to its size, ecologi-calstructureandlocationin-betweenthe equator, the Atlantic Ocean andthe Andes, produces a hydrologicalengine that generates favorable cli-mate conditions regionally and glo- bally.TheAmazon’shydrologicalcycle,however,issensitivetochangesinthebiome’sstructureduetodeforestation
and degradationii, which combinedwithglobalclimatechangeaffect thecapacity of the Amazon to regulate the climateiii.
Biodiversity protection Because of its large surface area and relatively good state, the Amazon biomemakes it easier for species tochange their distribution ranges in response to climate changes, it alsobufferstheimpactsofextremeweath-er events and, in general, increasesthe capacity of its ecosystems to with-stand shocks.
Ecosystem services flowThe Amazon biome provides fun-damental ecosystem services that supportitsinhabitant’slivelihoodsandcontributetoAmazoncountries’econ-omies. These services include climate stabilization, carbon sequestration,provisionofwater,food,timber,gene- tic resources, non-renewable naturalresources and cultural services.
Protected Areas strengthen the Am-azon’s capacity to continue to de-liver these planetary functions into the future.
Amazon Protected AreasSince 1960, the area of the Amazonunder protection has progressively increased, totaling 170 million hect-ares in 2013, distributed among 390 Protected Areas that range from
The 2014 Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change Report detailedthat almost every part of the natural world and its interdependent social andeconomicsystemsisbeing,orwillbe,affectedbyclimatechange(WWFLivingPlanetReport2014).
strict protection to sustainable use. Protected Areas help maintain the integrity of the biome and reducetheAmazon’s vulnerability to climatechange and other pressures, hence increasing its ability to regulate the climate, protect biodiversity and pro-vide ecosystem services to society.
The extent of area that is protected varies within the Amazon countries. Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecua-dor have between 20% and 30% ofprotected Amazon while Colombia,PeruandSurinamehavebetween10%and20%only.Inaddition,despitetheseeminglyextensivecoverage,notallecosystems are adequately represent-ed in Amazon Protected Areasiv.
State of the Amazon Biome and its Protected AreasConventional threatsSeveral activities currently threaten Amazon Protected Areas, includingthe agricultural frontier expansion by agro-businesses and colonizers,mineral and hydrocarbon extraction,and construction of hydropower and transport-related infrastructure. The Amazonlost17%ofitsoriginalvegeta-tion due to land use changes in the past 50 yearsv,around1.1millionhect-ares,andasimilarsurfaceareaofthe biome suffers from degradation invarying degrees. Freshwater eco-systems are also under threat due to interruption of connectivity and deforestationalongsidewaterbodiesiv. Depending on future deforestation policies, up to half of the Amazon’soriginal vegetation could be lost be-tween 2030 and 2050v.
The threat of present and future climate changeThe Amazon region experienced an increase in temperature between0.5and 0.8°C over the last century, andmodels suggest that by 2050, tem-perature could increase by 2 to 3°Ciii. At thesame time,adecrease in rain-
Amazon Biome Protected Areasi
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Many plants and animals that haveadapted to their environment over mil-lions of years are vulnerable to eventhe slightest changes in temperature. Some species could end up having to leave the safety of current Protected Areasinsearchofbetterclimatecon-ditionsandmayevenbecomeextinct(WWFLAC).
fall during dry months could lead to substantial changes in seasonalityand widespread drying of some areas as experienced during the 2005 and 2010Amazondroughts, themostse-vere in the past 40 yearsvi. Climate change coupled with land use changes couldresult intreedieback,degrada-tionoffreshwaterecosystems,speciesextinction,waterscarcity,landerosion,health issues and decreased agricul-tural yields. In an extreme scenario,between30%and60%oftheAmazonrainforestcouldbecomeadrysavannabytheendofthe21stcenturyv.
RedParques andWWF Living AmazonInitiative are carrying out a Climate Change Risk Integrated Analysisvii to identifytherisksandvulnerabilitiesofthe Amazon biome and its ProtectedAreas. This exercise recognizes the role of Amazon ecosystems in main-taining and conserving natural values and ecosystem services, and promo- ting sustainable developmentviii. Pre-liminary results show that the areas most at risk are at the southeastern partofthebiome,attheAndeanpied-montandalongtheAmazonRiver.
