Download Key arguments for effective protected areas in the places that matter

Key arguments for effective
protected areas in the
places that matter
Arguments for Protection aims to identify, and where possible
quantify, a wide range of the benefits derived from protected
areas, to increase support for protection and broaden and
strengthen protected area management strategies
The Arguments for Protection project has created the world
largest information source on the wider values of protected
areas, covering thousands of reserves, and including…
 Cheap supplies of clean drinking water for city dwellers
 Abundant fish stocks for local communities
 Irreplaceable genetic resources for crop breeding
 Effective protection against natural disasters
 Material for local and global medicines
 Places for exercise and mental relaxation
Protection for many of the world’s sacred sites
 Secure storage for huge amounts of carbon
 Sustainable livelihoods for people
 Protection for vulnerable human societies
 The world’s most effective tool for biodiversity conservation
Well-managed forests provide high quality water
A third of the world’s hundred biggest cities derive much of
their drinking water from forest protected areas
All major faith groups are involved in
managing natural spaces for sacred
and nature values
Over 100 research projects have found
high biodiversity levels in sacred natural
sites
Crop wild relatives provide agriculture
with hundreds of million of dollars in
value each year
Yet the world’s “centres of crop diversity”
have far lower than average proportion
of land in protected areas
Protected areas can help to
buffer human communities
against all forms of natural
disaster: floods, tsunamis,
typhoons, storms, droughts,
fires and the after-effects of
earthquakes
Well planned and managed
protected areas can
contribute to poverty
alleviation
But only under conditions of
good governance
Protected areas can provide local
and global medicines and space for
physical exercise and mental
recuperation
The Protected Area Benefits
Assessment Tool allows rapid
assessment of wider benefits of
protected areas
Climate change and protected areas
A multi-organisational
report looking at the role of
protected areas in
mitigating and adapting to
climate change:
WWF working with The
World Bank, UNEP, UNDP,
CBD, IUCN, The Nature
Conservancy and others…
The Arguments for Protection project
links to the three WWF global priorities
Saving biodiversity: building support for protected areas as
the key tool in global biodiversity strategies
Reducing ecological footprint: linking protected areas with
sustainable supply of clean drinking water, crop breeding
material, human health benefits, disaster mitigation, local
wellbeing and poverty reduction
Tackling threats and drivers: consolidating partnerships
with the World Bank, ISDR, WHO, ARC, UNDP, CBD, UNEP,
TEEB and new industry partners to develop sustainable
finance mechanisms
The Arguments for Protection series
 Completed: reports on drinking
water, faiths, agrobiodiversity, poverty
reduction, disaster mitigation and
health; an assessment tool.
 In preparation: a report on climate
change and a book summarising the
series