2013 international biodivercities - City of Joondalup · Thanks to the Sponsors of the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference for ... to the outstanding lifestyle opportunities

2013 international

biodivercitiesconference

conference ProGraM9 – 11 September 2013

Joondalup Resort Perth, Western Australia

The City of Joondalup is pleased to be hosting the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference, in association with the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and the Western Australian Local Government Association.

We are proud to welcome visitors to the internationally renowned and award winning Joondalup Resort, to address the important issues of biodiversity conservation in a changing climate.

Joondalup is located within the South West Australia Biodiversity Hotspot. This region is one of 34 internationally recognised areas that contain a rich variety of biodiversity due to the wide range of habitats which are located in this compact geographical area. It has also been identified as being particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

The City has a long history of working with partners both regionally and internationally to implement programs and projects that aim to conserve biodiversity. Whilst environmental management is a key role of the City it also recognises that a whole of community approach is required in order to achieve significant change. The City works closely with 17 Friends Groups who work within the City’s natural areas to conserve and enhance the biodiversity of the local natural environment.

This conference aims to provide attendees with information relating to the latest research on impacts of climate change on biodiversity and national and global case studies of best practice in climate adaptation. I hope that you find the topics presented both interesting and inspiring.

Thanks to the Sponsors of the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference for their tremendous support – Principal Sponsor Landcorp, Major Sponsors Edith Cowan University, Natural Area Consulting and Eco Logical, and Supporting Sponsors Carbon Neutral and Tamala Park Regional Council.

We hope you enjoy all that Joondalup has to offer whilst you participate in the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference.

Troy Pickard Mayor City of Joondalup

Mayor Welcome

Troy Pickard Mayor City of Joondalup

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2013 International BiodiverCities Conference

Mayor Welcome

Garry Hunt Chief Executive Officer City of Joondalup

It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to the City of Joondalup and the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference.

The City of Joondalup joined the ICLEI Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Program, now known as the BiodiverCities Program, in October 2006 as one of 21 pioneering cities. Through participation in this international program, the City has developed a comprehensive Biodiversity Report and Biodiversity Action Plan, as well as a number of “on the ground” biodiversity related projects that have assisted the City to integrate biodiversity conservation into decision making processes and day to day operations.

The City’s current focus is identifying the links between biodiversity management and climate change and developing mechanisms to ensure the long term protection of the City’s local environment.

Within the City there are more than 300 diverse natural areas and public open spaces, which support a range of unique plants and animals and provide our community with numerous passive recreational opportunities.

The City implements many programs, strategies and policies, in partnership with stakeholders and the community, to ensure the conservation of the City’s biodiversity values. The protection and enhancement of biodiversity within cities provides numerous benefits to the community through the provision of ecological services such as the capture of carbon dioxide, cooling of urban environments and a number of recreational and cultural experiences.

This focus on biodiversity management contributes to the outstanding lifestyle opportunities available in our community. The local environment is one of the reasons why Joondalup is recognised internationally for its liveability.

This conference provides an opportunity for stakeholders involved in the planning and delivery of projects for the protection of local biodiversity within urban environments to come together and promote the importance of biodiversity, and discuss how challenges associated with the impacts of climate change can be addressed.

During the course of the conference you will be provided with information relating to the latest research on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and how biodiversity can mitigate the effects of climate change. This will include local, national and global case studies of best practice in climate adaptation. I would particularly like to thank our conference speakers for sharing your knowledge and experiences with the conference delegates.

We look forward to welcoming you all to the City of Joondalup and trust that you will enjoy your stay at the superb Joondalup Resort.

Garry Hunt PSM Chief Executive Officer City of Joondalup

Turning our emissions into treesThe carbon footprint of the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference is being calculated and offset by Carbon Neutral. Emissions related to the conference, including travel, energy, food, waste and paper will be offset with the planting of biodiverse native trees that will help rehabilitate rural Australia, lock in carbon and provide habitat for animals, plants and birds.

Carbon Neutral is a carbon solutions provider and reforestation developer. They help organisations and individuals across Australia minimise their impact on the environment by working with them to measure, reduce and offset carbon emissions.

Find out more at carbonneutral.com.au

CEO Welcome

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Conference Program

Conference Program – Arrival and Day One

ARRIVAL Sunday 8 September 2013

5.30pm Welcome ReceptionView 180 Cocktail LoungeDrinks and CanapésPresented by Natural Area Consulting

5.45pm Welcome AddressMr Garry HuntChief Executive Officer, City of Joondalup

7.30pm Function ends

DAY 1 Monday 9 September 2013

8.00am Registration open

Tea and coffee on arrival

8.30amLakeview Terrace

Official Conference Opening

Mr Jamie ParryDirector Governance and Strategy, City of Joondalup

CEO IntroductionMr Garry HuntChief Executive Officer, City of Joondalup

Acknowledgement of CountryProfessor Colleen HaywardEdith Cowan UniversityPresented by Edith Cowan University

Mayor WelcomeMayor Troy PickardCity of Joondalup

Ms Shela PatricksonICLEI Cities Biodiversity Centre


Opening Plenary: Global Biodiversity Impacts and Climate Adaptation – A Global PerspectiveChaired by Mr Jamie Parry, City of Joondalup

Keynote Speaker 1Professor Tim FlanneryScientist, explorer and conservationist

The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life On Earth

Keynote Speaker 2Mr André MaderProgram Officer, Convention of Biological Diversity Secretariat

Cities, Climate Change, Biodiversity and the UN

Keynote Speaker 3Dr Michael DunlopLand Water Biodiversity Climate Analyst, CSIRO, Australia

Climate-ready Biodiversity Conservation

Panel Question time

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Conference Program – Arrival and Day One

10.55amThe Gallery

Coffee Break


Plenary Session 2 Valuing Ecosystem Services to Support Climate Action

Keynote Speaker 4Dr Paul HardistyDirector of the National Climate, Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO, Australia

Valuing Urban Ecosystems in a Changing Climate

Keynote Speaker 5Professor Haripriya GundimedaIndian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India

Ecosystem Service Valuation for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Keynote Speaker 6Dr Åsa GrenResearcher, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden

Global Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystems – Challenges and Opportunities

Panel Question time

1.00pmThe Gallery

Networking LunchPresented by Edith Cowan University

1.45pm Parallel Session 1

Choose one of four sessions

Session 1Tuart Room 1

Conservation in Action – Global Case StudiesBiodiverse Mega Cities – a design brief

Mr Jason AlexandraCharles Darwin University

Session 2Tuart Room 2

Partnerships to Enhance BiodiversityPartnerships to enhance biodiversity – What we do and who we do it with

Ms Victoria MaguirePerth Region NRM

Ms Toni BurbidgeShire of Mundaring

Session 3Dunes Room

Integration of Biodiversity into Urban LandscapeRedesigning our cities as ecosystem service centres in a challenging climate: The City of Melbourne experience

Ms Yvonne LynchCity of Melbourne

Session 4Quarry Room

Community Education and Public Participation Fostering Biodiversity ConservationPractical tools to evaluate Biodiversity Communication Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) Projects and Programs

Ms Lindie BuirskiCity of Cape Town

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Conference Program

Conference Program – Day One

2.20pm Lakeview Terrace

Plenary Session 3 Biodiversity Conservation in Action – Global City Case Studies

Key Note Speaker 7Professor Bruce ClarksonDirector of Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Bringing Indigenous Biodiversity Back into Hamilton and Other New Zealand Cities

Key Note Speaker 8Dr Debra RobertsDirector of Climate Change, eThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa

Using Biodiversity to Build a Climate Smart City: The Story of Durban, South Africa

Panel Question time

Day 1 Wrap UpMr Jamie Parry Director Governance and Strategy, City of Joondalup

Program concludes

3.40pm The Gallery

Afternoon Tea

DAY 1 Evening Activities

4.20pm Transport to Yellagonga Regional Park Neil Hawkins Park, Joondalup

4.40pm CEO WelcomeMr Garry HuntChief Executive Officer, City of Joondalup

4.50pm Guided Nyungar Bushtucker TourYellagonga Nature Reserve

5.50pm Gourmet BBQ Dinner

6.40pm Guided Night Stalk TourPresented by Eco Logical

8.00pm Transport back to Joondalup Resort

Note: All events will take place at the Joondalup Resort unless otherwise indicated. Program is subject to change.

