ONFF Blog: ONFF area accreditation

ONFF area accreditation

22-03-2013 : This page explains how the ONFF committee treats and approves new requests for extending the ONFF reference list. The ONFF committee follows the World Wide Fauna & Flora rules.

Only the National Coordinator can assign new references (through the WWFF Database &References Manager).

Different accreditation categories: First we believe in strict area management and we try to avoid overlapping area Natura 2000 accreditation.

Category Ia — Strict Nature Reserve

IUCN Category Ia Strict nature reserve — area which is protected from all but light human use in order to preserve the geological and geomorphical features of the region and its biodiversity. These areas are often home to dense native ecosystems that are restricted from all human disturbance outside of scientific study, environmental monitoring and education. Because these areas are so strictly protected, they provide ideal pristine environments by which external human influence can be measured.

In some cases strict nature reserves are of spiritual significance for surrounding communities, and the areas are also protected for this reason. The people engaged in the practise of their faith within the region have the right to continue to do so, providing it aligns with the area's conservation and management objectives.

Human impacts on strict nature reserves are increasingly difficult to guard against as climate and air pollution and newly emerging diseases threaten to penetrate the boundaries of protected areas. If perpetual intervention is required to maintain these strict guidelines, the area will often fall into category IV or V.

Category Ib — Wilderness Area

IUCN Category Ib Wilderness area— areas generally larger and protected in a slightly less stringent manner than that of strict nature reserves.

These areas are a protected domain in which biodiversity and ecosystem processes (including evolution) are allowed to flourish or experience restoration if previously disturbed by human activity. These are areas which may buffer against the effects of climate change and protect threatened species and ecological communities.

Human visitation is limited to a minimum, often allowing only those who are willing to travel of their own devices (by foot, by ski, or by boat), but this offers a unique opportunity to experience wilderness that has not been interfered with. Wilderness areas can be classified as such only if they are devoid of modern infrastructure, though they allow human activity to the level of sustaining indigenous groups and their cultural and spiritual values within their wilderness-based lifestyles.^[5]

Category II — National Park

IUCN Category II National park — this bears similar characteristics to that of Wilderness Areas with regards to size and the main objective of protecting functioning ecosystems. However, national parks tend to be more lenient with human visitation and its supporting infrastructure. National parks are managed in a way that may contribute to local economies through promoting educational and recreational tourism on a scale that will not reduce the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

The surrounding areas of a national park may be for consumptive or non-consumptive use but should nevertheless act as a barrier for the defence of the protected area's native species and communities to enable them to sustain themselves in the long term.^[7]

Category III — Natural Monument or Feature

IUCN Category III Natural monument or feature — represents comparatively smaller areas that are specifically allocated to protect a natural monument and its surrounding habitats. These monuments can be natural in the wholest sense or include elements that have been influenced or introduced by humans. The latter should hold biodiversity associations or could otherwise be classified as a historical or spiritual site, though this distinction can be quite difficult to ascertain.

To be categorised as a natural monument or feature by IUCN's guidelines, the protected area could include natural geological or geomorphological features, culturally-influenced natural features, natural cultural sites, or cultural sites with associated ecology. The classification then falls into two subcategories: those in which the biodiversity is uniquely related to the conditions of the natural feature and those in which the current levels of biodiversity are dependent on the presence of the sacred sites that have created an essentially modified ecosystem.

Natural monuments or features often play a smaller but key ecological role in the operations of broader conservation objectives. They have a high cultural or spiritual value that can be utilised to gain support of conservation challenges by allowing higher visitation or recreational rights, therefore offering an incentive for the preservation of the site.^[8]

Category IV — Habitat/Species Management Area

The Galápagos, Ecuador, is managed under category IV to preserve the islands' native flora and fauna^[9]

IUCN Category IV Habitat management area and species management area — like Category III Natural monument/feature, this focuses on more specific areas of conservation (though size is not necessarily a distinguishing feature) but in relation to an identifiable species or habitat that requires continuous protection rather than that of a natural feature. These protected areas will be sufficiently controlled to ensure the maintenance, conservation, and restoration of particular species and habitats – possibly through traditional means – and public education of such areas is widely encouraged as part of the management objectives.

