Aligning adaptation and sustainability agendas: lessons from protected areas

Abstract Nations worldwide are committing to international environmental agreements and defining aspirational goals aligned with their sustainable development priorities and responsibilities. The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is an example of such aspirations. Under this framework, nations aim to expand protected areas or create new ones as one way to integrate conservation and climate change agendas. However, implementing those high-level agreements does not necessarily align with local realities and dynamics. In this paper we examined the operational challenges experienced by protected areas actors to adapt conservation strategies to climate change. Based on interviews at the local level and a policy analysis, we identify adaptation narratives and explore potential mismatches in their implementation at the national and local level (protected areas) in three countries: Australia, Colombia, and South Africa. We assess how local visions and interpretations of adaptation align with high-level policies and how existing institutional arrangements facilitate or constrain the implementation of adaptation and, therefore, aspirations for long-term sustainability. We found that adaptation narratives at the local level are framed by common ideas and identities based on local relations within a territory. At the same time, existing governance arrangements and political contexts determine the feasibility of adaptation. The primary mismatches are high-level political and economic interests denoting different interpretations about the territory and of local realities, including the readiness, technical, and resource capacity of protected areas actors to implement adaptation. Place-based adaptation provides a common ground for scaling adaptation. However, scaling adaptation requires enabling institutional contexts, clear rules and policies to facilitate deliberations and coordinated responses across different actors and sectors, while guiding the uptake and integration of local needs and realities within national agendas.