ECOSYSTEM INSIDER The Ecosystem Insider brings you news from the Commission on Ecosystem Management

June 2017- Edition 2

Dear CEM member,

We are pleased to bring you the second issue of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) Newsletter for 2017.

Follow us for more news and updates

CEM HIGHLIGHT

Farewell to Ed Barrow, Director of

IUCN's Global Ecosystem

Management Programme

After 20 years at IUCN, Edmund Barrow, the

Director of the Global Ecosystem

Management Programme (GEMP) and the

secretariat focal point for the Commission on

Ecosystem Management (CEM) will be

retiring on 30 June 2017. Ed started to work

for IUCN in 1997 and has been heading the

Global Ecosystem Management Programme

(GEMP) since 2011.

Reflecting on Ed’s work with GEMP and CEM, Angela Andrade (CEM’s Chair) said: “During all these years Ed was not

only dedicated to strengthen GEMP, but he offered an immense support to CEM. Since his arrival, he

contributed supporting initiatives such as RLE, EbA related activities, Eco-DRR, among others. Ed has

always been a very compromised professional and showing deep commitment to promoting social topics

as well as those associated to ecosystem management. He has reiterated the importance of listening to

communities and learning from their experience. In his permanent support, Ed was always present from

Nairobi, answering our concerns and accompanying the day to day of our work. We will miss Ed very much

and we hope he will continue active participation in CEM in all the knowledge areas he led and supported.”

Ed plans to stay in Kenya, take up his Kenyan Citizenship and be based in Nairobi. He will still remain involved in

conservation as he is already a member of 3 commissions (CEM, CEESP and WCPA), and will also do some short term

consultancy work in the areas of his technical expertise. In addition he has a couple of books to complete. As he will not

travel as much (so he hopes), he will be able to engage more with life in Kenya (and not so much life at 36,000 ft.!!)

We all from GEMP and CEM, wish Ed all the very best in his future endeavors and he look forward to his continued

support and engagement.

Introducing Radhika Murti as GEMP's interim director

Radhika is surely familiar to CEM members. She started with IUCN in 2008 as a

programme officer and coordinated communication and technical support for CEM.

Since 2010, she has been leading IUCN’s global work on ecosystem-based disaster

risk reduction. Radhika has a background in forestry and land management. She is

currently the secretariat focal point for Nature-based Solutions and will take up her new

role as GEMP's interim director on 1 July.

LEADERSHIP CORNER

Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services into decision-making Dr Simone Maynard the new lead of the Ecosystem Services Thematic Group and also the Coordinator of the Oceania Ecosystem Services Forum

(March 27-31st 2017, Brisbane, Australia) has some updates to share from the event. The forum provided an opportunity to identify key challenges to

sustainability in Oceania and to develop key messages for decision makers to consider and actions required to address these challenges. The key

messages and actions included for example that: Data quality should not stop action on climate change; there is a need to take on board indigenous

and local knowledge and aid and support is required to link to Sustainable Development Goals.

"The Brisbane Declaration detailing these key messages and actions will be released 7th July.

Stay tuned also for a Special Issue journal on ecosystem services in Oceania."

- Dr Simone Maynard

For more information you can contact Dr Simone Maynard at maynardsimone@gmail.com

THEMATIC AREAS

Ecosystem Governance Journey continues

Since late 2014, the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) has been working and reflecting on the concept of ecosystem governance. A concept that is not completely new as it was employed a few times in the past. But what does it mean and how to move towards such an approach remain to be discussed and examined.

CEM's Liette Vasseur shares her thoughts and a recent publication on the subject.

Read full article here>>

Launch of an online course on Landscape Restoration for Sustainable Development: a

Business Approach

The Thematic Group on Business and Ecosystem

Management through Commonland is part of consortium,

known as ENABLE - the European Network for the

Advancement of Business and Landscape Education which

aims to educate the next generation of business leaders

with an ecosystems’ view to make businesses more

sustainable. The consortium has launched its first initiative-

an online course on Landscape Restoration for Sustainable

Development: a Business Approach. Commonland’s 4

returns-frameworks and zoning approach are an integral

part of the curriculum.

