Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Management effectiveness assessments – a tool for maintaining high standards in protected area management Sue Stolton, Equilibrium Research, UK

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Session 1: –Introduction to management effectiveness Session 2: –Sharing experiences: site, system and portfolio assessments –Using a simple ME system – the METT Session 3: –Discussion, recommendations and how to find out more

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Introduction to management effectiveness ?

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Presentation overview Management effectiveness: why we need to assess it WCPA Framework: a global approach to assessment Management effectiveness targets and experiences

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 ‘…the assessment of how well a protected area is being managed – primarily the extent to which it is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives’ (WCPA, 2006)

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc Are we achieving our management aims or could we manage better? 2.How can we report how we are doing? 3.How can we make sure we have the resources we need? 4.How can we build a supporting constituency for our work? Management Effectiveness a tool for managers

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 A little bit of history

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Issue of management effectiveness was first raised at Bali World Parks Congress (WPC) in 1983 Further call for action at Caracas in 1992, where effective management was identified as one of four major protected area issues of global concern Independent systems developed during 1990s (Parks in Peril, WWF/CATIE, various park management agencies)

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Developing the Framework WCPA Working Group 1996 and Task Force 1998 Publication of WCPA Best Practice Guidelines in 2000 Revised Best Practice Guidelines in Global Study on Management Effectiveness

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Presentation overview Management effectiveness: why we need to assess it WCPA Framework: a global approach to assessment Management effectiveness targets and experiences

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 A wealth of experience has been developed in undertaking assessments the assessment of management effectiveness has many variables

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Many types of assessment scale – assessment site level or over entire protected areas system/ region/biome/portfolio frequency – from a one-off study or monitoring and assessment carried out on a regular basis resources – organisational capacity, knowledge and enthusiasm adaptability – site specific, country/management authority specific, portfolio specific

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Many Systems Simple questionnaire approaches relying on expert judgement Complex data-driven approaches relying on regular monitoring

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Diversity but a need for consistency Need for appropriate evaluation standards Avoid re-invention of “wheels” Harmonisation of data to enable: –Learning across sites/regions –Identification of common needs/challenges –Development of global and regional responses

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 The WCPA Framework

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Framework publication Defines terminology Develops a framework of evaluation criteria Detailed advice on carrying out an assessment and using the results Case studies concentrating on the process of carrying out an evaluation

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 ‘…the assessment of how well a protected area is being managed – primarily the extent to which it is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives’ (WCPA, 2006)

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 looking at design issues; the adequacy and appropriateness of management systems and processes; and the delivery of protected area objectives including conservation of values

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Management follows a process

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Effectiveness Appropriate- ness EffectivenessEfficiencyEconomyAppropriate- ness Status Focus of evaluation Impacts: effects of management in relation to objectives Results of management actions Services and products Suitability of management processes Resourcing of agency Resourcing of site PA legislation and policy PA system design Reserve design Management planning Significance Threats Vulnerability National policy Partners Criteria Outcomes What did we achieve? Outputs What were the results? Process How do we go about it? Inputs What do we need? Planning Where do we want to be? Context Where are we now? Contents of evaluation

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Presentation overview Management effectiveness: why we need to assess it WCPA Framework: a global approach to assessment Management effectiveness targets and experiences

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Global Uptake Over 40 different systems for assessing management effectiveness Evaluations have taken place in over 6,000 sites in 100 countries 90 per cent of the site assessments carried out with/or using systems that can be related to the WCPA Framework

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008

Experiences in Europe 100 PAs – German Nature Parks Quality Campaign and 14 PAs – National Parks quality criteria and standards 70 PAs and agency – Finland ‘State of the Parks’ 40 PAs – Lithuania 365 PA sub-units – Catalonia and 42 PA’s in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain 9 PAs – National Parks, England, UK 900 PAs – the Carpathian region (WWF Mava project) 13 PAs in Bulgaria, 26 PAs in Romania, 18 PAs in Georgia have used WWF’s RAPPAM Also systems in France, and in development in Austria, Italy and Scotland, UK

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 The 2004 CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas aims, by 2010 (for terrestrial ecosystems) and 2012 (for marine), to establish: “comprehensive, effectively managed and ecologically-representative national systems of protected areas” 4 programmes 16 goals and associated targets 92 activities for Parties

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Goal To evaluate and improve the effectiveness of protected areas management Target: By 2010, frameworks for monitoring, evaluating and reporting protected areas management effectiveness at sites, national and regional systems, and transboundary protected area levels adopted and implemented by Parties

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Suggested activities of the Parties Develop and adopt, by 2006, appropriate methods, standards, criteria and indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of protected area management and governance, and set up a related database, taking into account the IUCN-WCPA framework for evaluating management effectiveness, and other relevant methodologies, which should be adapted to local conditions Implement management effectiveness evaluations of at least 30 percent of each Party’s protected areas by 2010 and of national protected area systems and, as appropriate, ecological networks.

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Towards Effectively Managed Protected Areas

Management Effectiveness Training Seminar: Europarc 2008 Thank you

Sharing experiences and lessons learned from Protected Area ME Assessments Information not easily available… nor widely shared…