Habitat or species management areas may exist as a fraction of a wider ecosystem or protected area and may require varying levels of active protection. Management measures may include (but are not limited to) the prevention of poaching, creation of artificial habitats, halting natural succession, and supplementary feeding practices.^[10]

Category V — Protected Landscape/Seascape

IUCN Category V Protected landscape and protected seascape — area covers entire bodies of land or ocean with a more explicit management plan in the interest of nature conservation but is more likely to include a range of for-profit activities.

The main objective is to safeguard regions that have built up a "distinct character" in regards to their ecological, biological, cultural, or scenic value. In contrast with previous categories, Category V—Protected Landscapes and Seascapes allows a higher level of interaction with surrounding communities who are able to contribute to the areas management and engage with the natural and cultural heritage it embodies through a sustainable outlook.

Landscapes and seascapes that fall into this category should represent an integral balance between people and nature and can sustain activities such as traditional agricultural and forestry systems on conditions that ensure the continued protection or ecological restoration of the area.

Category V is one of the more flexible classifications of protected areas. As a result, protected landscapes and seascapes may be able to accommodate contemporary developments, such as ecotourism, at the same time as maintaining the historical management practices that may procure the sustainability of agrobiodiversity and aquatic biodiversity.

Category VI – Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources

IUCN category VI Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources — a generally more encompassing classification that is focused on the mutually beneficial correlation between nature conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in correspondence the livelihoods of those who are dependent on both. A wide range of socio-economic factors are taken into consideration in creating local, regional, and national approaches to using natural resources as a tactic to assist sustainable development rather than hinder it.

Though human involvement is a large factor in the management of these protected areas, developments are not intended to allow for widescale industrial production. The IUCN recommends that a proportion of the land mass remains in its natural condition – a decision to be made on a national level, usually with specificity to each protected area. Governance has to be developed to adapt the diverse – and possibly growing – range of interests that arise from the production of sustainable natural resources.

Category VI may be particularly suitable to vast areas that already have a low level of human occupation or in which local communities and their traditional practices have had little permanent impact on the environmental health of the region. This differs from category V in that it is not the result of long-term human interaction that has had a transformative effect on surrounding ecosystems.

European classification: Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is the centrepiece of EU nature & biodiversity policy. It is an EUwide network of nature protection areas established under the 1992 Habitats Directive. The aim of the network is to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It is comprised of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designated by Member States under the Habitats Directive, and also incorporates Special Protection Areas (SPAs) which they designate under the 1979 Birds Directive. Natura 2000 is not a system of strict nature reserves where all human activities are excluded. Whereas the network will certainly include nature reserves most of the land is likely to continue to be privately owned and the emphasis will be on ensuring that future management is sustainable, both ecologically and economically.The establishment of theis network of protected areas also fulfils a Community obligation under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Natura 2000 applies to Birds Sites and to Habitats Sites, which are divided into biogeographical regions. It also applies to the marine environment.

The Natura 2000 Barometer gives updated statistical information on the progress in establishing the Natura 2000 network, both under the Birds and the Habitats Directives.

Request for NEW ONFF References should be based on the following data found as specified below.

First the area should be registered into the http://protectedplanet.net/ database. Each new request should be based on this information. Send the protectedplanet.net area link to the ONFF coordinator as prove. An important source for establishing the status and perimeter of nature parks is the information in the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), a joint initiative between IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. The WDPA can be accessed through the above link.
Find below the Belgian autorities. (these autorities supply the information to the protectedplanet database)
Fill in the requested data for the NEW ONFF request file. ONFF New area request file XLS Download page
Send this ONFF request file to the ONFF coordinator email.

For Flanders (Vlaanderen):