May 2021
Protected areas like nature reserves and national parks are about the most fundamental manifestation of nature conservation there is, and have existed in various forms for centuries. But are they achieving what they are meant to achieve? Does formal protection necessarily translate into biodiversity conserved?
Brian MacSharry is well placed to respond to these questions. He is Head of the Biodiversity and Nature Group at the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen, and former lead of the Protected Planet initiative.
In our discussion we refer to the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), the United Nations convention that sets much of the international biodiversity agenda. Parties to the CBD (countries and the EU) make key decisions at "meetings of the Conference of the Parties" (COPs) to the CBD. We refer to COP-10 in Nagoya (2010); COP-14 in Sharm El Sheikh (2018); and the upcoming COP-15 in Kunming. The Aichi Biodiversity Targets are a set of global targets that emerged from COP-10, to be superseded by the post-2020 global biodiversity framework at COP-15.
Links to resources:
IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas - Global standard of best practice for area-based conservation, based on certification for protected and conserved areas
Protected Planet Initiative - Comprehensive source of data on protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs)
The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier - Book about criminality and exploitation on the world's oceans