An Amazon Vision: Con-servation and Resilience The Amazon Conservation Vision represents a commitment of the Protected Area System directors of Amazon countries towards a com-
mon vision for the future of the Ama-zon, linkedtotheProgramofWorkon Protected Areas of the Convention on BiologicalDiversity(CBD).
The Amazon Vision seeks to secure natural resources for the benefit of local populations and the regional economy, through an integrated andeffectively managed network of Pro-tected Areas, prepared to face newchallenges such as climate change. This Vision is implemented under leadership of the Latin American Technical Cooperation Network on Protected Areas ‘RedParques’, creat-edin1983andcurrentlychairedbyPe-ru’s National Protected Areas Agency SERNANP. RedParques’ seeks to buildcapacity in Latin America’s national Protected Areas institutions through knowledge and experience sharing.
Representation, integration and connectivityClimate change requires a supra-national vision of Amazon Protected Areas that ensures connectivity and representation across all key ecosys-tems in the biome as a whole. Thisimplies an important level of coordi-nation between Amazon Protected Area Systems in order to identify in-tegrated solutions, including protec-tion of transboundary environmentalprocesses and ecosystems, and thedevelopment of regional networks to connect the diverse array of Amazon Protected Areas.
Strategic partnershipsIndigenous Territories play a centralrole in Amazon conservation, and Amazon natural ecosystems are vital for indigenous peoples and local communities. Coordination and understanding among indigenous peoples and protected area authori-ties is key for an integrated manage-ment approach for conservation of the Amazon. A solid vision of the role thatAmazonProtectedAreasandIndi- genous Territories play in biologicaland cultural diversity conservation must bemainstreamed into planningprocesses and development agendasix.
The role of Protected Areas in fa-cilitating adaptation and building resilience to climate change in the region is fundamental part of an Amazon Conservation Vision for the Future
Role of Protected Areas for Climate Adaptation in Amazon Countries’ PoliciesPolicy State of the ArtProtected Area Systems of the Ama-zon countries are as diverse as the countries themselves. Their gover-nance structures vary in terms of their history,levelofdevelopmentandthecoordination that they exercise with government agencies in charge of climate change and planning at na-tionalandsubnationallevels.However,most countries are in the same situa-tion when it comes to including Pro-tected Areas’ role for adaptation and resilience in policy instruments.
Out of over 80 Amazon countries’ policy documents reviewed, includ-ing national and subnational climatechange strategies, development andzoning plans, agricultural strategiesandsoforth,only33referinsomewayto the role of Protected Areas in adap-tationandresilience.Of those,24are
AmazonIntegratedClimateRiskIndexi
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i Suárez,César.Project:AmazonBiome:NaturalSolutiontoClimateChange.WWFLAI.2014.
ii DonatoNobre,Antonio.2014.OFuturoClimáticodaAmazônia:RelatóriodeAvaliaçãoCientífica.ArticulaciónRegionalAmazônica(ARA).
iii WWF.ClimateChangeImpactsintheAmazon:ReviewoftheScientificLiterature.http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/problems/climate_change_amazon/
iv Maretti,C.C.,RiverosS.,J.C.,Hofstede,R.,Oliveira,D.,Charity,S.,Granizo,T.,Alvarez,C.,Valdujo,P.&C.Thompson.2014.StateoftheAmazon:Eco-logicalRepresentationinProtectedAreasandIndigenousTerritories.BrasíliaandQuito:WWFLivingAmazon(Global)Initiative.82pp.
v Nepstad,D.C.TheAmazonBasininaHeatingWorld:StateofourKnowledgeandOpportuni-tiesforMitigation.2008.
vi http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/problems/climate_change_amazon/
vii WWFLAI.2014.Project:AmazonBiome:NaturalSolution to Climate Change.
viii Schellnhuber1999
ix WWFLAI.ProtectedAreasandIndigenous Territories:spacesforconservingbiologicalandculturaldiversityandforcontributingtoreduc-tion of poverty and of social exclusion. 2014.
x IUCN.TheRoleofProtectedAreasinRegardtoClimateChange:ScopingStudy,Georgia.2012.
