Mainstreaming Conservation into Policies, Plans and Legal Frameworks

1
Mainstreaming Conservation into Policies, Plans
and Legal Frameworks

• Cedric Schuster
• WWF-South Pacific Program

2
What is mainstreaming

• Mainstreaming conservation is the internalisation
  of the conservation and sustainable use of
  biodiversity as an integral component of national
  and community development
• Legislation and budgets endorsed through
  parliaments
• National Development Plans, Policies, Programmes
• National Budgets and Aid Programmes
• Private Sector Actions
• Community Plans and decision-making

3
Examples of Mainstreaming at the Government Level

• National Sustainable Development Plan FSM
• National Environment or Sustainable Development
  legislation Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, etc..
• National Tourism Plan Samoa, Fiji
• Vanuatu Cultural Policy
• National Biodiversity, Marine, Water, and Forest
  Policies Samoa
• NBSAPs (FSM, Niue, Vanuatu, RMI, Samoa, Fiji,
  Kiribati, Cook Islands

4
Critical Issues for Mainstreaming

• Information
• Generating the right information and making it
  available to the right audience at the right time
• Capacity
• Political and traditional leaders, civil servants
  and civil society capacity build to deal with
  conservation issues
• Finances
• Availability of mechanisms to access and generate
  funding for conservation
• Network
• Network available to facilitate collaboration and
  coordination of activities
• Willingness to Act
• Political, community and individual

5
Conservation Issues

• Species Conservation
• Habitat conservation
• Cultural Conservation
• Tools
• Protected areas
• Species protection
• Biosecurity management
• Ex-situ protection
• Environmental Assessments and Monitoring
• Economics Instruments
• Environmental Education and awareness
• International Agreements

6
Target Audience

• Government.
• Parliament and Cabinet
• The National Planning, Finance and Foreign
  Affairs
• Line Ministries
• External Influences Aid Donors, Tourists,
  Researchers
• Private Sector Exporters
• Communities Traditional leaders, Village/tribal
  councils, women's and youth groups
• Schools
• Religious Groups
• NGOs environmental, gender, human rights and
  development NGOs

7
Triggers and Drivers

•  Mainstreaming does not happen automatically, it
  is usually initiated and driven by something or
  someone. Pacific examples
• Natural occurrences
• Concerned Leaders
• Concerned Civil Servants
• Concerned Citizens
• International commitment
• Outside pressures
• Availability of resources

8
NBSAPs in the Pacific

• Information
• Public awareness materials
• Public forums
• Technical reports
• Financial Resources GEF and Governments
• Network Multistakeholder planning and
  implementation teams
• Capacity FSM, Cook Islands, RMI, Vanuatu, and
  Samoa

9
Issues for Consideration

• Regional and International Level
• Policies to support mainstreaming actions at the
  national level,
• Coordination and technical support
• International mechanisms supporting mainstreaming
• National and Local Actions
• Getting the right audience to act