¢ Conservation in Action – Global Case Studies¢ Partnerships to Enhance Biodiversity¢ Integration of Biodiversity into Urban Landscape¢ Community Education and Public Participation Fostering Biodiversity Conservation¢ Assessing and Managing Coastal Vulnerability¢ Biodiversity for Carbon Sequestration

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Conference Program – Day One

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Conference Program

Conference Program – Day Two

DAY 2 Tuesday 10 September 2013

8.00am Registration open

Tea and coffee on arrival

9.00am Lakeview Terrace

Welcome and introductions

Mr Jamie Parry Director Governance and Strategy, City of Joondalup

Plenary Session 4 Greening Cities and Carbon Bio-Sequestration

Keynote Speaker 9Ms Anissa LawrenceDirector, TierraMar Consulting, Australia

Blue Carbon: Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change by Conserving Coastal Ecosystems

Keynote Speaker 10Professor Lei YangCentre for Water Resources Studies, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The Concept of “Blue Carbon” Applied in Carbon Sequestration by the Coastal Wetland Parks in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Keynote Speaker 11Mr Craig AndersonChief Executive Officer, Greening Australia (WA)

Restoring Biodiversity through Corporate and Community Partnerships

10.45am The Gallery

Coffee Break

11.05am Parallel Session 2


Session 5 Tuart Room 1

Biodiversity for Carbon SequestrationEnhancing local biodiversity through reforestation carbon sinks

Mr Ray WilsonCarbon Neutral, WA


Partnerships to Enhance BiodiversityICLEI’s Local Action for Biodiversity – Australia (LAB – Australia): strengthening local and national connections

Ms Shela Patrickson, ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Centre Mr Martin Brennan, ICLEI Oceania

Session 7 Dunes Room

Integration of Biodiversity into Urban LandscapeTools supporting local biodiversity conservation in the South West of Western Australia

Ms Renata ZelinovaWA Local Government Association

Session 8 Quarry Room

Assessing and Managing Coastal VulnerabilityOpportunities to enhance biodiversity in coastal adaptation to climate change

Professor Laura StockerCurtin University, Coastal Collaboration Cluster

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11.40am Parallel Session 3



Integration of Biodiversity into Urban LandscapeIncreasing biodiversity habitat using urban green infrastructure

Dr Caragh ThrelfallUniversity of Melbourne


Community Education and Participation Fostering Biodiversity ConservationConserving urban wetlands through community involvement

Mrs Lara O’NeillCity of Joondalup


Conservation in Action – Global Case StudiesCity of Gold Coast: balancing conservation outcomes

Mr Huxley LawlerCity of Gold Coast


Conservation in Action – Global Case StudiesManagement of biodiversity in Helsingborg, Sweden: key factors for mainstreaming

Mr Widar NarveloHelsingborg City

12.15pm Parallel Session 4



Integration of Biodiversity into Urban LandscapeCity of Salisbury biodiversity corridors

Ms Tamika CookCity of Salisbury


Conservation in Action – Global Case StudiesIntegrating the Built Environment with the Natural

Ms Sharon ClarkLandcorp


Community Education and Participation Fostering Biodiversity ConservationCollaboration and integration in Edmonton, Canada: Biodiversity planning and communication, education and public awareness (CEPA)

Mr Grant PearsellCity of Edmonton


Integration of Biodiversity into Urban LandscapeIntegration of biodiversity into the urban landscape in Mexico City

Dr José Bernal StoopenMexico City

12.45pmThe Gallery

Networking LunchPresented by Edith Cowan University

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Conference Program

Conference Program – Day Two

1.30pmLakeview Terrace

Plenary Session 5 Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Mitigation

Key Note Speaker 12 Dr Berthold SeibertProject Director, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Global partnerships in biodiversity conservation from a regional perspective. The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) reflections on three years with the Biodiversity and Climate Change Project

Key Note Speaker 13 Professor Stephen HopperWinthrop Professor of Biodiversity, The University of Western Australia

Plant Diversity, Granite Outcrops, Cities, and Climate Mitigation – Global Research and Prospects

Panel Question time

2.45pm Conference conclusion and wrap upMayor Troy PickardCity of Joondalup

Program concludes

3.00pmThe Gallery

Afternoon Tea

DAY 2 Evening Activities

4.20pm Transport to Kings Park

5.30pm Pre–dinner drinksFraser’s Reception Centre

5.40pm CEO IntroductionMr Garry HuntChief Executive Officer, City of Joondalup

Mayor WelcomeMayor Troy Pickard City of Joondalup

Host SponsorMr Stuart Nahajski, Landcorp

6.30pm Conference DinnerFraser’s Reception CentrePresented by Landcorp

8.00pm Guest speaker Professor Kingsley Dixon

9.30pm Transport back to Joondalup Resort

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Conference Program – Day Three

DAY 3 Wednesday 11 September 2013 Optional Field Trip

8.00am Field trip departs Joondalup Resort

8.30am Hepburn Heights Conservation Area Guided Walk

10.00am Sunset Coast Guided Walk and Naturalist Discovery Centre Tour

12.00noon – 12.45pm LunchMarmion Angling and Aquatic Club

1.30pm Kings Park Guided Nature Walk and Free Time

4.00pm Whiteman Park – Presentation and Dinner

6.00pm Whiteman Park – Guided Nocturnal Tour

7.45pm Depart for Joondalup Resort

8.15pm Arrive back at Joondalup Resort

Program is subject to change.

Note: All events will take place at the Joondalup Resort unless otherwise indicated. Program is subject to change.

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Conference Program

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Turn emissionsinto treesAt Carbon Neutral we help businesses and individuals measure, reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions by planting native Australian trees.

To find out more call 1300 851 211carbonneutral.com.au

Registration Desk

Delegates who have purchased any type of registration/ticket will need to register at the City of Joondalup Registration Desk on arrival at the venue to collect their lanyard. Name lanyards and conference proceedings can be collected from the registration desk at 8.00am each day of the conference.

Name Lanyards

Delegates will be required to wear name lanyards at all times during the conference. This will allow access to all plenary and your chosen parallel sessions as well as the welcome reception, conference dinner and field trips.

Meal and Coffee Breaks

Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be served in The Gallery at the Joondalup Resort.

Wi-Fi

Complimentary wireless internet will be available to all delegates at the conference.

Username: Conference Password: C0nference1 (zero instead of letter O)

Social Media

Delegates and interested members of the public can interact, communicate and engage with the City of Joondalup throughout the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference by ‘liking’ the City on Facebook and ‘following’ the City on Twitter using the #BiodiverCities and #GlobalCity hashtags.

General Conference Information

At Eco Logical Australia we provide business, government and the community with tailored and innovative solutions for land and environmental management issues by combining sound

1300 646 131 | www.ecoaus.com.au

• Natural resource management

• Biodiversity & environmental offsets

• planning, assessment & mapping

• Ecological survey & monitoring

• Environmental assessments & approvals

• GIS & remote sensing

• Bush regeneration

• Aboriginal cultural heritage

Sunday 8 SeptemberWelcome Reception5.30pmView 180 Cocktail LoungeJoondalup ResortPresented by Natural Area Consulting

Monday 9 SeptemberNetworking Lunch and Sponsor Exhibition Area1.00pmThe GalleryJoondalup ResortPresented by Edith Cowan University

Guided Walks and BBQ Dinner4.50pmNeil Hawkins ParkYellagonga Regional ParkTransport departs 4.20pmPresented by Eco Logical Australia

Tuesday 10 SeptemberNetworking Lunch and Sponsor Exhibition Area1.00pmThe GalleryJoondalup ResortPresented by Edith Cowan University

Conference Dinner5.30pmFraser’s Reception CentreKings ParkTransport departs 4.20pmPresented by Landcorp

Wednesday 11 SeptemberField TripTransport departs 8.00amHepburn Heights Bushland Guided WalkSunset Coast Guided WalkNaturalist Discovery Centre TourKings Park Guided Nature Walk and Free TimeWhiteman Park Guided Nocturnal Tour

Social Highlights

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Joondalup Resort – Conference Locations

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Joondalup Resort – Conference Locations

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Lobby Level 2

Professor Tim FlanneryScientist, Explorer and Conservationist

Professor Tim Flannery was awarded the 2007 Australian of the Year Award for his outstanding contribution to research on climate change and the environment. Tim Flannery has made contributions of international significance to the fields

of palaeontology, mammalogy and conservation and to the understanding of science in the broader community. His work, which includes a number of major discoveries, has received international acclaim from both peers and professionals.

Tim Flannery is on a mission. He believes that human activity is drastically altering the earth’s climate, and that before too long these changes will have a devastating effect on life on this planet. He wants to mobilise the social and political will to address this problem before it’s too late.

Tim Flannery is the former director of the South Australian Museum, and is currently a Professor at Sydney’s Macquarie University. He spent a year as Professor of Australian Studies

at Harvard, where he taught in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. In 2002, he became the first environmentalist to deliver The Australia Day address to the nation. In 2005 he was honoured as Australian Humanist of the Year and, in 2007, he was named Australian of the Year.

Drawing on the ideas from his ground breaking new book, Tim Flannery presents a straightforward and powerful exploration of the connection between climate change, global warming, and human activity. He has a gift for making complex science understandable for a lay audience, through a deft use of imagery, analogy and common sense. But Flannery does not just tell his audience what is happening to our planet. He very clearly lays out a game plan for halting current warming trends and beginning the long, but entirely achievable project of reversing the damage we have done. His goal is to mobilise his listeners - both personally and politically - to recognise that we are all “weather makers” and that the only choice, both logically and ethically, is to begin to address this problem before it’s too late.