PublishedinNovember2014byWWFLivingAmazonInitiative’sProject‘AmazonBiome:Natural Solution to Climate Change’ Contact: [email protected]
nationalpolicies, including laws, stra- tegies, action plans, and ministerialbillsfromwhichclosetohalfrelatetoclimate change, 21% to Protected Ar-eas,12%todevelopmentandtherestto agriculture or environment at large. Manyofthemrefertotheroleofforestconservation more generally in buff-ering the impacts of climate change,while others focus altogether on the climatechangemitigationbenefitsofconserving natural areas, leaving ad-aptation aside.
Flagship Policies that link Pro-tected Areas to Climate Change Adaptation and ResilienceAmazon countries are in the early stages of linking these traditionally separatetopics.Somecountries,how-ever, have taken important steps torecognize this feature of protected areas in national strategies, bringingforward important examples of flag-ship policies for the region.
For example, Bolivia’s National Ad-aptation Mechanism recognizes the role of Protected Areas in fostering na-ture’s adaptation to climate change. Oneof its policies aims for ‘Protected Areasinharmoniousbalancewithbuf-fer zones and secondary scape areas for wildlife adaptation to climate change’,including a) the establishment of bio-logical corridors to allow for ecosystem adaptation and uninterrupted ecosys-tem service provision, and b) protect-ed areas expansion for conservation in future climate change scenarios. In addition, Bolivia’s Joint Mitigation
and Adaptation Mechanism,basedon forests, recognizes that the NationalSystem of Protected Areas brings abenefit for climate change mitigationand adaptation unique to this type of territory.
Other good examples are Colombia’s National Strategy for the Coordina-tion of Climate Change Policies and Actions and the country’s National Parks Institutional Plan, which arevery progressive in their recognition of Protected Areas’ role in “maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, regula- tinglocalclimate,bufferingimpactsofclimateevents, increasingecosystemresilience and ensuring ecosystem provision for communities’ safety and well-being”.
Protected Areas Potential as Natural Solutions for Climate Change must be Recognized National Protected Area Systems represent the Amazon’s ‘biodiver-sity safety net’;ablockofprotectedand managed areas that enhance re-silience to climate change impactsiv. Protected Areas across all categories are the best-known mechanism toconserve ecosystems and the services they provide for human well-being,including food,security,health,socialrelations and freedom of choice and actioniv.However,withincreasinglanduse change drivers on several fronts,Protected Areas and Indigenous Ter-ritoriesareunderstrongpressure,fac-ingattemptstoreduce,downgradeordegrade themix.
Bolivia• NationalAdaptationMechanism• JointMitigationandAdaptationMechanism• NationalProtectedAreasService(SERNAP)InstitutionalStrategicPlan
Brazil• NationalClimateChangePolicyandClimateChangePlan
Colombia• NationalStrategyforArticulationofClimateChangePoliciesandActions
CONPES3700• NationalDevelopmentPlan(marineandcoastalprotectedareasonly)• NationalAdaptationPlan• NationalNaturalParksInstitutionalPlan• NationalNaturalParksSystemClimateChangeStrategy
Ecuador• PastazaProvinceZoningPlan• EnvironmentMinistryAccordforinclusionofclimatechangeinlocalplanning
Peru• NaturalProtectedAreasBill,RegulationandActionPlan
Flagship Policies in Amazon Biome Countries
Protected Area Systems are a core ele-mentofpublicpolicyframeworksandshould be recognized as the foun-dational building blocks of respon-sible and sustainable development strategies that work with, rather than against natureix. Strengthening Protected Areas and including them in climate change adaptation and de-velopment strategies is cost-effective thankstoanabsenceofstart-upcostsand due to the provision of economic benefitstosocietythroughecosystemservicesX.
The potential of Protected Areas to contribute a ‘natural’ cost-effi-cient solution for climate change adaptation must be recognized and supported as a pillar of the Ama-zon Conservation Vision and an ally in the establishment of a regional Amazon Climate Agenda.
Natural systems have the potential to adaptthroughautonomousprocesses,but successful adaptation dependson our ability to allow and facilitatethe adjustment of natural systems to a changing climate, maintaining theecosystem services on which all life depends(IPCC-AR5,2014)
