Integration of Priority Setting with Industry Standards

Critical habitat and High Conservation Value areas are key concepts in this process. Overlapping interests between conservation and industry stakeholders necessitate a collaborative approach to decision-making. Highest value areas, which would ideally be formally protected, often fall within commercial concessions or areas targeted by industry. Decisions regarding these areas should involve government and industry stakeholders. Protecting priority areas in commercial concessions incurs a cost on the operator, necessitating a science-based and transparent approach. Macro-zoning and micro-zoning are two approaches that can be used to allocate permits and management areas within concessions. Both methods must be linked to industry standards for biodiversity protection, including IFC standards and Critical habitat, as well as FSC and RSPO standards and High Conservation Value areas. IFC Performance Standard 6 provides a framework for defining Critical habitat. This standard defines Critical habitat as the habitat of significant importance to Critically Endangered and/or Endangered species. No intervention in Critical habitat should lead to a net reduction in the global or national/regional population of any recognized Critically Endangered or Endangered species over time. Offsets may be used to ensure residual impacts are mitigated. High Conservation Value areas are a safeguard criteria for biodiversity and cultural values, developed by the FSC for forest certification. The HCV criteria provide a framework for stakeholders to define what they consider important attributes. These criteria are based on attempts by Birdlife International and The Nature Conservancy to define significant or important concentrations of biodiversity. The HCV criteria have been adopted by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). An HCV area is defined as any area that holds a significant concentration of biodiversity values, including endangered or endemic species at the national, regional, or global level. This can be a significant concentration of one endangered species, such as a nationally significant population of great apes, or a concentration of several endemic species, such as an important bird area. HCV areas must be managed in a way that ensures the conservation value is maintained or enhanced. Companies committed to certification processes, such as FSC forest management, are committed to safeguarding these areas from threats that will have negative impacts on the conservation value. The interpretation of definitions for Critical habitat and High Conservation Value areas is a complex issue. Threshold values for these attributes need to be defined at the country level by relevant stakeholders. However, the lack of data and expertise has slowed this process, resulting in companies and their auditors defining their own values. The objective of this workshop is to develop a standard and widely accepted definition of significant concentrations of great apes, which can be used to map HCV areas. Aligning great ape priorities and HCV areas requires a transparent and collaborative process. Discussion on the best methods to define and delineate significant populations includes absolute density threshold, population size and intactness, and target population level. Modelling populations permits decisions to be taken about priority zones in a stakeholder forum. Different methods are available to define thresholds, and it is essential that these thresholds are consistent with the language of industry standards to ensure priority areas are considered High Conservation Value areas. A transparent process allows government and industry buy-in and increases the uptake and impact of the exercise.