Rangers and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework | Keynote address by John E Scanlon AO in the 10th World Ranger Congress
Hyères, France 9 October 2024
Keynote address by John E Scanlon AO
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It's a great
honour to join you today at the 10th World Ranger Congress and to have the opportunity to
recognise the exceptional work being done by the world’s rangers and to talk about how critical your work is to achieving
globally agreed goals and targets, including those captured in the
Kunming-Montreal Global
Biodiversity Framework.
A diverse profession
The ranger
profession is diverse – the roles and responsibilities of rangers are diverse – and the conditions, cultures and landscapes within which rangers
work are diverse.
Bound by a common cause
Yet rangers are
bound by a common cause – to conserve, sustainably use, and equitably share the
benefits of the rich diversity of life on Earth.
And there are
common issues that cut across all of this diversity and you have been
collectively tackling them, including on questions of rangers conditions,
conduct and competence.
You’ve adopted the Chitwan Declaration of 2019, established the
Universal Ranger Support Alliance, developed a Ranger Code of Conduct, and held
workshops on what’s needed for a workforce that is
sufficient in numbers, diverse and recognised.
It’s impressive to read about the
advances that have been made, which I have done.
But it’s not what I have read that has impacted me the most; it’s the dedicated people I have met in the field, and the
extraordinary landscapes and the wildlife I’ve had the
privilege to experience across every continent that has left a lasting
impression.
International ‘ecosystem’ of conventions,
policies and institutions
You all know the
ecosystems of your parks extremely well. There is another type of ecosystem
outside of all of your parks that you may not be as familiar with, but it
impacts all of us, and that is the international system of conventions,
policies and institutions.
The world’s governments have signed up to a wide and diverse range of
international agreements, including on the environment, human rights and
sustainable development, as well as on transnational organised crime and
corruption.
Environmental
agreements include those found in global conventions on biodiversity, climate
change, trade in endangered species, migratory species, international wetlands
of significance, and World heritage to name just a few.
Modern park
management also embraces sustainable development and human rights, and
governments have signed onto the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to multiple human rights conventions.
Implementing agreements converges
on-the-ground
Implementing all
of these many and varied agreements converges on-the-ground in the parks you
manage. It may not be at the front of your minds, but your daily work is
essential to governments’ ability to implement this vast array of international
agreements.
Over the past
decades, I’ve devoted much of my time to engaging a global
audience and donor base to garner political, financial and technical support
for environment protection, nature conservation, and sustainability, including
on the critical role played by rangers.
Good agreements but falling short with
implementation
The international
community has made good progress in agreeing upon what needs to be done to
address some of our most pressing environmental issues. Where we are falling
short is in implementing what we have collectively agreed to; let’s just take biodiversity as an example.
The two most
recent Living Planet reports show a sharp decline in wildlife over the past 50 years. The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services says one
million species will go extinct within the coming decades.
This decline in
wildlife has happened notwithstanding the adoption of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and its 2010, 2020 and, most recently, its
2030, global goals and targets, not to mention all of the other
biodiversity-related agreements.
Making real, tangible, and measurable progress
The reality is
this; what has been agreed to internationally does not amount to much if it is
not effectively implemented on-the-ground. It is in the field, through the hard
work and commitment of people like you, who dedicate yourselves to working on
the front-lines of conservation and sustainable development, that we make real,
tangible, and measurable progress in delivering on these agreements.
As such, it’s rather surprising these agreements and goals and targets don’t capture the central role of rangers in implementation. A notable
exception is the 2019 UNGA Resolution on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife, which included specific
recognition to the crucial role played by rangers and guards in the fight
against wildlife trafficking under adverse conditions.
I’ll be in Vienna next week for the UN Convention against
Transnational Organised Crime meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP).
Brazil, France and Peru have submitted a draft Resolution to the CoP on crimes
that affect the environment. It includes a paragraph on enforcement but it
makes no reference to the role of rangers. We have written to the proponents and other Parties requesting
them to insert reference to rangers and we will be advocating for this
amendment at the CoP next week.