Mr André MaderConservation Biologist and Specialist in Subnational Implementation of the CBD

André has worked in South Africa, the Middle East and Canada as researcher, manager, trainer and advocacy expert – the objectives of his work always aligned with those of the

United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity* (CBD).

Since 2006 André has focused on the interface between biodiversity policy and practice and is currently seconded by the international network of local governments, ICLEI, to the Secretariat of the CBD in Montreal.

Plenary Speakers – Day One

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Dr Michael Dunlop Land Water Biodiversity Climate Analyst, CSIRO

Dr Michael Dunlop focuses on helping biodiversity managers and policymakers, at national through to local levels, gain knowledge so they can make robust decisions about the conservation of Australia’s biodiversity in a changing climate.

This work involves understanding how climate change will affect species, ecosystems and landscapes; exploring the implications of these changes for conservation; and developing strategies that can be implemented over time to deal with the magnitude of the changes that are anticipated and address risks and uncertainties. He is currently investigating different processes for reassessing conservation

objectives in light of climate change. This involves exploring the multitude of ways different aspects of biodiversity are valued by society and how these might be affected by climate change.

Michael’s work on adapting biodiversity management continues an exciting multidisciplinary program of integrated analysis of long-term natural resource issues including the sustainability of biofuels, long-term agricultural futures, and water’s contribution to well-being.

Before joining CSIRO Michael worked on threatened species, with the New Zealand Department of Conservation, researched invertebrate biodiversity patterns in Antarctica, and taught biostatistics. He has an honours degree in applied physics and a Doctorate in evolutionary ecology/fire ecology.

Dr Paul Hardisty Director of the National Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO

Dr Paul Hardisty has recently joined CSIRO as Director of the National Climate Adaptation Flagship, and previously was Global Director of Sustainability and EcoNomics for Worley Parsons, one of the world’s largest engineering and project

delivery companies. Paul is a Chartered Professional Engineer, and has over 25 years of experience advising industry and government in sustainability and environmental strategy, and the environmental and social economics of climate change, water resources, and waste management.

He is a Visiting Professor in Environmental Engineering at Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, UK, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia School of Business, where he teaches sustainability to MBA students.

Paul is a Director of Green Cross Australia, and the author of several peer reviewed publications on sustainability and climate change issues. His latest book, Environmental and Economic Sustainability is a guide to estimating the dollar value of environmental assets and the ecosystems services they provide, allowing decision-makers to integrate these issues fully into options assessment.

Professor Haripriya Gundimeda Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Professor Haripriya Gundimeda holds a Master’s Degree in Mathematics and a PhD in Development Policy and works on various issues relating to environment and development economics. She is currently working as an Associate Professor in the

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. Professor Gundimeda has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Behaviour Sciences, at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as well as a

Ratan Tata Fellow at the Asia Research Centre, at the London School of Economics, and a Political Sciences and Visiting Researcher at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

She has been a joint coordinator of the international project “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity”, hosted by UNEP. She has been the conference chair of URBIO 2012 and is a member of the expert committee constituted by the Prime Minister of India on preparing a road map for Green National Accounts.

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Conference Program

Dr Åsa Gren Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Dr Åsa Gren holds a PhD in natural resources management and she is currently employed as a researcher at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Beijer Institute and at the Stockholm Resilience Center,

Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. In her research she focuses mainly on sustainability through the quantification and valuation of ecosystem services and the essential role of biodiversity for building resilience.

Her dissertation entailed quantifying ecosystem services at different scales in the Baltic Sea drainage basin. Together with colleagues in the field of economics, Dr Gren has been involved in assessing the challenges of designing a standardised model for building a wealth-based accounting system for ecosystems, within the framework of the IWAP project (Inclusive Wealth and Accounting Prices).

Current research is focused on assessing the role of ecosystem services in a sustainable urban landscape context. This research entails evaluating the effects of urban development on ecosystem service generation, landscape resilience and biodiversity, using e.g. functional and response diversity in pollinator groups as indicators for biodiversity. A major lens for this research is food security and change in major drivers such as climate change and change in global food market prices.

Dr Gren is also, together with architects at the Royal School of Technology in Stockholm, involved in assessing the scientific basis behind suggested urban sustainability approaches such as “smart growth”.

She is one of two lead authors to one of the core chapters of the UN initiated international assessment of the links between sustainable cities, ecosystem services and biodiversity (CBO). Dr Gren was invited keynote speaker at “The Sustainability Day” 2010, organised by NMC, with over 800 participants from the Swedish environmental business world to talk about ecosystem services, biodiversity and sustainable development.

She is one of the lead authors of one of three publications used as background material at the Nobel Laureat Symposium held at the Royal Swedish Academy in May 2011, where over 50 of the world’s greatest minds and Nobel prize winners were gathered to discuss necessary future transformation of the planet in an era of change.

Dr Gren was invited to write the introductory chapter for a special issue in the scientific journal Ecological Economics on the subject “Sustainable Future Cities”.

Dr Gren, in June of 2012, was invited to discuss the potential of valuation of ecosystem services as a tool for future sustainable development of the Swedish economy with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Fredrik Reinfeldt and his Commission for the Future.

Professor Bruce ClarksonDirector of the Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato

Professor Bruce Clarkson is Director of the Environmental Research Institute at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. He is recognised as one of New Zealand’s foremost authorities on ecological restoration. His research has had

a direct impact on the success of numerous ecological restoration projects particularly in urban environments such as Hamilton gully restoration initiatives and the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park project in Hamilton City.

In 2005, together with independent consultant Dr Wren Green he carried out a review of progress in the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy for the chief executives of the sponsoring

government agencies; in 2006 he was awarded the Loder Cup, New Zealand’s premier conservation award.

Professor Clarkson led a New Zealand government funded research program on determining the best methods for restoring indigenous biodiversity in cities for seven years (2005-2012) and is a member of the international expert panel developing the City Biodiversity Index to measure countries’ progress in relation to the UNEP Convention on Biological Diversity to which New Zealand is a signatory. He is also a member of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis comparative ecology of cities project.

Plenary Speakers – Day One

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Dr Debra Roberts Director of Climate Change, eThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa

Dr Debra Roberts established and heads the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department of eThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa. Her key responsibilities in this post include overseeing the planning and protection of the city’s biodiversity

and natural resource base, directing and developing the municipality’s Climate Protection Program and ensuring that biodiversity and climate change considerations influence all aspects of planning and development in the city.

Prior to joining the Municipality in January 1994, Dr Roberts lectured at the (then) University of Natal for a period of ten years in the departments of Biology and Geographical and Environmental Sciences. Dr Roberts has written widely in the fields of urban open space planning, environmental management and urban climate protection and has received a number of awards for her work.

CONSERVING A

BEAUTIFUL FUTURE.

The Tamala Park Regional Council is undertaking the

development of the Catalina Estate in Mindarie and

Clarkson in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Significant areas of native bushland have been

retained and flora and fauna relocation programs

established to save local plant and wildlife species.

A waste recycling program has also been developed to

significantly reduce the amount of construction waste

material sent to landfill and the TPRC is providing

incentives to reduce demand on domestic water and

power supplies.

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Conference Program

Ms Anissa LawrenceDirector, TierraMar Consulting

Anissa is Director and Founder of TierraMar Consulting. With a diverse background in environmental science, coastal and marine natural resource management (NRM) and conservation, environmental communication, finance and risk management, Anissa has over

20 years experience in developing and communicating strategic solutions and managing people, projects and businesses towards sustainability. She held senior positions in a number of leading international environmental consulting and professional

services firms, as well as in the not for profit conservation sector. Anissa’s current focus is on building the capacity of NRM and conservation program delivery agents to achieve better outcomes across Asia Pacific.

This work has included strategic assistance to develop conservation and NRM frameworks, as well as program development, implementation, evaluation and review of on ground conservation and NRM projects. She is currently assisting a number of organisations to develop and deliver Blue Carbon programs across Asia Pacific and Australia.

Professor Lei YangNational Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Professor Lei Yang earned a PhD Degree on Environmental Engineering from the School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA in 1990. He works on various issues relating to environmental and ecological engineering, especially on constructed

wetlands. Dr. Yang is currently working as a Professor in the Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, and a

director in the Center for Water Resources Studies at National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Professor Yang has been a Visiting Scholar in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, U.S.A. In addition, he is currently a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China, and is working as a City Counselor for Kaohsiung City Government, Taiwan.

Mr Craig AndersonChief Executive Officer, Greening Australia WA

Craig Anderson is an agribusiness specialist with a diverse background in a significant number of primary production commodities in Australia and Asia. Craig has tertiary qualifications in forestry and business management and more than 20 years’ experience in developing, financing and managing large-scale agribusiness enterprises.

Craig has a strong background in commercialising projects in the primary industry sector. This has included various forestry and horticultural commodities as well as carbon and environmental offset projects in Australia and Asia.

