Key biodiversity areas

As a key biodiversity area ( KBA , German  key areas of biodiversity ) areas are designated world that are important to apply standardized criteria to be essential for the preservation of animal and plant species.

Basics

Key Biodiversity Areas extend the Important Bird Areas approach to all taxonomic groups. Areas that meet at least one KBA criterion qualify as KBAs and are therefore seen as being of above-average importance for the preservation of biodiversity . They provide a basis for systematic nature conservation planning, which provides for the strategic designation and efficient management of existing and, above all, potential protected areas. The KBA status of an area does not represent a legal protected area category, but is based on a purely scientific assessment of the area according to defined categories and numerical threshold values.

In contrast to biodiversity hotspots, key biodiversity areas are much smaller and therefore potentially easier to manage (i.e. if they are designated as protected areas). While hotspots refer to entire regions, several KBAs in one region can form a hotspot. This can be observed, for example, for Eastern Afromontan, a biodiversity hotspot of global importance: A study by Birdlife International in collaboration with a number of other organizations has identified 310 key biodiversity areas for this hotspot, many of them from climate change or the departure from traditional ones Land use forms are threatened.

Identification and delimitation of KBAs

The Virunga mountain gorillas are threatened with extinction due to their small population.

Key biodiversity areas are identified using numerical criteria that relate to all species groups across all biogeographical regions and for which a protected area is the adequate means:

• Occurrence of globally threatened species and threatened biotope types,
• Occurrence of species or of biotope types with a limited distribution area ( endemics ),
• Collection of species in a specific area for a specific phase in their life cycle (e.g. resting places for migrating water birds , migration routes for mammals or fish ),
• Communities of species ( biocenosis ) that are restricted to a specific biome ( ecoregion ).

The first criterion relates to the aspect of the vulnerability of the species and the habitat, while the latter three relate to the various aspects of the indispensability or uniqueness of habitats and species. The principles of the vulnerability and indispensability of the biological diversity of a protected area are widespread components in systematic nature conservation planning. Key biodiversity areas connect natural habitats with one another ( biotope network ) or are large enough to secure and support viable populations of the affected species. The spatial delimitation of KBAs is variable and is based not only on nature conservation but also on pragmatic aspects, i.e. H. what is the management potential and how clearly can the areas to be protected be demarcated in terms of administrative units , ownership and usage character. Where there are no predefined units, the management of the protected area to be established should adapt to the biotope of the species concerned. For this reason there is no minimum or maximum size of KBA.

Approach from KBAs

• Inclusion of existing protected area systems and consideration of all taxonomic groups for which there is scientific information.
• When identifying KBAs, existing or new data (scientific literature, online databases, herbaria , museums , field research, maps / atlases showing the range of species) are used or collected. This data also includes other conservation initiatives that focus on specific groups of species , such as Important Bird Areas (IBAs), Important Plant Areas (IPAs) or Important Mammal Areas (IMAs).
• The Red List of Endangered Species is used as the basis for the classification of the endangerment of species .

Prioritization of nature conservation measures with the help of KBAs

The mountain Kenya is considered a KBA due to 25 different plant and animal species that are globally endangered or endemic.

The global context is particularly relevant for KBAs. If, for example, an animal or plant species is threatened worldwide and widespread in the potential KBA, then protecting this species is particularly worthwhile, giving the area a high priority (uniqueness). If a species is regionally threatened, but not globally, the area will not be recognized as a KBA.

This setting of priorities does not serve to determine which natural areas, including their biological diversity, are to be protected and which are not, but which of them need acute care and protection first. In many places the resources for nature conservation are very limited. It is therefore important to use them strategically on the basis of such prioritization in order to make an effective and efficient contribution to the preservation of biodiversity .

KBAs and protected areas

The IUCN regards protected areas as one of the most important and effective instruments for protecting biodiversity , as species are protected from their greatest threat - habitat loss. The KBAs concept is based on this knowledge and extensive experience in this regard.

