Jeju, Korea, 15 September 2012 (IUCN) –
Tea estates can play a major role in the conservation of biodiversity. In many countries around 20% of the land within tea estates is covered by natural or planted trees. This ecosystem provides important services such as carbon capture, crop pollination, pest control, and biodiversity, soil and water conservation. The Dilmah Bioregional Initiative (DBI) will help adopt a new integrated management approach for Dilmah tea estates.
Dilmah Conservation launched the DBI in partnership with IUCN and its World Commission on Protected Areas during the IUCN Congress. The initiative aims to support Dilmah in adopting a landscape approach to the management of those estates from which the company largely sources their tea.
“The DBI is centred on the emerging field of connectivity conservation. It seeks to link tea estates to the wider context of natural and productive lands with the aim of adopting a more integrated approach,” said Peter Shadie of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas speaking at the launch. Improved connectivity is essential to conserve biodiversity and natural systems, he added.
The initiative supports global calls for better landscape integration by providing the added advantage of mobilising the private sector behind such approaches. It will be planned and implemented over several years and has the potential to become an umbrella programme demonstrating that connectivity works and can deliver multiple benefits to multiple stakeholders. The initiative highlights the value of integrating private land holdings into national biodiversity strategies to be used as a model to be replicated elsewhere.
About the World Conservation Congress
The IUCN World Conservation Congress is the world’s largest and most important conservation event. Held every four years, it aims to improve how we manage our natural environment for human, social and economic development.
The 2012 World Conservation Congress was held from 6 to 15 September 2012 in Jeju, Republic of Korea. Leaders from government, the public sector, non-governmental organizations, business, UN agencies and social organizations will discuss, debate and decide solutions for the world’s most pressing environment and development issues.
The Congress starts with a Forum where IUCN Members and partners discuss cutting-edge ideas, thinking and practice. The Forum leads into the Members’ Assembly, a unique global environmental parliament of governments and NGOs.
Effective conservation action cannot be achieved by conservationists alone. The 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress is the place to put aside differences and work together to provide the means and mechanisms for good environmental governance, engaging all parts of society to share both responsibilities and the benefits of conservation.
The Congress has two main components:
- the Forum is a hub of public debate bringing together people from all walks of life to discuss the world’s most pressing conservation issues. There are many different types of events you can get involved in to explore the depths of conservation and innovation.
- the Members’ Assembly is IUCN’s highest decision-making body. A unique global environmental parliament, it involves governments and NGOs – large and small, national and international – taking joint decisions.
For 2012, the IUCN World Conservation Congress has adopted a new format, aiming for greater coherence and cross-fertilization between the two parts. Main messages of each day of the Forum are presented to the Assembly the following morning. Forum sessions related to motions presented at the Assembly are also identified.
About IUCN
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.
IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.
www.iucn.org