Craig is the WA CEO of Greening Australia. Established in 1982 to mark the Year of the Tree, Greening Australia was formed by the United Nations Association of Australia and the Nursery Industry Association of Australia. Since then, it has developed into the country’s largest practical not-for-profit environmental organisation.

Craig is also a board member of Gondwana Link, a collaborative effort entering its tenth year of achievement, an inspiring example of how a broad spectrum of local, regional and national groups can work together to conserve biodiversity with the South-west Biodiversity Hotspot.

Plenary Speakers – Day Two

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Dr Berthold Seibert Project Director, ASEAN GIZ Biodiversity and Climate Change Project, Phillippines

Dr Berthold Seibert is a forester and biologist (PhD) and has worked over 30 years in international development cooperation. After assignments in Costa Rica at CATIE and Indonesia at East Kalimantan’s Mulawarman University, he

assumed senior positions in consulting firms, in forestry and conservation. While based in Germany, he has dedicated a considerable period of time to nature conservation projects, through identification, formulation, evaluation as well as implementation, in East and Southeast Asia, South and Central America, and the Maghreb Countries in Africa.

He provided services for most German donor agencies, besides ADB, EU, IDB, World Bank and ITTO.

From 2002 to 2004 he headed the German Cooperation Project on Resources Protection in Sichuan Natural Parks (China). 2004 to 2009 he acted as Project Director in the KfW financed Natural Resources Protection Project in Cape Verde (West Africa). Since 2010 he is Project Director in the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity – GIZ project on Biodiversity and Climate Change in ASEAN countries, based in Los Baños, Philippines. Since 2011 he coordinates the Working Group on Biodiversity and Climate Change in the GIZ Sector Network Rural Development – Asia.

Professor Stephen D. Hopper AC Winthrop Professor of Biodiversity, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, and School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia

Stephen Hopper is an internationally recognised plant conservation biologist who collaborated in the discovery, classification and description of 300 new plant taxa.

He served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority in Perth from 1999 to 2004. In 2006 he became the first non-british Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and led the development of a 10-year Breathing Planet program at Kew Gardens which aims to improve the quality of all life on Earth.

In June 2012 Professor Hopper was made a Companion in the Order of Australia (AC), which is awarded for eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or humanity. Professor Hopper was awarded the honour ‘for eminent service as a global science leader in the field of plant conservation biology, particularly in the delivery of world class research programs contributing to the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems’.

Stephen Hopper has recently returned to Australia to become Winthrop Professor of Biodiversity at The University of Western Australia.

Professor Kingsley Dixon Director of Science, Kings Park and Botanic Garden

Professor Kingsley Dixon, Director of Science at Kings Park and Botanic Garden, has over 26 years experience in researching the ecology and physiology of Australian native plants and ecosystems.

With a focus on an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach, he leads a team of scientists specialising in seed ecology and biology, seedbanking, propagation science, conservation genetics, pollination ecology, and restoration ecology.

Plenary Speakers – Day Two

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Conference Program

Mr Jason Alexandra, Honorary Fellow, Charles Darwin University

Mr Martin Brennan, Chief Executive Officer, ICLEI Oceania

Ms Lindie Buirski, Head of Environmental Capacity, Building, Training and Education, City of Cape Town

Ms Toni Burbidge, Coordinator Environment and Sustainability, Shire of Mundaring

Ms Lara O’Neill, Senior Environmental Project Officer, City of Joondalup

Ms Sharon Clark, Manager Environmental Services, Landcorp

Ms Tamika Cook, Biodiversity Project Officer, City of Salisbury

Mr Huxley Lawler, Executive Coordinator – Environment City Planning, City of Gold Coast

Ms Yvonne Lynch, Team Leader, Urban Landscapes, City of Melbourne

Ms Victoria Maguire, Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement, Perth Region NRM

Mr Widar Narvelo, Municipal Ecologist, Department of Strategic Planning, Helsingborg City

Ms Shela Patrickson, Professional Officer – Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Centre

Mr Grant Pearsell, Director Office of Biodiversity, Urban Planning and Environment Sustainable Development, City of Edmonton

Professor Laura Stocker, Coastal Collaboration Cluster, Curtin University

Dr Jose Bernal Stoopen, Director–General of Zoological Gardens and Wildlife, Mexico City

Dr Caragh Threlfall – Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne

Mr Ray Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Neutral, Western Australia

Ms Renata Zelinova, Local Biodiversity Program Manager, Western Australia Local Government Association

Parallel Speakers

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22


Keynote Speakers – Abstracts

Professor Tim FlanneryThe Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth

Drawing on the ideas from his groundbreaking book The Weathermakers, Tim Flannery presents a straightforward and powerful exploration of the connection between climate change, global warming, and human activity. He has a gift for making complex science understandable for a lay audience, through a deft use of imagery, analogy and common sense. But Flannery does not just tell his audience what is happening

to our planet. He very clearly lays out a game plan for halting current warming trends and beginning the long, but entirely achievable project of reversing the damage we have done. His goal is to mobilise his listeners “both personally and politically” to recognise that we are all “weather makers” and that the only choice, both logically and ethically, is to begin to address this problem before it’s too late.

Mr André MaderCities, Climate Change, Biodiversity and the UN

Dozens of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) exist worldwide, but there are three that are the most high-profile and, arguably, the most important. These are the “sister” United Nations conventions that emerged from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992: The Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. These conventions are intended to guide the actions of the signatory countries towards a more sustainable global future, and their secretariats exist to serve this purpose. The decisions adopted at the regular meetings of the “Conferences of the

Parties” (COPs) to each of the conventions continuously refine this guidance. While they are proposed, debated, and adopted or rejected by national governments, it is mostly at the local and sub-national level that these decisions are implemented. Nevertheless it was only very recently that local governments and sub-national implementation were explicitly addressed in any COP decision. Now that this breakthrough has been made, there is new promise for local governments to positively influence our futures and there is much good work to showcase their potential. There is, however, also much still to be done.

Dr Michael Dunlop Climate-ready Biodiversity Conservation

Climate change has the potential to significantly affect biodiversity in coming decades. We now know many species and ecosystems are likely to be very sensitive to anticipated levels of change in carbon dioxide, temperature, rainfall and fire regimes. In addition, the landscapes where native species and ecosystems are found, both urban and rural, will change in response to climate and other drivers, further affecting biodiversity and how people experience it. In the face of these significant changes, what does it mean to conserve biodiversity? What is achievable? In the face of inevitable change, how might conservation priorities change? What would conservation success look like?

This is a significant question that may take decades to resolve. To prompt this journey, I outline three key issues that will shape how we might need to approach conservation to be ready for a rapidly changing climate: the magnitude of ecological change, uncertainty in the detail of change, and the multiple ways society experiences and benefits from biodiversity. The talk will illustrate how addressing these issues together represents a significant departure from many aspects of current conservation practice. Developing and implementing a climate-ready approach to conservation will require new ecological science, innovation in policy and planning, and considerable debate in the community about how biodiversity is valued.

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Conference Program

Dr Paul Hardisty Valuing Urban Ecosystems in a Changing Climate

A sustainable city. The words conjure up a myriad of images: super-modern public transport delivering people quickly and safely to and from play and work; strong and profitable companies providing long-term employment and a solid tax base; solar arrays and windmills generating cheap and clean energy; bike paths; walkable streets; clean beaches and rivers. But perhaps above all, a sustainable city is a green city.

Urban bushland, trees, green spaces, wetlands, vegetation buffers and coastal and river fringes provide city residents with a host of services that are often taken for granted. Until, that is, they disappear under concrete. A city’s green mantle is its free cooling system, its – shaded streets and homes are generally much cooler in summer, reducing the need for air-conditioning, lowering power bills and reducing emissions. Recent studies by CSIRO have shown that as the climate warms, and extreme heat waves become more common and more pronounced, green, shaded cities are likely to experience significantly lower heat-related mortality rates than those where the trees have been taken out. Green streets are cooler, but they are also quieter (vegetation soaks up and disperses sound waves), more beautiful, and therefore more desirable. Estimates from the economic literature suggest value premiums of between 5% and 40% for urban properties that are close to parks or major bushland reserves. Cities like Melbourne have actually valued their 55,000 street trees as assets. At about $10,000 per mature tree, Melbourne would be about half a billion dollars worse off without them. Green spaces in cities also provide vital water and flood management services, and act as conduits for recharge of local groundwater. They are places for recreation, leisure, contemplation, and spirituality. They are also valuable stores of biodiversity. Recent studies in Perth, Western Australia, suggest that remaining urban native bushland has a 50 year present value of somewhere between $1million and $3million per hectare.

As the climate changes, cities around the world face new challenges. Extreme events such as floods, storm surges, coastal inundation, fire, wind, and heat waves, are all likely to become more frequent and severe. Cities will have to start to adapt to these changes, to become more robust and resilient. Cities buttressed by ample and healthy urban ecosystems and green spaces are better able to cope with heat and intense rainfall. Coastal ecosystems and wetlands attenuate the effects of storms and buffer against flooding. Recent work done in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York, for instance, suggests that communities with intact or significant natural coastal habitats suffered much less, and bounced back more quickly, than those where these natural defences had been built-over.

