Management Effectiveness of Protected Areas Marc Hockings School

Management Effectiveness of Protected Areas Marc Hockings School of Natural and Rural Systems Management University of Queensland Vice Chair (Management Effectiveness), IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Durban, August 2003

WHY IS MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS AN ISSUE? • Protected areas are critical for in-situ conservation • Most protected areas are subject to multiple serious threats and many are degraded • 1992 review of protected areas found that three of the five most common threats were management deficiencies rather than direct impacts on resources

WHY IS MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS AN ISSUE? • Protected areas are critical for in-situ conservation • Most protected areas are subject to multiple serious threats and many are degraded • 1992 review of protected areas found that three of the five most common threats were management deficiencies rather than direct impacts on resources • The 1992 World Parks Congress identified effective management as one of four major protected area issues of global concern

WHY ASSESS MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS? • Promote adaptive management • Improve quality of reporting (promote accountability) • Improve project planning by sharing lessons learnt • Identify protected areas at risk • Identify priorities for project and funding support • Facilitate advocacy to improve management

A short (and incomplete) history of Management Effectiveness Evaluation • First raised at Bali WPC 1983 • Call for action at Caracas WPC 1992 • Independent systems development (Parks in Peril, WWF/CATIE, TNC and others, various park management agencies) – 3 basic approaches • scoring or rating of management • monitoring systems (mostly biological) • project evaluation • WCPA Working Group 1996 and Task Force 1998

Process used to develop WCPA Framework • Working group established with WCPA in 1996 • Draft framework developed in 1997 • Task Force established in 1998 with broad regional and organisational representation • Partnership with IUCN/WWF Forest Innovations project • Workshops in Costa Rica, UK, Bangkok • Pilot studies • Networks and consultation in various fora • Review within WCPA • Publication and launch of guidelines at World Conservation Congress in Amman

The WCPA Framework and Guidelines

COMPONENTS OF MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS Three aspects are of interest: • the appropriateness of PA design; • the appropriateness of management systems and processes; and • the extent to which the protected area/ system is achieving objectives for which it was established.

Evaluation and the management cycle

WCPA ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK Elements Conte of xt. Where evaluatio are we n now? Criteria Significance Threats Vulnerability National policy Engagement of Partners Focus of Status evaluatio n Plannin g Where do we want to be? Inputs What do we need? Proces Output Outcom s s es How do we go about it? What were the results? What did we achieve? PA legislation and policy PA system design Reserve design Management planning Resourcing of agency Resourcing of site Suitability of management processes Results of management actions Services and products Impacts: effects of management in relation to objectives Appropriateness Economy Efficiency Effectiveness Appropriateness

LEVELS OF ASSESSMENT

HIERARCHY OF PROTECTED AREA ASSESSMENT WCPA Protected Area Assessment Framework An overall structure and some principles Assessments of protected area systems (e. g. WWF Rapid Assessment) Assessments of protected areas (e. g. IUCN-CIDA Russian project) Detailed monitoring of individual PAs (e. g. World Heritage Enhancing our Heritage project)

GUIDELINES • • • Participatory Well-founded, transparent, comprehensible Clearly defined management objectives and criteria for judging performance Focused on most important issues and threats Consider all elements (context, design, inputs, process, outputs and outcomes) Cover social, environmental and management aspects Capable of showing change over time (trends) Identify what is outside manager’s control Should facilitate prioritisation of conservation effort Include clear recommendations for improvement Based on sound appropriate social and environmental science Include both quantitative and qualitative information

Thank You