The recognition of an area as KBA also justifies its designation as a corresponding protected area from an ecological perspective. KBAs usually form a subset of existing or potential protected areas. Many KBAs already have a protection status. However, some protected areas do not meet the criteria of a KBA, but are possibly designated as protected areas for other reasons, such as local cultural or natural values.

Protection categories

Key Biodiversity Areas are not a protection category in the strict sense, but a framework plan for the following areas of different botanical kingdoms:

• Important Bird Area (IBA) - identified by BirdLife International
• Important Plant Area (IPA) - managed by UNESCO
• Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area in the High Seas (EBSA), a UNEP program underway
• Freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas  (FWKBA, formerly Important Sites for Freshwater Biodiversity ) - IUCN-SSC program under development
• Alliance for Zero Extinction sites (AZE)
• Prime Butterfly Areas (PBA) - under construction

The KBA concept is a more holistic approach with regard to the observed species spectrum compared to these older specific nature conservation initiatives. IBAs were brought into being in the 1970s, from which the later initiatives were formed with the inclusion of other groups of species.

Gap analysis by KBAs

The IUCN carried out a gap analysis of Key Biodiversity Areas in 2007 in order to pursue the internationally set goal of “reducing the loss of biological diversity, with a significant reduction in the rate of loss by 2010 ” - but this was not achieved. The goals of the gap analysis are:

• Strategic expansion of the existing network of protected areas through a comprehensive, representative and complementary expansion
• Strengthening and consolidating the already existing protected areas through effective management

See also

• Biodiversity hotspot
• Red list of endangered species
• Protected areas in nature and landscape protection

literature

• JC Bibby: Selecting areas for conservation. In: WJ Sutherland (Ed.) Conservation Science and Action. Blackwell Science, Oxford 1998, pp. 176-201.
• Birdlife International: What are Key Biodiversity Areas? 2008 ( online ).
• G. Eken, L. Bennun, TM Brooks, et al .: Key biodiversity areas as site conservation targets. In: BioScience. 54, 2004, pp. 1110-1118. library.conservation.org (PDF; 376 kB).
• PF Langhammer, MI Bakarr, LA Bennun, et al .: Identification and Gap Analysis of Key Biodiversity Areas: Targets for Comprehensive Protected Area Systems. In: IUCN: Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series. 15, Gland 2007 iucn.org (PDF; 6.0 MB).

Web links

• Youtube Channel Key Biodiversity Areas: Key Biodiversity Areas Videos

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) - Globally significant sites for biodiversity conservation identified using universal standards UNEP / WCMC: a – z areas of biodiversity importance , biodiversitya-z.org.
2. ^ Birdlife International: Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot . In: CEPF Ecosystem Profiles 2012 cepf.net ( Memento of the original from August 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF). 
3. ↑ G. Eken, L. Bennun, TM Brooks, et al .: Key biodiversity areas as site conservation targets. In: BioScience
4. ^ CR Margules, RL Pressey: Systematic conservation planning. In: Nature. 405, 2000, pp. 243-253.
5. ^ JC Bibby: Selecting areas for conservation. In: WJ Sutherland (Ed.) Conservation Science and Action.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} P. F. Langhammer, MI Bakarr, LA Bennun, et al .: Identification and Gap Analysis of Key Biodiversity Areas: Targets for Comprehensive Protected Area Systems. In: IUCN: Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series. 15th
7. ↑ cepf.net ( Memento of the original from August 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 4.2 MB). 
8. ^ William Darwall, IUCN Species Program: Freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas: work in progress (PDF), undated, unesco.org/mab.
9. ↑ iucn.org (PDF).
10. ↑ United Nations: Official List of Indicators for the Millennium Development Goals . 2000 un.org (PDF), accessed September 26, 2012.
11. ↑ N. Röttgen: Biological Diversity 2010: Almost gone? - New ways out of the old crisis. ( Memento from April 8, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) NABU conference. Frankfurt am Main 2010.