By recognising and quantifying all of these sources of value (often called externalities, because they cannot be traded in a market, and because they accrue to all of society), and incorporating this value into decision-making, the net benefit of various development proposals can be put into a wider social and environmental context. Often, when this wider set of values is considered, what seems like the cheapest option (clear everything and put up houses, for instance), is revealed to be suboptimal: the proponent may be making a profit, but society is losing overall. In these cases, a broader life-cycle environmental, social and economic analysis might point to other solutions: build up rather than out, reduce density by retaining green corridors and linking major existing parks, intensively develop already-cleared or industrial land, and consider rehabilitating natural bushland on previously developed or degraded sites.

When urban bushland is lost, when city trees are removed, each citizen loses something real and tangible. Replacing the services provided by these natural systems by man-made ones is expensive. As the climate changes, the importance and value of these natural assets grows. Sustainable, climate-resilient cities of the 21st Century, among their many other life-enhancing qualities, are, above all, leafy and green.


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Professor Haripriya Gundimeda Ecosystem Service Valuation for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Human activities have been increasing the annual carbon concentration in the atmosphere at an average rate of 2 ppm, as per the IPCC estimate in 2007. Reversing the trend is a mammoth task which cannot be achieved by focusing on controlling brown-carbon (i.e., emissions from the fossil-fuel use and industrial processes) alone. Incentives aimed at reducing brown-carbon can increase aggregate atmospheric carbon due to leakages. For example, incentives to promote biofuels can result in conversion of forestland into biofuel cropland, which could be a positive net emitter of carbon. The efforts to reduce the aggregate carbon emissions in the atmosphere will not be achieved without managing carbon losses from the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Terrestrial ecosystems can be sustainably managed for improved conservation and carbon stock enhancement. In addition, these ecosystems also deliver many other benefits, which are highly valuable to society. These ecosystems provide us provisioning services, regulating services, supporting and cultural services, which benefit the humans.

Thus, investments in biodiversity and services provided by terrestrial ecosystems along with providing significant benefits could contribute significantly and cost-effectively to climate change mitigation in comparison to alternate carbon mitigation measures. Recognising, demonstrating and capturing the value of various ecosystem services and the benefits that they provide to human well-being is a first step to protect the natural resources as illustrated by TEEB report. As we cannot manage what we cannot measure, we need to have effective tools and indicators to measure and manage our ecosystems. These have to be integrated into policy making at different levels. Some of the ways through which ecosystems can be integrated with climate change mitigation efforts are through payment for ecosystem services, REDD plus, Access to Benefit sharing, Eco-certification schemes, no-net biodiversity loss, biodiversity offsets etc. There is a very strong role of international, national, sub-national, local authorities, public private partnerships and private sectors in mobilising finances to achieve this goal.

Dr Åsa Gren Global Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystems – Challenges and Opportunities Cities and Biodiversity Outlook – Scientific Analyses and Assessments

Dr Åsa Gren is the coordinating lead author of one of the core chapters of the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook’s E- book, Global Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystems – Challenges and Opportunities Cities and Biodiversity Outlook – Scientific Analyses and Assessments.

The presentation will include a broad overview of the conclusions of the assessment and stress the point that in order to meet the challenges of climate change, one must also include the effects of other drivers of change, such as population increase, urbanisation and land use change.

The presentation will also include specific examples of how one can go about actually quantifying and valuing complex and complicated parameters such as biodiversity and resilience in a sustainable urban development context.

The issue of building resilience is key in preparing for future change in major drivers such as climate change and changes in global market prices. But how can one do that in practice?


25

Conference Program

Professor Bruce ClarksonBringing Indigenous Biodiversity back into Hamilton and other New Zealand Cities

New Zealand’s 20 largest urban centres vary considerably in terms of their extant indigenous biodiversity resource in the built up matrix (<1% to 9% cove-+catchment scale ecosystem processes and function are restored. Further, a convergence of many skills including engineering, landscape architecture, aboriculture, horticulture and ecology is needed to undertake

successful restoration in city environments. Examples will be drawn from Hamilton and other North Island cities to illustrate how coordination, convergence and integration can assist in bringing indigenous nature back into the city and reconnecting urban dwellers with their natural heritage.

Dr Debra Roberts Using Biodiversity to Build a Climate Smart City: the Story of Durban, South Africa

Durban is well known internationally for the development of its Municipal Climate Protection Program, and is one of the few cities around the world to have shown a strong and early focus on climate change adaptation. Durban is also located in one of the world’s 34 global diversity hotspots. This offers the city a significant opportunity to increase its adaptive capacity through the protection, restoration and management of local level biodiversity, while also generating co-benefits such as capacity building, poverty alleviation and job creation. The

importance of ecosystem based adaptation is highlighted in the Durban Adaptation Charter signed by 107 mayors representing 950 local governments at the local government convention held at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s COP17/CMP7 in Durban in 2011. The ecosystem based adaptation work being undertaken by eThekwini Municipality will be discussed during this presentation and lessons learned highlighted.


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Ms Anissa LawrenceBlue Carbon: Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change by Conserving Coastal Ecosystems

Coastal ecosystems, in particular seagrass, tidal salt marsh and mangroves collectively referred to as blue carbon sinks, sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere at rates much higher than those of terrestrial ecosystems such as tropical forests. In addition they provide invaluable ecosystem services to build the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities against climate change as well as a range of other environmental, economic and social benefits. The Asia Pacific region, in particular the Coral Triangle region of southeast Asia contains the majority of the world’s mangroves and seagrass and there is growing interest in the role of these ecosystems in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. The carbon storage and sequestration potential of these coastal ecosystems provides an opportunity to

strengthen socio-economic resilience of coastal communities, avoid significant emissions from ecosystem degradation, while also supporting existing wetland conservation efforts. Protection and restoration of blue carbon sinks is an ecosystem based approach to climate change adaptation that offers financing opportunities that would accomplish both resilience building in coastal communities while also contributing to the global reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This presentation provides an overview of global initiatives underway, the current state of science, laws and policy and future opportunities for management of coastal ecosystems, providing case studies from Australia and the Coral Triangle.

Professor Lei YangThe Concept of “Blue Carbon” Applied in Carbon Sequestration by the Coastal Wetland Parks in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Kaohsiung City is the second largest city in Taiwan with population of 2.8million, which is mostly concentrated within the metropolitan area with population density of 10,000 persons/Km2. In addition, Kaohsiung City is also an industrial and harbour city. Kaohsiung Port is the largest port in Taiwan. Twenty years ago, the citizens of Kaohsiung City still suffered from bad water and air quality because so many manufactories were built in this industrial city. However, ten years ago the city government decided to get rid of the notoriety of “pollution city”, and began to devote itself to developing an eco-environment and shaping the greatest area of green space of any city in Taiwan to let the city be reborn from an industrial city to an eco-city.

To achieve this goal, the Koahsiung City Government proposed a master plan of constructing wetland parks for greening the city. Since 2000, the first wetland of Niaosong Wetland Park has been completed, up to now there are eighteen wetlands established in the city exceeding 900 hectares, which includes many diverse landscapes. These wetlands can be sorted into coastal and inland types, referring to their geographic locations, as well as natural or artificial types, referring to their formations. The concept of “Blue Carbon” refers to carbon and its related compounds in the

marine environment including oceanic water body, seabed, and vegetated coastal habitats (wetlands), e.g. mangrove forests, salt-marshes and seagrass meadows. Thus, the “Blue Carbon” mechanism may let the coastal wetlands play a role as carbon sinks through carbon sequestration by both vegetation and sediments in wetlands. Several studies have proved that the coastal wetland systems can function as a carbon sink by measuring their balance of sorption and emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and Nitrous oxide (N2O). In this report, several salt water type wetlands, including one inland tidal wetland (Jhongdou Wetland) and four coastal wetlands (Cieding Wetland, Yongan Wetland, Yuanjhong Harbour Wetland, and Linyuan Marine Wetland), of the eighteen wetlands in Kaohsiung City mentioned previously were studied for their carbon sink effects through measuring their ability of carbon sequestration based on the concept of “Blue Carbon”.

According to the measuring results, it was concluded that the four wetlands located in the coastal areas of Kaohsiung City showed significant carbon sink effects, while the inland tidal wetland exhibits negative effects, which might be due to less dilution effects from tidal river water connecting the wetland. Further studies are required.


27

Conference Program

Mr Craig AndersonRestoring Biodiversity through Corporate and Community Partnerships

Greening Australia is the nation’s largest environmental NGO and has been actively engaged in the restoration of critical Australian landscapes for over 30 years. The primary mandate of the not-for-profit charity is to engage the broader community in the recognition of the loss of critical habitats and to assist in the restoration of these landscapes.

