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Belize National Protected Areas Policy and System Plan
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A previous assessment project (National Protected Areas System Plan, funded by USAID) was conducted in 1994, but was focused solely on biodiversity conservation and was never fully incorporated into the national agenda. It set the stage for system-wide thinking and planning.
Background N
EW
S
Archaeological ReserveBird SanctuaryForest ReserveMarine Reserve
National Park
Natural MonumentNature ReservePrivate Reserve
Marine Reserve:Spawning Aggregation
Wildlife Sanctuary
Map Prepared by Jan MeermanApril 2005
Grid: UTM zone 16, NAD 19270 10 20 30 Miles
The project was developed in 2004 through the Ministry of Natural Resources with the guiding principle that the Protected Areas System should be a major contributor to national development and poverty alleviation, while maximizing its biodiversity value and ecological functionality.
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The National Protected Areas Policy and System Plan Initiative
Ministry of Natural Resources – Launched in 2004
Strengthening Management & Monitoring
Identification and Delivery of Economic Benefits
Management Procedures and Sustainable Use
Protected Area System Assessment & Analysis
Policy Formulation
provided official platform for NGO assistance
Five Themes
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NPAPSP Protected Area Analysis
0 9 18 27 36 45 Miles
N
EW
S
Map Prepared byJan Meerman, April 2005
Grid: UTM zone 16, NAD 1927This map is not a legal defenitionbased on the Maritime Areas Act
(GOB, 2000)
Exclusive Economic ZoneTerritorial Sea
Belize Land Mass
Hectares
Land 2,212,760
Territorial Sea 1,865,300
EEZ 1,605,880
NationalTerritory 5,683,940
18.5 %. national territory under some form of conservation
management
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.
Terrestrial vs Marine Protected Areas
94 Protected areas, witharcheology & private PAs
42% land in PA’s17% is in conservation 25% extractive uses (e.g. forestry reserves)
7% marine territory in MPA(includes EEZ or ~20% for shelf)3% in conservation4% extractive uses
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Analysis Method
MARXAN is software that delivers decision support for reserve system design. MARXAN finds reasonably efficient solutions to the problem of selecting a system of spatially cohesive sites that meet a suite of biodiversity targets. Given reasonably uniform data on species, habitats and/or other relevant biodiversity features and surrogates for a number of planning units MARXAN minimizes the cost while meeting user-defined targets.
Steps:
• Defined Conservation Targets
• Set specific goals for each target (based largely on their “environmental services” or perceived need/threat and on comparison with widely used values)
• Few ‘experts’ or accepted criteria – did the best we could
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PDF file 5,580 kb
Original Marine Habitats> 30 classes x 6 zones
simplified into
19 Marine Bioregions
Based on habitats, sediments, bathymetry and geography
Based on Australian model
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Marine Conservation Target Proportions (minimum value for each)
Each marine bioregion: 20%Coral reefs: 30%Mangroves*: 40% High Interconnectivity**: 50%Manatee distribution: 30%Turtle nesting sites: 60%Saltwater crocodiles nesting: 60%Spawning Aggregation sites: 80% (Birds treated under terrestrial)
Used only national
scale data
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Clean slate approach - does not consider existing MPAs
‘Locked in’ approachIncludes all MPAs & adds in needed gaps
Marine Variations(Important MARXAN choices)
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Variation Useda compromise
We chose to use a compromise approach by seeding the selection with
existing MPAs
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Human Needs
A “cost layer” in MARXAN
Identify the areas where human needs come first
Or footprint / threat is highest
Make these areas more ‘expensive’ to select
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Combined Results Minimize conflicts
betweenConservation targets &
human needs layers
Encourages ridge to reef conservation connectivity
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Combined Results:
Marine results are more ‘flexible” than terrestrial results.
Although some coastal/marine areas are always selected
Some of these are outside existing network
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Conclusions
• In general there is still a lack of data that would help conservation planning and management. There is a need for a spatially enabled species database, standardized monitoring schemes.
• No data was available for the deep water ecosystems of Belize and such data is clearly needed for conservation planning
• Monitoring of biodiversity is still in its infancy, yet it will be important for the future management of conservation management areas.
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Conclusions• There is no single ‘correct” way of designing a protected areas system and a
variety of options can achieve similar results
• Multiple considerations, shifting priorities and changing conditions need to be considered, with humans (not MARXAN) making final decisions
• Despite a fairly high percent area in protection, the analysis shows many gaps outside the existing network. MARXAN can help us be more efficient – getting maximum conservation results with less area under conservation
• Need the right mix of science, politics and practicality to turn design options into an achievable reality-based Network
http://biological-diversity.info/Downloads/Report_result2_finaldraft_s.pdf
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Next Steps• Production of final report including multimedia data CD
• Public Dissemination
• Use as a planning tool for implementation of a more rationalized and functional Protected Areas Network
WWF now begins a ecoregional
MCPA network assessment