See here for more information>>

Update on events on Red List of Ecosystems at the International Congress for Conservation Biology (Cartagena, Colombia. 23-27 July 2017)

A total of 3 events will be organized by the Red List of Ecosystems Thematic Group at the International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB, 2017). See below for more information:

Ecosystems and Ecosystem-Based Adaptation: Advancing Action through Knowledge

A Nairobi Work Programme (NWP) side event jointly

organized with the Least Developed Countries Expert Group

(LEG) and members of Friends of EbA (FEBA) was

organized on 15 May at the UNFCCC 46th session of the

Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice

(SBSTA) held from 8 to 18 May 2017 in Bonn, Germany. The

side event was built on the findings of a synthesis paper on

ecosystems and EbA. Ali Raza Rizvi, IUCN’s Programme

Manager on Ecosystem Based presented the key messages

from the synthesis paper followed by CEM chair Angela

Andrade, who presented on ecosystem services, building

climate resilience of ecosystems, and ecosystem based

adaptation. Some of the goals of the event were to showcase

inspiring actions and discuss challenges and opportunities for

providing technical support to developing countries, in

particular the LDCs, in formulating and implementing NAPs.

See video of the event here >>

See coverage of the event by IISD-RS here>>

What does it take to speed up implementation of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction on the ground?

See a video of the event here >>

Several CEM members participated at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held from 22-26 May in Cancun, Mexico. Numerous successful events on Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) took place including one co-organized by the partnership for environment and disaster risk reduction on “Fundamental shift in DRR: integrating ecosystem-based solutions with climate and development dimensions”. The side event held on 24 May focused on the needs to address the gap in terms of implementation at scale for Eco-DRR approaches. The event shared promising examples from different projects and provided a space to reflect on the barriers that need to be addressed to speed up implementation on the ground.

Planned meetings to develop online restoration portals Recognising the importance of Multilingual Online

Restoration Project Hosting systems, the thematic group on Sustainable Use and Management of Ecosystems

(SUME) is participating in several meetings to work on revising portals or developing new ones. During a first

meeting on 4-7 September in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, the group will engage with the Holarctic Steppes

specialist group to consider how www.sakernet.org (English version:

www.sakerfalcon.org) can be extended to a system to conserve Eurasian steppes while monitoring wild

population development and trade in a flagship raptor species. A second meeting is planned in Lima, Peru from

26-27 October and will focus on planning portals such as

International symposium on impacts of systemic pesticides An international symposium on the impacts of and

alternatives to systemic pesticides on biodiversity and ecosystems at the Yezin Agricultural University,

Myanmar was jointly organized by IUCN, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MOALI) and the

IUCN Task Force on Systemic Pesticides in March 2017. The symposium was a step towards the implementation

of one of the Myanmar NBSAP 2015-2020 targets under Aichi Target 8: By 2020, the sale and use of pesticides

with a significant negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services are effectively controlled and where

appropriate banned.

See here for more information>>

www.perdixnet.org. A third meeting is planned in 2018 but more information will follow.

If you might attend these meetings or for more

information please contact Robert Kenward at

reke@ceh.ac.uk

REGIONAL NEWS

Research-Policy Dialogue on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Nepal The CEM deputy Chair Madhav Karki (Asia Strategic Support) and CEM member Mr. Jyotiraj Patra (Regional Evidence Advisor-South Asia) led and facilitated a Research-Policy Dialogue on Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Nepal on 23 April 2017. The event was convened by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme and jointly organized by IUCN-Nepal, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), WWF-Nepal and other local NGOs.

The dialogue was organised to facilitate collective learning and sharing of PES-related lessons among a cross-section of stakeholders, including the high level decision makers from different agencies in the Govt. of Nepal and identify opportunities for long-term research-policy-practice interface to support PES policy design and implementation in Nepal.

Find out more »

Business and Biodiversity Our South Asia Regional Chair, Dr Shalini Dhyani delivered a talk on urban resilience, ecosystem-based approaches and the role of urban biodiversity at a workshop on “Cities’ Resilience and Urban Biodiversity” in Mumbai on 29th May 2017. The workshop was organized by the Leaders for Nature (LfN) network, IUCN-India’s business engagement network that stimulates and facilitates companies in transcending towards a green Indian economy.

Dr Shalini Dhyani also attended a one day “Business and Biodiversity Conference” on 8th June 2017 as part of the Indian Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) During the event she was a panellist on a session on "Limiting the impact of mining on Biodiversity". The session focused on showcasing the best practices in the mining sector for addressing the negative impacts on biodiversity. During the panel Dr Shalini shared her work experiences in mine site restoration.

CEM member nominated as Ecuador’s Minister of Environment

Tarsicio Granizo, a CEM member from South America was nominated as the Minister of

Environment of Ecuador last May. He has worked for 35 years in the conservation field, for

government and NGOs in several Latin American countries.