The critical success path of achieving these objectives is through effective and efficient engagement of local community and local businesses. Land care has long been the mantra of tireless landowners and farmers who have toiled away for decades restoring and caring for their land.

The increasing mantra of corporate social responsibility has resulted in businesses taking a far greater interest in the health of the environment and the well-being of their employees. This initiative can be highly leveraged to achieve critical environmental outcomes that benefit social and financial outcomes for organisations and communities.

The presentation will highlight some of the effective mechanisms that have been used to foster corporate and community engagement in landscape restoration and examples of effective programs achieved.

Dr Berthold Seibert Global Partnerships in Biodiversity Conservation from a Regional Perspective The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity( ACB) – Reflections on three years with the Biodiversity and Climate Change Project

The paper presents an ongoing process of developing a young regional government organisation, operating in the interface between Biodiversity proper, the major drivers of biodiversity loss, and the pathway towards effective conservation of ecosystems and species. The globalisation of finances and markets, the global effects of climate change and the global sustainable development agenda from Rio’92 on through the Millennium Challenge, the Climate and the Biodiversity negotiations to Rio +20 have created a niche and a market for regional intermediaries between national and global agendas on sustainable development in a wider sense.

While such intermediaries exist in all continents in the green sector mainly on food security, regional intergovernmental organisations adressing conservation and the related policy agenda are scarce. One of the few, and most probably the best consolidated though young of these organisations is ACB, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, an organisation of the ASEAN.

Its mandate – see also on www.aseanbiodiversity.org – can simply be described as “Getting the message across”. Having

a mandate is not enough, though, to run an organisation. Securing sufficient qualified staff to address the international agenda while maintaining the support for member states is a constant challenge, as is sustainable financing. The sector where ACB operates requires a frequent re-strategising in the interface between science/knowledge and policy/development agenda in member states, ASEAN and on a global level.

The “ASEAN Charter” is supportive of a “Roadmap for an ASEAN Community 2009-2015”, but at the same time, ASEAN Member States’ policies are driven by national rather than regional or global considerations. In this environment, the Programme “German Cooperation with ACB” pursues several strategies to strengthen ACB’s mandate, like its active participation in global biodiversity partnerships and link them to the ASEAN region. Besides capacity building and training on ACB’s and Member States’ level, pilot project implementation on the ground aims at providing best cases for biodiversity conservation in the region, and to increasingly enable ACB to act as a facilitator between the global conservation agenda and the ASEAN members state’s needs.


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Professor Stephen D. Hopper AC Plant Diversity, Granite Outcrops, Cities, and Climate Mitigation – Global Research and Prospects

An estimated 400,000 species of plants occur on Earth, of which approximately 360,000 have been scientifically named, and 80,000 are threatened. Plant diversity is unevenly spread, being richest in the tropics and in the five temperate regions with a Mediterranean climate. Cities like Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Perth have exceptional plant diversity, and a major role to play in city-based biodiversity conservation in a warming world. Destruction of wild biodiversity for development of cities has now overtaken land clearing for agriculture as a major conservation threat. This has to stop if the worst aspects of global warming are to be averted, and be reversed through innovative programs that reintroduce and restore native biodiversity to cities. Granite outcrops are tough environments full of microhabitats mirroring those in cities.

Plants on outcrops are playing an increasing role in green roof and green wall developments. Cities such as Singapore have led the way in terms of greening urban habitats in the tropics. Perth and Cape Town could do even better for temperate city developments. Positive conservation and use of plant diversity in cities offers a message of hope in the search for successful mitigation strategies to counter global warming. There is urgency and wisdom in greening cities soon in a rapidly changing world, and great conservation benefits if native biodiversity is mainstreamed in such ventures.


• Environmental approvals

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Email: [email protected]

www.naturalareaconsulting.com.au

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Conference Program

Mr Jason AlexandraBiodiverse Mega Cities – A Design Brief

A fundamental question facing humanity is how do we sustain humans and other species (biodiversity) given that the world operates as one vast interconnected system that relentlessly exploits natural resources. This presentation outlines a design brief for biodiverse cities - an overstated situation analysis framing the context is followed by an indication of prospective areas for solutions development and deployment.

The modern world functions as a giant global city with over 4billion people - this unprecedented empire of consumption is linked by transport networks moving materials, goods and peoples on a scale unparalleled in human history. Flotillas of ships, countless trucks and trains and squadrons of airplanes criss-cross the planet. Everyday huge numbers of people move. Millions of motor vehicles deliver the armies of commuters needed to sustain commerce and the institutions of state. A vast global hinterland supplies food, fibre, water and raw materials. Armies of machines reshape the face of the earth – building, mining, farming etc - while millions of pumps and cascades of dams remodel the hydrology of the world’s rivers, catchments and aquifers. Fleets of trawlers dredge the oceans to supply the city’s insatiable desire for seafood.

A global biodiversity and extinction crisis is unfolding due to the cumulative impacts of the cities’ relentless appetites and technological prowess. A range of shocks could accelerate this crisis including the unfolding climate chaos with intensifying droughts in the mid latitudes and devastating monsoonal floods in the tropics.

During the 20th century, the world population tripled, water use increased six-fold and the area devoted to agriculture escalated. Technology, consumption patterns and growth in population delivered unprecedented rates of change to global systems. Humans became the world’s dominant evolutionary force. The 21st century is the “Anthropocene”.

Therefore, as citizens of the Anthropocene we must accept our new responsibilities for looking after both human needs and the planetary life support systems including biodiversity. We must learn how to “garden” the planet out of self-interest and to sustain culture and nature. We need the “global city” to function and thrive while transitioning it to a system that can:

1. Conserve and enhance biodiversity and sustain critical ecosystem services.

2. Supply 9billion people’s needs for food and resources.

3. Operate after the end of cheap fossil energy and the decarbonising of the economy (eg. reduce emissions and increase sequestration).

4. Adapt to climatic chaos unprecedented since the birth of agriculture.

The following are suggested as possible directions:

1. Mobilise global interest and resources towards biodiverse cities, both within the cities’ precincts and through their functional relationships –eg. supply chains.

2. Celebrate nature and incorporate biodiversity conservation as a priority into the physical and cultural fabric of the city.

3. Innovate the innovation systems - unleash human creativity in all its forms, especially in the design or sustainability sciences that can help reshape cities and civilisations.

4. Develop “green” design solutions in urban planning, water and energy infrastructure, building and manufacturing.

5. Support urban food gardens and peri-urban farming, that is diverse and uses a design based approach to maximising synergistic benefits.

6. Unleash a global program of eco restoration, reafforestation and permaculture.

Parallel Speakers – Abstracts

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Ms Victoria Maguire and Ms Toni BurbidgePartnerships to Enhance Biodiversity – What We Do and Who We Do It With

Ever wondered how successful biodiversity projects are created, steering groups formed, performance criteria met, smiling volunteers involved, and strategic plans objectives fulfilled? Well this presentation will take a look behind the scenes at Perth Region NRM (PRNRM) and their partnerships to provide insight into what they do and who they do it with. PRNRM is an independent not-for-profit organisation who assist in establishing partnerships to coordinate a range of natural resource management projects across the Swan Region of Western Australia. They bring together people of diverse interests, expertise and experience to help deliver positive biodiversity outcomes. Biodiversity is one of PRNRM’s five project themes which aim to conserve and enhance the terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity as well as habitat of all native species.

The Eastern Catchment Management Plan Project is a partnership between Shire of Mundaring, Shire of Kalamunda,

East Metropolitan Regional Council, Swan River Trust, Perth Region NRM and local Friends of and Catchment Groups. It is a project that focusses on the history, present and future of catchment management in the Eastern Perth Region. It brings together partnerships between local, regional, state government and the community to provide a clear vision for biodiversity management in the Eastern Catchments. With a diverse and active community network of over 130 friends groups, four catchment groups, 1,700 volunteers contributing over 30,000 volunteer hours per annum, why wouldn’t local, regional, state government and Perth Region NRM need a framework and implementation plan for the next 10 years in catchment management?

Yes there are organisations that partner every day to enhance biodiversity. This presentation focuses on the bigger picture on what’s being done and who with and you might just see that from a small seed, big things grow.

Ms Yvonne LynchRedesigning our Cities as Ecosystem Service Centres in a Challenging Climate: the City of Melbourne Experience

Melbourne’s environment is facing many challenges: population growth and intensification, urban heating, climate change alongside the decline and loss of green infrastructure. The cumulative impact of these is creating less healthy urban environments with diminishing quality of city life and ecosystem services provision.

How do we respond to these challenges whilst increasing the resilience of our public realm and creating a legacy for future generations? Is it possible to rethink the way we design our cities to position ecosystem services provision as central? Can we equate the importance of green infrastructure with the critical city status we have traditionally imbued upon grey infrastructure? Can we shift from a focus on biodiversity conservation to a focus on creation?

