This thesis investigated the development of the Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA Standard), which is a new approach to identifying important sites for biodiversity. Key Biodiversity Areas are defined as sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. The KBA Standard was developed through a global stakeholder engagement process convened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IUCN Task Force). The engagement process included four main components: (i) technical workshops with subject experts; (ii) interviews and an online questionnaire with end-users; (iii) regional events with additional interested stakeholders; and (iv) an open online consultation where stakeholders were invited to review the draft KBA Standard. The aim of this thesis was to use an action research approach to work with the IUCN Task Force to analyse the end-user component of the global stakeholder engagement process. End-users were defined during the engagement process as those who lead or influence decision-making processes linked to mechanisms that secure biodiversity or that avoid biodiversity loss. The main objectives of this research were to: (i) clarify the purpose of engaging end-users by examining the use of normative, instrumental, and substantive rationales; (ii) use mixed methods to gain an understanding of end-users’ needs and concerns; (iii) categorise and analyse end-users’ needs and concerns by sector and region; (iv) assess the end-user engagement process through a summative evaluation; (v) examine how end-user input was used to inform the development of the KBA Standard; and (vi) develop a set of recommendations related to global end-user engagement practice. The analysis indicated that the IUCN Task Force used a blend of instrumental and substantive rationales to justify engaging end-users. Five main categories of end-user needs and concerns emerged from the analysis of the qualitative interview data: (i) the need for communication and local stakeholder engagement; (ii) the potential for the KBA Standard to either complement or conflict with existing approaches; (iii) the need for clarity regarding the scale at which KBAs can be identified (i.e. global, regional, and/or national); (iv) concerns about the implementation of the KBA Standard, including data availability, timeliness, and resources; and (v) comments about how KBAs inform decision-making, including management options, sustainable use, and prioritisation. These topics were examined in depth through the qualitative interviews and in breadth through the quantitative questionnaire. The results demonstrate a high level of convergence in opinion on many topics; however, four topics resulted in a divergence in opinion between end-users, including: (i) the scale at which KBAs are identified; (ii) the prioritisation of KBAs over other areas; (iii) whether KBA data should be made freely available; and (iv) whether development activities should be permitted in KBAs. These areas of divergence were analysed further by categorising end-user questionnaire responses by sector and region. The results have important implications for how end-users are identified, categorised, and engaged and highlight the complex and individual nature of end-users’ needs and concerns. The summative evaluation analysed the purpose, process, outputs, and outcomes against a typology of engagement and principles of good practice for international standard setting to reflect upon how end-users’ needs and concerns were integrated into the development of the KBA Standard. This indicated both the strengths and weaknesses of the engagement approaches used and informed the development of 11 recommendations to inform future similar processes. This thesis ultimately helps to bridge the gap between stakeholder engagement theory and practice and provides insight into the challenges and benefits of using a mixed methods action research approach to investigate a global stakeholder engagement process.