Find out more about Tarsicio and his new role»

SPOTLIGHT ON ECOSYSTEMS

Holarctic Steppes Members of the CEM's Specialist Group on Holarctic Steppes participated in the 3rd International Scientific Conference on "Biological diversity of the Asian steppes" held from 24-27 April 2017 in Kostanay, Republic of Kazakhstan. It was an opportunity for scientists to discuss current trends in the management of steppe biodiversity and share experiences on what has been working or not. For example by drawing lessons from different level of success in efforts to restore the Przewalski horse in its natural habitat. The event provided an opportunity to share CEM’s and the specialist group’s work plan 2017-2020.

Drylands The 17th June was the World Day to Combat Desertification and had “Our land. Our home. Our future” as this year’s theme. An issue brief on “drylands and land degradation” with a focus on the importance of biodiversity was prepared for the event as well as a multimedia article.

Read more here »

YOUTH SECTION

Scoping the CEM young professional network (YPN) Alice C. Hughes, CEM-YPN lead is currently developing a strategic plan for the group. To inform the process, she is conducting a scoping survey for member’s opinions on what the YPN should aim to achieve and the major challenges to upcoming conservation scientists.

You can complete the survey here»

WHAT'S ON THE CALENDAR?

1) Forum on Biodiversity and Global Forest Restoration

The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), the CEM Thematic Group on Ecosystem Restoration and other partners are organizing a Forum on Biodiversity and Global Forest Restoration. It will be held on 27 August

2017 in Iguassu, Brazil in conjunction with SER’s 7th World Conference on Ecological Restoration. The goal of the Forum is to connect leaders in the science, practice, and policy of forest restoration to improve biodiversity outcomes from global initiatives, while delivering essential ecosystem services. The Forum is an invitation-only side event. Please contact Cara Nelson at cara.nelson@umontana.edu if you have any questions about the Forum or if you have colleagues who you would like to be considered for the invitation list.

2) First West Africa Mountain Forum 2017

Jules Adjima, Co-chair for CEM West and Central Region is the chair of the organizing committee of an upcoming

sub regional event, the"1st West Africa Mountain Forum" that will be held from 5 to 8 October 2017 in Togo. The

theme of the event is “The contribution of mountains to the development of the economy and the adaptation to

climate changes”

Registration is on-going till 31 July 2017 and the form can be find here »

PUBLICATIONS

Bringing ecosystem governance to the forefront of the UN sustainable development goals The collective work of eight CEM leaders is captured in this perspective paper on ecosystem governance: Vasseur, L., Horning, D., Thornbush, M., Cohen-Shacham, E., Andrade, A., Barrow, E., Edwards, S.R., Wit, P. and Jones, M., 2017. Complex problems and unchallenged solutions: Bringing ecosystem governance to the forefront of the UN sustainable development goals. Ambio, pp.1-12.

The paper illustrates how CEM is mobilizing some of the main concepts used in current discussions on ecosystem

management.

We invite you all to read the paper here>>

Regional Resilience Vision project for Southeastern Connecticut

CEM member, Adam Whelchel from The Nature Conservancy has been

working on a yearlong initiative to strengthen resilience in southeastern

Connecticut. The project recently produced 3 products that can inform

actions that will advance a regional resilience:

1. Southeastern Connecticut Regional Resilience Vision Project –

Summary of Finding

2. Southeastern Connecticut Regional Resilience Guidebook: The

Guidebook

3. Niantic River Resilience Vision

Environmental Sustainability from the Himalayas to the Oceans: Struggles and Innovations in China and India CEM’s regional Chair of Northeast Asia, Dr. Shikui Dong and his colleagues, Jayanta Bandyopadhyay and Sanjay Chaturvedi edited the recently published book by Springer “Environmental Sustainability from the Himalayas to the Oceans: Struggles and Innovations in China and India”. This book was written in the backdrop of the environmental impacts from rapid economic growths that have characterized the recent economic history of China and India, especially over the past few decades. See here »

Building Resilience of Human-Natural Systems of Pastoralism in the Developing World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives CEM’s regional Chair of Northeast Asia, Dr. Shikui Dong also co-edited a newly published book “Building Resilience of Human-Natural Systems of Pastoralism in the Developing World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives”. This book summarizes information about the situational context, threats, problems,

challenges and solutions for sustainable pastoralism at a global scale. See here »

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