Global biodiversity goals and targets
Unfortunately, we
failed to meet the global biodiversity targets set for 2010 and 2020; we are
hoping that it will be a case of third time lucky with the adoption of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity
Framework in 2022.
The Framework
includes 23 Targets, which collectively seek to bend the curve in biodiversity
loss. Today we are especially focussed on Target 3. While Target 3 is our
focus, I think we need to expand this conversation to include a wider range of
Targets; as well as a broader suite of conventions, as I will explain.
You are all
generally familiar with Target 3, which says:
TARGET 3: Conserve 30% of Land, Waters and Seas
Past experience
tells us that the designation or recognition of protected areas and other
effective area-based conservation measures is the easy part. It is effectively
managing them that presents the greatest challenges.
As we know,
without effective management these areas will be nothing more than ‘paper parks’. Target 3 acknowledges that
these areas need to be effectively conserved and managed and equitably
governed, recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local
communities. This cannot be achieved without an adequate area-based workforce.
At the forefront of this workforce are the world’s
rangers and this is gaining increasing attention.
The focus on
Target 3 is well founded, but it should not be the only focus of attention.
Rangers are indispensable in delivering on multiple other Targets.
I’d like to briefly explore some of the other Targets. And to make it
feel more real, in doing so I’ll share some of my
personal observations from a few of the parks I have visited. They may not be
the best examples available, but they reflect what I have experienced.
TARGET 1: Plan and Manage all Areas To Reduce Biodiversity Loss
TARGET 2: Restore 30% of all Degraded Ecosystems – not all parks are pristine; many require restoration. I saw in a
number of parks in South Australia that fell under my departments management
(as CEO of the Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs),
which were seriously impacted by introduced species. Restoring these landscapes
requires well-managed and on-going interventions at scale; and this work is led
by the park’s rangers.
TARGET 4: Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage
Human-Wildlife Conflicts – this is all relevant to rangers work,
but human-wildlife conflict is one that stands out. It was a strong focus of
the several parks I visited in Malawi, which tend to be surrounded by farms, as
is apparent from this picture I took from the air above Liwonde National
Park.
The EPI Foundation estimates there are 142,650 human-elephant conflict incidents each year,
with 1,800 people losing their lives. This has a devastating impact on
people and thier livelihoods and it erodes popular support for conservation.
Park rangers are essential in avoiding and managing this conflict as it relates
to animals within, or that traverse, their parks.
TARGET 5: Ensure Sustainable, Safe and Legal Harvesting and Trade of Wild Species – there are many aspects to
this Target, including stopping illegal exploitation. Wildlife crime is highly
destructive, and certain animals that are trafficked also carry a risk to human health. Tackling poaching is something
that was a focus of several parks I visited across Africa, including the
Garamba National Park in DRC, which had suffered from industrial scale poaching
by organised crime and rebel militia groups. Preventing these crimes is also
linked to climate change, as I’ll discuss under Target 8.
TARGET 6: Reduce the Introduction of Invasive Alien Species by 50% and Minimize
Their Impact – alien invasive species impact many parks. I saw the
impact invasive species had on parks in the Flinders Ranges in Australia, which
required targeted interventions to remove feral cats, donkeys, goats and
rabbits, using the recovery of the yellow footed rock wallaby as the indicator
species for measuring success. Rangers led this work.
In some parks
irreversible damage has been caused. In these cases, it is about maintaining
ecosystem function and keeping as much indigenous diversity as possible, while
balancing cultural and social demands.
TARGET 7: Reduce Pollution to Levels That Are Not Harmful to Biodiversity – parks, especially parks
with tourism, generate waste, and parks are impacted by pollution. At the Bazarouto
National Park in Mozambique rangers are working to deal with the waste
generated by the park, especially plastic wastes, and the wastes coming from
shipping.
TARGET 8: Minimize the Impacts of Climate Change on
Biodiversity and Build Resilience – marine and terrestrial
ecosystems take up around 56 percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. It is stated that nature-based solutions
to climate change could contribute around one-third of the global mitigation required by 2030 to achieve the
goals under the Paris Agreement. Effectively managed parks is an indispensable
part of efforts to tackle climate change.