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:54:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AnaCPO_DISSERT.pdf: 970919 bytes, checksum: 10654bf99e2119dae47a190c7278a096 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-21 / Studies on Brazilian biodiversity are still very few and can observe the difference of knowledge between the different regions of the country. This affirmation can be verified in the investigation to identify the rare species in Brazil and the key biodiversity areas (ACBs). In that study were identified for Brasil 2.256 rare species and 752 ACBs. The Rio Grande do Norte (RN) was the only Brazilian state that has not been identified any rare species and no ACBs, possibly due to the lack of floristic studies in this state. A particular area was selected for this study: an area of ecological tension with savanna physiognomy in Rio do Fogo, RN. This savanna community is represented in RN in a fragment and immersed in restinga and caatinga and was identified and described only through of radar imagens there are no studies to date in loco . We have prepared the following questions about this community savanna: 1) The region delimited and described by through of radar images by the RADAMBRASIL, 1976, can be associated of the Cerrado, in terms of floristic ?; 2) What is the floristic composition of this area? This area includes rare species, endemic or endangered? 3) What is the geographical and phytogeographical distribution of plant species registered in this area? 4) Those plant species registered are endemic or have affinity with other areas phytoecological Brazilian? To answer these questions we performed a floristic inventory of the August 2007 to September/2009. The results are presented in two chapters (manuscripts). The first chapter, titled "The Savannah Rio Grande do Norte: floristic links with other plant formations in the Northeast and Center-West Brazil" was submitted to the Revista Brasileira de Bot?ncia. Chapter 1 discusses the phytogeographical distribution of the species, by comparing floristic studies conducted in the Cerrado, Caatinga and Restinga in the Northeast and Cerrado of the Central Brazil. The analysis of data of this study and compilation with other studies indicated that: i) the record of 94 plant species; ii) of total species, about 64% are associated with the Cerrado, the second specialized bibliography, and about 78% as the List of Species of Flora of Brazil. However, about 73% of total species (94) are also distributed in the Caatinga, the Atlantic forest 64%, the Amazon forest 64%, the Pantanal 15% and the Pampa 12%. Floristically the data show that the community studied is influenced by other floras, has a structure where grasses dominate and also because of his appearance the same savanna then be classified as a Savana gram?neo-lenhosa do tabuleiro . Chapter 2, titled "Considerations on the flora of a savanna community in Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil: Subsidy key area for conservation" was submitted to the Revista Natureza e Conserva??o. This has the objective of improve the knowledge of flora of Rio Grande do Norte and to identify possible rare species and consequently increase the key areas of biodiversity in Brazil. The data indicated that: i) of 94 species registered in the study area, 40 were new records for the Rio Grande do Norte state; ii) These citations to unpublished state, Stylosanthes montevidensis Vogel (Fabaceae) and Aristida laevis (Nees) Kunth (Poaceae) are indicated for the first time to the Northeast of Brazil; iii) are registered in the area 24 species endemic to Brazil and 63 non-endemic; iv) Aspilia procumbens Baker (Asteraceae) registered in the area is considered a restricted species and micro endemic Rio Grande do Norte, ie rare species; v) Aspilia procumbens is also cited in the category of critically endangered species and Stilpnopappus cearensis Hubber (Asteraceae) a species vulnerable to extinction. This study shows a new area phytoecological in Rio Grande do Norte and indicates the area's potential to contribute with the sites of global significance for biodiversity conservation, either locally, regionally and nationally. This will certainly contribute to respond some targets set by the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Convention on Biological Diversity such as the inventory of vegetal diversity in a region with little collection, which will provide data that contributes to questions and themes related to biodiversity. / Estudos sobre a biodiversidade brasileira s?o ainda muito escassos, sendo poss?vel observar uma grande discrep?ncia de conhecimentos entre as v?rias regi?es do pa?s. Esta afirma??o est? baseada no