New IUCN Report Helps Choose the Right Tools to Assess How Key Natural Areas Benefit People

IUCN has just issued new guidance to help practitioners assess ecosystem services within important sites for biodiversity and nature conservation. The report reviews nine assessment tools, focussing on their application in Key Biodiversity Areas, natural World Heritage sites and protected areas. It includes a set of “decision trees” to save time on the complex process of selecting the most appropriate tool for one’s specific needs.

The report, "Tools for measuring, modelling, and valuing ecosystem services: Guidance for Key Biodiversity Areas, natural World Heritage sites, and protected areas", is part of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas’ Best Practice Guidelines series. READ MORE

The guidelines have been prepared by IUCN’s World Heritage Programme and the IUCN-WCPANatural Solutions Specialist Group, and the Ecosystem Services and Key Biodiversity Areas expert working group supported by Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP), with funding and in-kind contributions provided by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA), Center for Biodiversity Outcomes at Arizona State University, Conservation International, SNAPP, and Wildlife Conservation Society.

Webinar Series: Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services in Research, Policy, and Practice

Thinking in terms of ecosystem services and natural capital explicitly acknowledges our dependence on nature, and therefore the need to better protect and manage natural resources. For this reason these concepts have been adopted by policy, but the use of the concepts in practice is still in its infancy. Working across 27 organisations over a five year period, the OPERAs project has explored how and under what conditions these concepts can move beyond the academic domain towards practical implementation in support of sustainable ecosystem management.

A series of webinars are scheduled to take place focusing on 6 aspects the OPERAs project explored. Each webinar will highlight the flow between knowledge, tools and practice through case material from the OPERAs exemplars and different tools. There will also be an opportunity to ask the OPERAs experts questions at the end of each webinar and the debate will continue on Oppla.

Further information on OPERAs as well as the individual webinars can be found on their website as well as on this flyer. While the first webinar in the series was held this last week, there are five more sessions to be held over the next month. To register please fill out the form here.