The 2019 review of IPBES and future priorities: Reaching beyond assessment to enhance policy impact

The Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independent scientific body focused on assessing the state of the world's ecosystem services and biodiversity. IPBES members agreed in 2017 that a review of the Platform's first work programme should be undertaken by an independent panel examining all aspects of IPBES' work – including implementation of the four functions of IPBES; policies, operating principles and procedures; governance structure and arrangements; communication, stakeholder engagement and partnerships; and funding mechanisms. The review found that for IPBES to have its anticipated transformative impact: All four functions of IPBES (i.e. assessment, knowledge generation, policy support, capacity building), with better communication, must be significantly strengthened, integrated and delivered together; The policy aspects of IPBES work need to be strengthened and greater emphasis needs to be placed on the co-design and co-production of assessments; A more strategic and collaborative approach to stakeholders is needed; and IPBES must develop a more sustainable financial base. Given those changes, IPBES, as an embryonic boundary organization, can become the key influencing organization in the global landscape of biodiversity and ecosystem services organizations, helping thus to catalyze transformative change in the relationship between people and the rest of nature

Conservation during times of change : correlations between birds, climate and people in South Africa

CITATION: Van Rensburg, B. J., et al. 2004. Conservation during times of change : correlations between birds, climate and people in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 100(5-6):266-272.The original publication is available at https://journals.co.za/Few studies have investigated the ability of national conservation networks to adapt to changes in underlying environmental drivers (such as precipitation) and their consequences for factors such as human density and species richness patterns. In this article, the South African avifauna is used as the basis for such analysis to ascertain the likely extent of current, and future, anthropogenic impacts on priority conservation areas. We show that human population pressure is high in or around most of these priority areas and is likely to increase, given the magnitude of post-climate change estimated from predicted changes in precipitation and relationships between species richness, human densities, and rainfall. Although additional conservation areas, such as the Important Bird Area (IBA) network, are likely to introduce valuable flexibility to conservation management, only limited options are available for such expansions, and the conservation value of these areas is likely to be compromised by changing climate. Ultimately, a more integrated conservation approach is needed for effective conservation policies. Such an approach should confer adequate protection on current reserves and emphasize sustainable utilization of non-reserve areas.https://journals.co.za/content/sajsci/100/5-6/EJC96257Publisher's versio

Sensitivity of selection procedures for priority conservation areas to survey extent, survey intensity and taxonomic knowledge

Many procedures exist for identifying sets of sites that collectively represent regional biodiversity. Whereas the mechanics and suitability of these procedures have received considerable attention, little effort has been directed towards assessing and quantifying the effects of varying data inputs on their outcomes. In the present paper, we use sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impacts of varying degrees of (i) survey intensity, (ii) survey extent and (iii) taxonomic diversity on iterative reserve selection procedures. A comprehensive distribution database of the mammalian fauna from the Transvaal region of South Africa is systematically perturbed before implementation of a site selection algorithm. The resulting networks of sites are then compared to quantitatively assess the impact of database variations on algorithm performance. Systematic data deletions result in increased network variability (identity of selected sites), decreased numbers of frequently selected sites, decreased spatial congruence among successive runs and a rapid increase in the number of additional sites required to represent all species present in the region. These effects become particularly evident once data sets are reduced to below 20% of the original data. Consequently, a mixed survey strategy that balances survey effort with survey extent and maximizes taxonomic knowledge is more likely to ensure appropriate planning outcomes

Biodiversity conservation : uncertainty in predictions of extinction risk/ effects of changes in climate and land use/ climate change and extinction risk (reply)

Thomas et al. reply — We reconsider our estimates of climate-related extinction in the light of three questions raised by Thuiller et al., Buckley and Roughgarden and Harte et al. We are able to confirm our original conclusion that climate change represents a major threat to terrestrial species.2 page(s