fato de que foram identificadas para o Brasil 2.256 esp?cies raras de plantas e 752 ?reas-chave para biodiversidade (ACBs), no entanto, o Rio Grande do Norte foi o ?nico estado brasileiro que n?o apresentou nenhuma esp?cie rara e nenhuma ?rea-chave para biodiversidade, possivelmente, devido ? escassez de levantamentos flor?sticos nesse estado. O presente estudo foi realizado em um ambiente especial: uma ?rea de tens?o ecol?gica com fisionomia sav?nica localizada no munic?pio de Rio do Fogo, RN. Essa comunidade sav?nica est? representada na forma de pequena mancha e imersa entre a Caatinga e a Restinga. Foi identificado e descrito apenas com base em imagens de radar, n?o havendo, at? o presente momento, estudos in loco. Neste contexto foram elaboradas algumas perguntas sobre essa comunidade sav?nica: 1) A regi?o delimitada e descrita por meio de imagens de radar, RADAMBRASIL de 1976, pode ser do dom?nio Cerrado, do ponto de vista flor?stico?; 2) Qual ? a composi??o flor?stica dessa ?rea? Ela inclui esp?cie rara, end?mica ou amea?ada de extin??o?; 3) Qual ? a distribui??o geogr?fica e fitogeogr?fica das esp?cies vegetais registradas nessa ?rea?; 4) As esp?cies vegetais registradas s?o end?micas ou possuem afinidade com outros dom?nios fitoecol?gicos brasileiro? Visando responder a essas indaga??es foi realizado um levantamento flor?stico, no per?odo de agosto/2007 a setembro/2009. Os resultados obtidos s?o apresentados em forma de dois cap?tulos (manuscritos). O cap?tulo 1, intitulado A Savana do Rio Grande do Norte: Rela??es flor?sticas com outras forma??es vegetais do Nordeste e Centro-Oeste Brasileiro foi submetido ? Revista Brasileira de Bot?nica. Aborda a distribui??o fitogeogr?fica das esp?cies, atrav?s da compara??o com estudos flor?sticos realizados nos cerrados, caatingas e restingas do Nordeste e cerrados do Planalto Central. As an?lises dos dados obtidos no presente trabalho e, tamb?m, atrav?s de compila??o com outros estudos apresentaram: i) o registro de 94 esp?cies vegetais; ii) desse total de esp?cies, cerca de 64 % est?o associadas ao Cerrado, segundo bibliografia especializada, e cerca de 78 % conforme a Lista de Esp?cies da Flora do Brasil. Todavia, cerca de 73 % do total das esp?cies (94) registradas tamb?m se distribuem na Caatinga, 64 % na Floresta Atl?ntica, 50 % na Floresta Amaz?nica, 15 % no Pantanal e 12 % no Pampa. Floristicamente os dados apontaram que comunidade estudada recebe influ?ncia de outras floras, possui uma estrutura onde as gram?neas dominam e tamb?m devido a sua fisionomia sav?nica a mesma, ent?o, poder ser classificada como Savana gram?neo-lenhosa do tabuleiro. O cap?tulo 2, intitulado Considera??es sobre a flor?stica de uma comunidade sav?nica no Rio Grande do Norte, Nordeste do Brasil: Subs?dio de ?rea-chave para a conserva??o foi submetido ? Revista Natureza e Conserva??o. Teve como objetivo contribuir para melhorar o conhecimento sobre a flora do Rio Grande do Norte, identificando poss?veis esp?cies raras e, assim, expandir as ?reas-chave de biodiversidade no Brasil. Os dados obtidos indicaram que: i) das 94 esp?cies encontradas na ?rea de estudo, 39 foram registradas pela primeira vez para o Rio Grande do Norte; ii) dessas cita??es in?ditas para o estado, as esp?cies Stylosanthes montevidensis Vogel (Fabaceae) e Aristida laevis (Nees) Kunth (Poaceae) s?o indicadas, tamb?m, pela primeira vez para a Regi?o Nordeste do Brasil; iii) ocorrem na ?rea 24 esp?cies end?micas do Brasil; iv) Aspilia procumbens Baker (Asteraceae) registrada na ?rea ? considerada uma esp?cie restrita e microend?mica do Rio Grande do Norte, ou seja, esp?cie rara; v) Aspilia procumbens ? tamb?m apontada na categoria das esp?cies criticamente em perigo e Stilpnopappus cearensis Hubber (Asteraceae) uma esp?cie vulner?vel a extin??o. O presente estudo aponta um novo dom?nio citoecol?gico para o Rio Grande do Norte e apresenta o potencial da ?rea em contribuir com os s?tios de signific?ncia global para conserva??o de biodiversidade, seja no ?mbito local, regional e nacional. Isso contribuir? para responder alguns dos objetivos fixados pela Estrat?gia Global para a Conserva??o de Plantas e da Conven??o sobre Diversidade Biol?gica, tal como, o invent?rio da diversidade vegetal, em uma regi?o com pouca coleta, que fornecer? dados que contribuem para quest?es e temas relativos ? biodiversidade.