Parks can on
occasion have too many animals, such as elephants, and on other occasions
species have been poached out, both of which I observed in a number of parks
across Africa, including in Malawi. This can require translocation of animals
to ensure healthy ecosystems. Wildlife crime degrades ecosystems. Managing these
translocations and preventing wildlife crime ensures the ongoing health of
ecosystems and their ability to sequester carbon.
TARGET 9: Manage Wild Species Sustainably To Benefit People
TARGET 11: Restore, Maintain and Enhance Nature’s Contributions to People - these targets
are critically important to generating local support for conservation; and we
see it manifest itself in the ability of local communities to benefit directly
from the park, which can take many forms. For example, on occasion it may be
through direct exploitation, but more often it is through nature tourism, and
local enterprises, such as local communities being a supplier to parks, such as
for food for rangers and tourists, as I saw in Akagera National Park in Rwanda.
TARGET 21: Ensure That Knowledge Is Available and Accessible To Guide Biodiversity
Action - rangers monitor
and measure the health of vital ecosystems. The technology I’ve seen used in parks across Africa, and in the Giant Panda National
Park in China, is breathtaking. The opportunities for north-south, and
south-south cooperation are enormous.
TARGET 22: Ensure Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice and
Information Related to Biodiversity for all - the best rangers have
relationship skills and the aptitude to work with people, including Indigenous
peoples and local communities, who are themselves often rangers. During my time
as a CEO in government in South Australia, Australia’s first Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) was established in the northern Flinders
Ranges, Nantawarrina, and IPL's are have today been established across the
country.
In some instances
engagement may include getting neighbours, friends and volunteers to work on
park management. For example parks under my department’s management in South Australia included a Friends of National Parks
volunteer network of over 5,000 people.
TARGET 23: Ensure Gender Equality and a Gender-Responsive Approach for Biodiversity
Action - in Garamba in the DRC they bring the entire local community, as well as
local and national leaders, together for Garamba Ranger Day and have expanded the number of female rangers, with some of the female
rangers captured in one of these images.
I’m not going to go through all of the Targets in detail, but I think
you can see where I am getting at. Rangers are directly contributing towards
achieving not just Target 3, but a whole host of other Targets. Don’t sell yourselves short!
Other international agreements
And I can go
further; rangers are conserving biodiversity, mitigating climate change,
stopping poaching and wildlife trafficking, preventing land degradation,
protecting wetlands, and the outstanding universal values of remarkable World
heritage sites.
You are not only
contributing towards achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework and its
Targets, you are contributing towards implementing CITES; the Convention on
Migratory Species; the Ramsar Convention on International Wetlands, the UN
Conventions on Climate Change and to Combat Desertification, the World Heritage
Convention and more.
And I can go
further still, rangers are also supporting achieving the UN Sustainable
Development Goals and realising human rights obligations; such as the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
As you can glean
from my earlier comments, I don’t say this from an academic or a
theoretical perspective; I have seen it for myself across multiple continents.
It’s been inspiring to engage with exceptional rangers, who have a feel
for the land and water, who understand the complexity of the interface they are
managing, and are nimble and agile in making continual progress.
Highlighting the nexus and funding
Yet we don’t see the direct connection being made between international
agreements and what is being done on-the-ground in parks across the globe to
deliver on a countries commitments. We need to map this out more often
and in simple terms for many reasons, and most importantly to make a powerful
case for further funding for rangers.
Colleagues,
through your hard work and commitment, often under extreme conditions, you are
helping countries deliver on the multiple commitments they have made through a
wide range of international agreements. Where you work is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ and today it has
been my great honour to highlight this critical nexus.
Our best chance to achieve global goals and
targets
I’d like to conclude by saluting all of you here, and every ranger
that cannot be with us today, for everything that you do for people and our
planet; it is through your hard work that we have our best chance of achieving
many of our global goals and targets.
Thank you.
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Editor: Richard
Checked by YJ
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