by: Ulla Vänttinen
A group of biodiversity experts have written a report “Natural Solutions” which provides a good perspective on the role that protected areas can play in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The report presents a set of options that so far have been under-represented in global response strategies. According to the report forests have a main role as carbon storage in mitigation to climate change. As well-managed ecosystems these areas can function as buffers against flood and tidal events, landslides and storms.
Protected areas can serve as models for adaptation to climate change. For this reason the authors call on national and local governments to incorporate protected area systems into national climate change adaptation strategies and action plans. The report is published by International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and The World Bank and WWF.
Dudley, N., S. Stolton, A. Belokurov, L. Krueger, N. Lopoukhine, K. MacKinnon, T. Sandwith and N. Sekhran [editors] (2010); Natural Solutions: Protected areas helping people cope with climate change, IUCNWCPA, TNC, UNDP, WCS, The World Bank and WWF, Gland, Switzerland, Washington DC and New York, USA
The full report is available at:
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/natural_solutions_climate_climate_2009.pdf
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