Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 December 2009 – Protected Areas offer a cost
effective solution to the impacts of climate change, according to a new book
from IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, the United Nations Development Programme,
Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Bank and WWF.
“This book, Natural Solutions: protected areas helping people
cope with climate change, clearly articulates for the first time how
protected areas contribute significantly to reducing the impacts of climate
change and what’s needed for them to achieve even more,” says Lord
Nicholas Stern, who wrote a foreword for the report.
Protected areas play a major role in reducing climate changing carbon dioxide
emissions in the atmosphere. Fifteen percent of the world’s terrestrial carbon
stock - 312 Gigatonnes - are stored in protected areas around the world. In
Canada, over 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide is sequestered in 39 national
parks, estimated to be worth $39-87 billion in carbon credits. In the Brazilian
Amazon, protected lands are expected to prevent 670,000 km² of deforestation by
2050, representing 8 billion tons of avoided carbon emissions.
Protected areas also serve as natural buffers against climate impacts and
other disasters, providing space for floodwaters to disperse, stabilizing soil
against landslides and blocking storm surges. It has been estimated that coastal
wetlands in the United States provide $23.2 billion a year in protection against
flooding from hurricanes.
And protected areas can keep natural resources healthy and productive so they
can withstand the impacts of climate change and continue to provide the food,
clean water, shelter and income communities rely upon for survival. Thirty three
of the world’s 100 largest cities derive their drinking water from catchments
within forest protected areas.