This presentation will outline how City of Melbourne is embracing a multidisciplinary approach to responding to these challenges and how a move towards nature sensitive urban design is seeking to support ecosystem service provision and position green infrastructure and integrated water management as a critical to city development.

It will detail a response that seeks to transform Melbourne’s urban landscapes with ambitious city targets for green infrastructure development to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts. It will focus on a range of current projects including green roofs, urban forest development, integrated water management, stormwater harvesting, green space provision and connectivity, temporary parks and permeability expansion.

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Conference Program

Ms Lindie BuirskiPractical Tools to Evaluate Biodiversity Communication Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) Projects and Programs

The City of Cape Town was one of the 21 pioneering local governments to pilot the Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Pioneer Project. Many of the original LAB Pioneers, including the City of Cape Town, have been focussing on the important role of biodiversity Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) in Local Action for Biodiversity, also in the context of climate change. The first step was an assessment of these local authorities’ CEPA activities. The City of Cape Town’s initial assessment illustrated that while many education and awareness activities have been completed and are underway, there is a critical need to understand how targeted, appropriate and successful they are. Have the CEPA activities resulted in changes in understanding of biodiversity and climate change, and changes in behaviour?

One of ICLEI’s priorities is to provide tools and resources for local governments, share knowledge and build capacity. Partners concluded that an evaluation tool that is internationally relevant to CEPA activities will fill a critical gap. There is a need for a resource to assist not only local

governments but also NGOs and others to design, implement, monitor and evaluate their CEPA projects, programmes and resources, making use of evaluation methods and indicators that are appropriate for the complex processes, and longer term, open ended outcomes involved in awareness raising, environmental education and social change. ICLEI and the City of Cape Town therefore invested in the development of such a resource.

The resultant resource provides a wider range of case studies from South Africa, Brazil, Canada and Japan, and guidelines for implementation, with a specific focus on indicators suitable for biodiversity CEPA activities. A particular innovation in the new toolkit is the integration of a systems approach to CEPA and evaluation, combined with the logical planning framework which is more commonly used in donor funded projects around the SADC region. The presentation will introduce the toolkit and how to use it in planning to conduct an evaluation of your biodiversity CEPA activities. In the process, you will also help us to further develop the resource.

Mr Ray WilsonEnhancing Local Biodiversity through Reforestation Carbon Sinks

Native biodiversity in Australia is particularly vulnerable to agricultural intensification and urban development. Biodiversity decline is regarded as one of the megatrends that could severely impact Australia over the coming decades. The low carbon economy and development of voluntary and compliance markets that support bio-sequestration of carbon could bring about land use change that could significantly improve retention of native biodiversity in Australian agricultural landscapes.

As well as removing carbon from the atmosphere, biodiverse tree plantings provide environmental co-benefits by addressing land conservation issues including soil erosion, water logging, salinisation and habitat loss for native birds and

fauna. Such projects vastly improve the aesthetics of the area being planted and help showcase Australia’s commitment to positive environmental change, both at a local and international level.

Carbon Neutral has developed over 100 carbon reforestation sink projects. These are supported by a loyal and diverse client base keen to improve the environment by offsetting their carbon emissions and addressing land degradation through tree planting. Key technical, financial, legal, marketing, and stakeholder engagement challenges are outlined, with lessons learnt providing opportunities for the development of Urban Forest Offsets.


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Ms Shela Patrickson and Mr Martin BrennanICLEI’s Local Action for Biodiversity - Australia (LAB - Australia): Strengthening Local and National Connections

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, in partnership with Western Australian Local Governments Association (WALGA), and with support from the City of Joondalup, is proposing an Australian-wide local government programme focussed on enhancing biodiversity conservation at the local government level. LAB-Australia is founded on ICLEI’s flagship international Local Action for Biodiversity programme, but is tailored to the Australian context, including the needs at the local level, and aligning with the biodiversity objectives at the national level. At the heart of this initiative is strengthening the alignment between local and national biodiversity and ecosystem

management, supporting the international decisions made at previous Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (CBD COPs), which were ratified by all the CBD signatories, including Australia. The mechanism for implementing LAB-Australia is through the creation of Local Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (LBSAPs) and making the links with local planning structures at the regional level through the Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions. This presentation will outline the proposal, and then encourage discussion and comments from the audience to fine-tune the details of implementation.

Ms Renata ZelinovaTools Supporting Local Biodiversity Conservation in the South West Of Western Australia

Since 2001, the Western Australian Local Government Association’s Biodiversity Projects have been developing decision support tools and providing spatial information to encourage strategic consideration of biodiversity locally.

In Western Australia, the State Government has been distinguishing between regionally and locally significant areas for biodiversity conservation since 1995. However, it was not until the release of the Local Government Biodiversity Planning Guidelines for the Perth Metropolitan Region that a methodology for identifying and prioritising locally significant natural areas was available. The Guidelines, developed by the Perth Biodiversity Project, include local natural area prioritisation criteria, templates and step-by-step methodology for the development of Local Biodiversity Strategies. While facilitating consistent and rigorous prioritisation process, the Guidelines and the Project services provide for the different capacities of Local Governments.

The adaptability of the local biodiversity conservation planning to other regions of Western Australia have been demonstrated through the work of the South West Biodiversity Project and through the latest expansion of local biodiversity conservation planning to other regional centres experiencing development pressures such as Geraldton and Albany.

The support provided to Local Governments facilitates the development of Local Biodiversity Strategies and their implementation through integration with local land use planning, strategic planning for local reserve management and community engagement. This is through the provision of most up to date information on native vegetation status at regional and local scale, technical advice and mapping services, including the delivery of an on-line mapping viewer with interpreted environmental information. The mapping viewer has been designed to improve efficiency in consideration of biodiversity matters and cross boundary issues such as landscape connectivity in local land use planning.

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Conference Program

Professor Laura StockerOpportunities to Enhance Biodiversity in Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change

Where it is considered at all, coastal adaptation to sea level rise is typically viewed as a task for planners and engineers, not community. The governance and management emphases have been very much on how we can prevent negative impacts of coastal erosion and storm surge on the built environment and infrastructure, with much less emphasis on biodiversity protection. In WA, the newly revised and gazetted State Coastal Planning Policy (SPP2.6) does seek to create important opportunities for protecting biodiversity through important measures such as the coastal foreshore reserves. However, here I suggest that we can go further with biodiversity protection by embedding coastal adaptation in a broader more engaged approach at a local government level, so local governments can make coastal adaptation a process that enhances the biodiversity of our coastlines. The principles of this approach are:

• Learn from Indigenous stories: explore how the shorelines and ecosystems have changed over the last ice age and subsequent warming period.

• Use a sustainability framework: equally consider ecological, social, cultural and economic dimensions.

• Think long-term about strategy and resilience: identify how ecosystems contribute to the resilience of coastal communities and how ecosystems are threatened by sea level rise.

• Engage inclusively to enhance community learning, literacy and capacity: enable the whole local community to better understand the place of biodiversity protection in coastal adaptation to climate change.

• Work with community champions: support existing coastal groups and spokespeople to promote appreciation of coastal biodiversity and its vulnerability to climate change.

• Enable community monitoring and coastal sustainability report cards: support locals to be involved in biodiversity monitoring within a structured methodology that will improve management.

• Support community art and cultural development: create cultural opportunities for community to celebrate coastal biodiversity and reflect on its vulnerability to climate change.

• Develop partnerships and boundary processes: enhance the sharing of coastal biodiversity information, resources and ideas across challenging science-policy boundaries.

• Use SPP2.6 to its fullest capacity to protect biodiversity: embed policy in town planning guidelines.

• Mitigate to adapt: protect biodiversity by reducing CO2 emissions.


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Dr Caragh ThrelfallIncreasing Biodiversity Habitat Using Urban Green Infrastructure

Urbanisation causes the destruction and degradation of remnant vegetation that provides habitat to a wide array of biodiversity. A proactive way of overcoming the shortage of remnant habitats in urban areas is to increase the habitat value of the green infrastructure present in cities. Urban Green Infrastructure is the network of designed and natural vegetation found in our cities and towns which provides many vital ecosystem services that sustain and enrich the quality of life. It includes public parks, recreation areas, residential gardens and street trees, as well as innovative new urban greening technologies such as rain gardens, green roofs and green walls. We have been investigating how green infrastructure can provide biodiversity habitat at a variety of scales.

Golf courses are large areas of green space but are not managed specifically for biodiversity. We surveyed the biodiversity and vegetation structure of golf courses in southeast Melbourne and compared them to surrounding residential areas and parks. Across the green space network investigated, we recorded 19 species of bees, 95 species of bugs, 106 species of birds and 10 bat species. Overall we found that golf courses and residential areas supported diverse insect communities, however golf courses were observed, on average, to support a greater diversity of bugs

than residential areas, and a different community of native bees. We observed almost twice as many bird species and twice as much bird breeding activity in golf courses than in surrounding residential landscapes. Golf courses also had a higher proportion of course woody debris and hollow bearing-trees, and had greater vegetation structural complexity in comparison to surrounding residential areas. These results suggest that simple interventions such as reduced mowing and providing key nesting structures such as dead wood or logs on the ground can allow certain groups of biodiversity to persist in these urban green spaces.

