Protected and Conserved Areas Around the World Sign First Ever Joint Statement on Climate Change and Biodiversity

We're ending the week's news with a rallying cry to all nature conservationists:

Protected and Conserved Areas Around the World Sign First Ever Joint Statement on Climate Change and Biodiversity - UK National Parks

“If we fail here, we will fail everywhere.”

Campaign to support the statement with call to arms #UniteForNature

The organisations in charge of some of the largest tracts of protected landscapes and marine environments across the world have come together for the first time to call upon world leaders to support their work at the vanguard of the fight against Climate Change and Biodiversity loss. Orchestrated by National Parks UK, as host nation for COP26, the statement has been signed by, amongst others, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)/ World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), EUROPARC, Parks Canada, the United States National Park Service and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (full list here). The statement has been welcomed and endorsed by UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments.

The statement notes: ‘As a family of Protected and Conserved Areas we recognise that no single site or organisation can address the global crisis of climate change nor the exacerbating impact of climate change on biodiversity loss. [Together we are] well placed to … support the ambition of countries around the world, including the G7 … by taking rapid and far-reaching actions to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. We can be the first 30% that inspires and informs land and sea use choices across the remainder of the planet, and we can be the places where billions of people connect with nature and become inspired to play an active part in combatting the dual crises.’

James Stuart, Convener of Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park and architect of the statement commented: “In the fight against biodiversity loss and climate emergency, if we fail here, we will fail everywhere. We’re star players, don’t leave us on the bench. Climate change is not confined within national borders, and I believe this unique agreement can help spread innovation and good practice to our collective benefit. In turn we can show the way for countries, landowners and individuals across the world – inspiring them to put nature and nature-based solutions at the heart of their thinking and their economic and life choices.”

The statement clearly articulates the role of protected areas to accelerate the positive impact of their collective work. Specifically, a commitment to:

Focus on aspects of our work that drive scale of impact and benefit, including:

Collaborate and exchange knowledge internationally,
Lever and build our connections with billions of people (visitors and supporters) and communities to inspire behavioural change,
Support a global movement for the deployment and implementation of nature-based solutions at scale, and
Inspire and enable those working outside the protected landscapes by linking with initiatives outside our boundaries and sharing our experiences.’

The statement makes the case for the central role of these landscapes and the organisations that protect them: Protected and Conserved Areas need to be brought into the centre of the work to resolve the climate change and biodiversity loss crises. Protected and Conserved Areas’ capabilities should be leveraged to direct transformative levels of investment in nature-based solutions; and their connections and importance to cultures, communities and visitors should be harnessed to unlock and demonstrate the opportunities for vast behavioural change.

The full text of the statement can be read here.