Scaling up Equitable Governance in Area-based Conservation (SEGA)

Most countries face ongoing degradation and loss of biodiversity and critical ecosystem services. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) called for “transformative change” to halt biodiversity loss. One of the five key strategies to do this is improving governance by making it more “inclusive, accountable and adaptive”, as identified in the Global Assessment report.

To halt biodiversity loss, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for the coverage of protected areas and other conserved areas (PCAs) to be extended to 30% of land and sea (“30x30” target) and for PCAs to be “equitably governed”.

This indicates recognition of the importance of governance for effective and sustainable conservation of PCAs and Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs), and that social inequity associated with nature conservation is not acceptable.

But when the 30x30 target says that PCAs should be equitably governed, what does this mean, and how can we, in practical terms, make governance more equitable and effective?

What is IIED doing?

Between 2015 and 2018, IIED developed and led a collaborative effort at international level and generated a framework (PDF) for understanding equity in area-based conservation.

The framework was based on the well-established concept of environmental justice, with its three dimensions of equity/justice in recognition, procedure and distribution of benefits and costs. In 2018 the framework was endorsed by the Convention on Biological Diversity's Conference of the Parties (COP14) (PDF), with some countries, such as Uganda, now using it in developing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.

Based on this framework, IIED and partners have developed the Site-level Assessment of Governance and Equity (SAGE), a tool specifically designed for stakeholders and rightsholders in PCAs to assess the quality of governance and equity of the area and identify, plan, implement and monitor actions to improve.

Conservación Amazónica explains how the Tsimane community of Chacal, Bolivia, is actively engaging in the construction of a participatory governance model through SEGA (English subtitles are available)

But having a few PCAs per country applying more equitable approaches to governance is not enough. Equitable governance must be institutionalised, not only to affect a larger number of sites but also because innovations typically need ‘critical mass’ to reach the point where they take hold, and establish the foundation for sustainability.

This is the goal of the SEGA project – to scale up equitable governance in the PCA systems of specific countries, and in so doing drive transformative change in governance.

What and where is SEGA?

SEGA currently covers five countries – Bolivia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal and Tanzania, led by Conservación Amazónica, Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA), Madagascar National Parks (MNP) and Madagasikara Voakajy, the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC) and Honeyguide respectively.

In each country, the partners provide technical support for SAGE assessments and the planning and implementation of actions to improve governance. IIED leads SEGA’s global coordination, capacity-building and advocacy efforts to advance equitable governance as a central pillar of conservation policy and practice.

Ony Rakotoarisoa, executive director of Madagascar National Parks, explains how her organisation is planning on using the SAGE tool

While SAGE is a tool for assessment and action, the main emphasis of the SEGA project is action – supporting site-level actors to design, implement and monitor actions to improve PCA governance and equity.

These types of actions frequently come up against barriers to implementation, which have thwarted many efforts to improve PCA governance over the last 20-30 years.

These and other barriers at a system and national level also affect scaling up. SEGA’s efforts also include enabling stakeholders and rightsholders to identify and address such barriers to change.

In each country, SEGA starts by providing substantial technical and financial support for assessment and action to a core group of PCAs. Support is then scaled back to the point where, by year four of the process, scaling up happens naturally as other projects and agencies take on SAGE with their own resources.

At the same time, SEGA will be supporting a community of practice of emerging experts and champions to advance the cause of equitable governance through peer-to-peer sharing of knowledge, skills and solidarity in addressing inevitable barriers to change.

In addition to replicating use of SAGE in more places, SEGA also addresses enabling conditions and barriers in policy and law and underlying power, values and beliefs through generating evidence to support advocacy with policymakers and practitioners at national and international levels.

SEGA’s ambition

With high level of interest in SAGE, we see SEGA as the foundation for a larger programme of scaling up equitable governance led by NGOs and government agencies in additional countries.

With current demand, IIED has a target of at least 1,000 sites across 30 countries using SAGE by 2030. This would be a substantial contribution towards achieving the equitable governance element of the 30x30 target. Currently, the number of sites using SAGE and similar tools is one of very few indicators for equitable governance in the GBF monitoring framework.