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Expert meeting on biodiversity standards and strategies for sustainable cultivation of biomass for non-food purposes

12-15 March 2008, Isle of Vilm, Germany

Dr. Klaus Hennenberg, Uwe R. FritscheEnergy & Climate Division

Öko-Institut e.V. (Institute for applied Ecology), Darmstadt Office

Brief Input on Biodiversity and Land Use

(Working Group 1)

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Funded by

in cooperation withMain Threats to Biodiversity

- Most prominent: Loss of habitats due to direct and indirect land-use change

- Other Factors: Habitat fragmentation and isolation, land-use intensification and overexploitation, species invasions as well as impacts of climate change

Protection of biodiversity requires systematic planning strategies for managing landscapes (production + protection).

2010 target of CBD (2002): significant reduction of the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

CBD-instruments: Ecosystem Approach, Programmes of Work on Protected Areas, on Agricultural and Forest Biodiversity, …

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A risk mitigation strategy should achieve a strong reduction of additional pressure on biodiversity by bioenergy production.

Key issues are:

- Protection of natural habitats (PA, HCV, …)- Use of residuals and wastes- Biomass production in prior areas (degraded, abandoned land)

- Sustainable cultivation of biomass

Keep negative effects of bioenergy production out of areas potentially needed for the protection of biodiversity within systematic conservation planning

Bioenergy production – as an additional land-use form – bears the risk to enhance the unsustainable use of natural resources, and especially biodiversity.

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- areas characterized by a significant natural conservation value (biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, etc.)

- though worth to be protected currently have no conservation status

- no internationally accepted definition

Areas of High Natural Conservation Value (HNCV)

- degraded land: former suitable land, not any more used e.g., for agriculture

- degraded land still has the potential to be restored by adequate measures

- abandoned farmland: former agriculture land, but unused due to economical or political reasons

- ...prior areas for biomass production to reduce land competition…

Degraded land and abandoned

farmland

- protection and maintenance of biodiversity, agrobiodiversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources

- managed through legal or other effective means

Protected Areas (PA)

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Local GIS data:- Local land-use

maps- Soil- Hydrology- …

Identification of:- priority farming systems with a low negative impact on

biodiversity and agrobiodiversity- Landscape elements needed within acricultural land to

promote biodiversity and agrobiodiversity- allowed cultivation practices in the neighbourhood of PA and

HNCV (buffer zones, water use)

Local GIS data:- National land cover

maps- All other types

biodiversity related data-bases

- …

Local knowledge:- on relevance of

habitats for biodiversity

- on cultivation systems / biomass production

- …

Global GIS data:- Agro-Environmental

Zones- Suitability

Categories for Agriculture

- Global land-use maps

- …

Global GIS data:- Country's frontiers- Ecoregion boundaries- Protected Areas (PA)- Internationally accepted

HNCV not jet protected- Forests and wetlands- Global land-cover maps- …

Identification of:- the location of PA and HNCV- needed buffer zones around PA and HNCV- biomass production that is in conformity with the protection objec-

tives of PA and HNCV

Screening data with internationally accepted criteria and indicators

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§ 3 German Biofuels Sustainability Ordinance (BioNachV)…globally or nationally significant accumulation of …biological diversity …rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems……fundamental protective functions.

High nature value farmland: ...comprises the core areas of biological diversity in agricultural landscapes (extensive farming practices… high species and habitat diversity…species of conservation concern) (EEA 2005).

High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF): (1)…significant concentrations of biodiversity values… (2)…viable populations of…naturally occurring species… (3)…rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems. (4)…basic services… (5)…basic needs of local communities… (6)…traditional cultural identity… (FSC 2000)

HCV are the “matrix” for priority setting (e.g. Key Biodiversity Area Concept and Protected Area Network Planning)

HCV address not exclusively biodiversity

Global databases on biodiversity may be useful start to identify HCV.

BUT:

Internationally accepted definition of the term HCV is absent

Clear indicators are needed

Many global and even local data are to coarse in resolution (small-scale habitats)

Specification necessary within ecological meaningful units

A habitat currently not considered as HCV may become HCV due to loss of areas of this habitat (monitoring/up-data or systematic planning?)

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Used landUnused land Used landUnused land

Areas of High Natural Conservation Value (HNCV)Areas of High Natural Conservation Value (HNCV)

Degraded land and abandoned

farmland

Degraded land and abandoned

farmland

Protected Areas (PA)Protected Areas (PA)

Classical crops (food, fodder, fiber)

Crops for bioenergy

Indirect land-use change caused by displacement

Used landUnused land Used landUnused land

Areas of High Natural Conservation Value (HNCV)Areas of High Natural Conservation Value (HNCV)

Degraded land and abandoned

farmland

Degraded land and abandoned

farmland

Protected Areas (PA)Protected Areas (PA)

…Indirect Land-Use Change Not Tackled!

Classical crops (food, fodder, fiber)

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…Preparation of a risk mitigation strategy to protect biodiversity from negative effects caused by bioenergy production

…Initiation of a program of work to define HCV and their respective indicators

…Setting up spatial datasets (GIS) to identify and to map PA and HCV as well as land use restrictions(As a first step conservative global “default maps” for categories?)

…Extending the risk mitigation strategy to other land-use forms to tackle negative effects from indirect land-use change due to displacement

…Initiation of pilot applications for specification on a national scale

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Biological diversity (=biodiversity) (CBD, article 2) variability among living organisms from all sources

including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part

this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Agricultural biodiversity (=agrobiodiversity) (FAO/CBD Workshop 1998)

variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agro-ecosystem its structure and processes for, and in support of, food production and food security.

The term agricultural biodiversity encompasses within-species, species and ecosystem diversity.

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Definition of Protected Areas

IUCN: Protected Areas are areas “of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biodiversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means”.

CBD: Protected Area as “a geographically defined area that is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives”.

Instrument to protect natural resources including biodiversity (IUCN, WCMC, CBD)

Cornerstones of regional conservation strategies

Represent the biodiversity of each region

Separate this biodiversity from processes that threaten its persistence

International Databases: World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), UN List of Protected Areas

Protected Areas

BUT:

Strategies for managing whole landscapes (production + protection) are needed for the protection of biodiversity.

Large number species, ecosystems and ecological processes are not yet adequately protected (gap analysis)

Areas of high natural conservation value (HNV)Areas of high natural conservation value (HNV)

Degraded land and waste landDegraded land and waste land

Used landUnused land

Protected areaProtected area