Module 9 Sustaining Living Systems

• Global population is expected to reach eight billion by 2025
• Humanity depends on nature for food and water, materials for survival, and safety from environmental threats, such as epidemics and natural catastrophes
• Humanity is not so good in managing the resources that are the basis of our survival
• Natural resources


  Land, air, water, forests, fisheries, minerals and wildlife provided by nature, which together produce the ecosystem services critical to human existence and welfare
• Natural resources are subjected to increasing pressures and threats
• There is a need to understand the perspectives and approaches to sustaining living systems
• Biological conservation


  • An approach to sustaining living systems
• Natural resource management


  • Approaches to sustaining living systems
• The Philippines is committed to manage and conserve the country's biodiversity
• The Philippines is a signatory to the 1992 United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• CBD objectives


  Conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of utilization of genetic resources
• Protected area


  A clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values
• Benefits of protected areas extend beyond biodiversity conservation
• In 2011, the global protected area network included more than 150,000 sites with a total land area of at least 24 million square kilometers that covers more that 15% of the earth's total land surface
• As of December 2016, the global coverage was 14.8% of terrestrial and inland water areas, 5.1% of oceans and 12.7% of the coastal and marine areas
• The target for 2020 is to conserve at least 17% of terrestrial areas and 10% of coastal and marine areas (Aichi Target 11 of the Conservation of Biological Diversity)
• In the Philippines, the national framework for the establishment of protected areas is Republic Act 7586, known as the "National Integrated Protected Areas Systems (NIPAS) Act"
• Categories of protected areas in the Philippines


  Strict nature reserve, natural park, natural monument, wildlife sanctuary, protected landscape and seascapes, resource reserve and natural biotic areas
• As of 2016, the Philippines had 559 protected areas composed of 45,762 square kilometers of protected areas (15.32% of total land area) and 21,269 square kilometers (1.16% of total marine area)
• Effective management of protected areas requires sufficient funding and community support
• Typically, funding comes from government allocations and private donations or grants from international funding agencies, providing about 80% of total funds for protected area management in the Philippines
• There is an estimated funding shortfall of about 70% for protected area management in the Philippines
• Natural resource management


  Sustainable utilization of major natural resources, such as land, water, air, minerals, forests, fisheries, and wild flora and fauna
• Establishment of protected areas remains as the major approach for biodiversity conservation worldwide
• Many areas with abundant and important natural resources, including biodiversity, are also inhabited by humans or are in the fringes of human settlements
• This reality highlights the importance of balancing nature conservation with the socio-economic realities of the human population that directly or indirectly benefits from living systems
• Key biodiversity area


  Sites that have significant global contribution to biodiversity conservation
• Community-based natural resource management is an approach to natural resource management
• Biodiversity conservation


  An approach that restricts human use and access to designated areas
• Protected areas are likely to remain the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation
• Conservation and management scenarios need to take into account social and economic goals of the human communities
• Key biodiversity areas (KBAs)


  Sites that have significant global contribution, identified by national constituencies using globally standardized criteria and quantitative thresholds
• There are more than 15,000 KBAs identified to date globally
• In the Philippines, the initiation of definition of KBAs was a collaborative initiative by Conservation International Philippines (CIP), Haribon Foundation and the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of the DENR, following standard criteria
• Most of the Philippine KBAs are terrestrial areas, while there are also KBAs that cover both terrestrial and marine areas
• The country's KBAs represent the "known habitat of 855 species, 396 globally threatened, 398 restricted-range species of plants and animals and 61 species of congregatory birds
• KBAs


  • Guide the strategic expansion of protected area networks by governments and civil society
  • Provide growing recognition for and investment in site conservation efforts by local and indigenous communities
• Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM)


  A group of people (usually in rural areas) manage the use of resources in their defined area, using communal facilities
• CBNRM


  Promotes conservation through the sustainable use of natural resources, enables communities to generate income that can be used for rural development, and promotes democracy and good governance in local institutions
• Integrated natural resources approaches

  • Integrated water resource management
  • Ecosystems approach
  • Integrated coastal zone management
  • Integrated natural resources management
  • Forest landscape restoration