Green roofs are systems of drainage layers and light-weight substrates engineered to support the growth of plants on buildings. Because roofs are a harsh environment for plant growth due to shallow substrates and high levels of solar radiation and evaporation they are typically planted with a limited suite of succulent plants that may have little habitat value for biodiversity. We have helped to develop green roofs planted with a range of drought tolerant native grassland species and are surveying them to determine their value as invertebrate habitat. It is hoped that by increasing the habitat value of both large and small green infrastructure elements cities can support a greater range of biodiversity.

Mrs Lara O’NeillConserving Urban Wetlands through Community Involvement

Environmental management is a key role of local government and, while the responsibility is shared with other spheres of government, the City of Joondalup implements many programs, policies and strategies in partnership with stakeholders and the community, to ensure the long term protection of the local environment.

As a co-manager of Yellagonga Regional Park, a wetland region of high conservation significance, the City of Joondalup developed in partnership with key regional stakeholders, the Yellagonga Integrated Catchment Management Plan. The Plan establishes a coordinated approach towards sustainable planning and management of resources within the Yellagonga Catchment and includes a number of projects to address key threats and increase the health of the wetland area.

A key focus of the Plan is to raise community awareness of the biodiversity values of the Yellagonga Wetlands while encouraging participation and partnerships. To achieve this the City developed the Yellagonga Community Awareness Program, an ongoing environmental education program that incorporates a range of education and eco-tourism initiatives that address key environmental issues and facilitate greater environmental stewardship of the Yellagonga Catchment Area, within the community.

Lara O’Neill, Senior Environmental Project Officer will discuss the components of the Yellagonga Community Awareness Program and the outcomes that have been achieved through the implementation of the Yellagonga Integrated Catchment Management Plan.

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Conference Program

Mr Huxley LawlerCity of Gold Coast: Balancing Conservation Outcomes

The City of Gold Coast is Australia’s largest coastal council, situated at the northern extent of temperate and southern extent of tropical zones. It is one of Australia’s most biodiverse cities with 604 fauna and 1,672 flora species, including 146 threatened species, and 75 vegetation communities.

With a population of 560,000 people anticipated to increase to 800,000 by 2031, the delicate balance between development, economic growth and biodiversity is a constant challenge. Huxley will discuss the evolution of the City’s 16-year old Nature Conservation Strategy, now in it’s second generation,

and how strategic ecological corridors were established across altitudinal gradients from the coast to the elevated hinterland, providing both migration pathways for species likely to be impacted by projected climate variability and opportunities to secure vulnerable vegetation communities.

Huxley will also provide a brief overview of the East Coomera Koala Conservation Project, a scientific research project conducted by Council on the translocation of Koalas (a Federally listed species in Queensland) from areas committed to development to conservation estate.

Mr Widar NarveloManagement of Biodiversity in Helsingborg, Sweden: Key Factors for Mainstreaming

The presentation will discuss some of the primary mechanisms that Helsingborg has used to mainstream biodiversity into city management.

Topics covered will include legislation, plans and projects, and some examples that have been successful in the City of Helsingborg. It is a rather complex and long history for the holistic approach in planning. Some key factors starts with the historical national love of nature, highly engaged employees and a rather strong legislation.

Ms Tamika CookIntegration of Biodiversity into the Urban Landscape – City of Salisbury Biodiversity Corridors

The City of Salisbury Council is located 25 kilometres North of Adelaide and occupies an area of 161 square kilometres extending from the shores of Gulf St Vincent to the Para Escarpment within the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The population is 130,000 people, and in 2009, recorded the largest growth of any local government area in the Adelaide Metropolitan region. To ameliorate urban infill and climate change pressures on Biodiversity, the City of Salisbury developed a Biodiversity Corridors Management Plan, which was endorsed by Council in early 2010. The Plan identifies five corridors within the City, within which we are trying to mimic pre-European grassy woodland ecosystems.

The Plan takes into account many other factors such as fire safety requirements, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles (CPTED), riparian vegetation management and an increased community engagement and awareness. The Biodiversity team has been working hard to implement

the first stage of this Plan, which saw the direct seeding of 9 hectares of grasses along a riparian corridor one year ago. This has also seen 18 months of site preparation of this area, and two seed production areas established so that the City of Salisbury can grow and harvest all of their own seed required to implement the Plan, rather than sourcing seed elsewhere, which could be more costly, time consuming and not of local provenance.

As a ‘sister’ document to the Biodiversity Corridors Management Plan, the City of Salisbury also developed a Watercourse Management Plan last year which, aims to use natural watercourse design and management to control erosion. Last year, the City of Salisbury trialled, with great concept, the concept of ‘Living Bags’, essentially hessian sandbags with aquatics planted into them, where eventually the roots of these plants will grow through the bags to stabilise the soil and banks on which they are installed.


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Ms Sharon ClarkIntegrating the Built Environment with the Natural

As the Western Australian State Government’s land development agency, LandCorp is responsible for helping secure economic and social prosperity for all Western Australians. This means developing suitable industrial, commercial and residential land for development in both urban and regional areas across the State.

Presently, LandCorp is implementing 180 projects. Each project is located in its own environmental setting. In implementing its projects, LandCorp seeks to minimise its impact on the natural environment. This presentation provides urban, and regional examples of where LandCorp has designed developments to protect, and in some instances enhance, the natural environment.

Mr Grant PearsellCollaboration and Integration in Edmonton, Canada: Biodiversity Planning and Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA)

Edmonton, Alberta in western Canada, has a long history of nature conservation and over decades has created the largest municipally owned park in Canada with much of the park conserved in a natural state. In addition, the City has protected over 70 smaller natural areas throughout the community.

This presentation will give an overview of the City of Edmonton’s Master Naturalist Program.

This program is a learn and serve program that partners City staff with community leaders to teach citizens how to lead new biodiversity projects in our community. This program has proved to be a powerful vehicle to communicate the City’s biodiversity goals and to connect with our community’s strengths and values to create a better community.

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Conference Program

Dr. José Bernal StoopenIntegration of Biodiversity into the Urban Landscape in Mexico City

Local authorities have a crucial role in biodiversity conservation. Sub-national and local governments represent the sphere of government closest to the people. Local authorities usually transform policies into action and have a strong impact on biodiversity conservation especially when cities are home to more than 50% of the world population and utilise 75% of the resources used by humans in the world. In fact, Cities, have strong dependence on ecosystems to support food, water and many other key resources.

Mexico City signed the esteemed Durban Commitment in 2010 and started participating in the Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Program, coordinated by the ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. Mexico City also participates actively in the Global Partnership for Local and Subnational Action Advisory Committee, established by the Convention Biological Diversity (CBD).

Through the LAB Program, Mexico City has completed for the first time a Biodiversity Report (BR). More than 50 specialists participated in this process coordinated by the General Director of Zoological Parks and Wildlife and the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO). This biodiversity diagnosis, integrates key information about the richness and status of the main components of biodiversity.

Through this same international initiative, Mexico City has also produced a Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (LBSAP). This document represents the action plan to be implemented by Mexico City to conserve its biodiversity. This strategy and action plan has the main following five objectives:

1. To protect and conserve the three levels of biodiversity.

2. To promote the social, cultural and economic value of biodiversity.

3. To consolidate an effective system of law enforcement for the protection of biodiversity.

4. To develop a local, national and international first level policy on biodiversity.

5. To promote the sustainable use of biodiversity in Mexico City.

Mexico City will formalise as a priority action, a Biodiversity Intersectorial Committee with the participation of more than 10 key local government agencies. We will also establish an Advisory Citizen Biodiversity Committee, with the participation of specialists, advocates, developers and citizens. Through the establishment and operation of these Committees, we will be able to start enforcing biodiversity as a key element for the urban landscape planning and development in Mexico City.


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As the second largest local government, by population, in Western Australia, the City of Joondalup is responsible for the management of a diverse number of natural environments.

With over 300 diverse natural areas and public open spaces that support a range of unique plants and animals, the City of Joondalup is committed to working in partnership with stakeholders and the community, to ensure the long-term protection of the environment for future generations.

The City of Joondalup takes a coordinated, proactive and holistic approach to planning and delivering various programs and adopting policies towards achieving improved biodiversity outcomes and this innovative approach to environmental management has been recognised locally, nationally and internationally as best practice.

Environmental Management in the City

joondalup.wa.gov.au

T: 08 9400 4000 F: 08 9300 1383 Boas Avenue Joondalup WA 6027 PO Box 21 Joondalup WA 6919

joondalup.wa.gov.au

This document is available in alternate formats upon request. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

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The City of Joondalup would like to acknowledge its sponsors and partners for their contribution to the 2013 International BiodiverCities Conference.

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