High conservation value area

A High Conservation Value Area (HCVA) or an HCV management area is an area in a site, management unit or landscape for which appropriate management decisions must be taken and implemented in order to maintain or enhance one or more High Conservation Values (HCVs).

High Conservation Values (HCVs) are biological, ecological, social or cultural values which are considered outstandingly significant or critically important, at the national, regional or global level. The concept was developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in 1999, but it is now used by other certification schemes like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the Better Cotton Initiative, the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) and Bonsucro, among others. Consumer goods companies (mainly members of the Consumer Goods Forum) have also made independent commitments to protecting High Conservation Values in their supply chains.

The six High Conservation Values are:

• HCV 1: Concentrations of biological diversity including endemic species, and rare, threatened or endangered species, that are significant at global, regional or national levels.
• HCV 2: Intact forest landscapes and large landscape-level ecosystems and ecosystem mosaics that are significant at global, regional or national levels, and that contain viable populations of the great majority of the naturally occurring species in natural patterns of distribution and abundance.
• HCV 3: Rare, threatened, or endangered ecosystems, habitats or refugia.
• HCV 4: Basic ecosystem services in critical situations, including protection of water catchments and control of erosion of vulnerable soils and slopes.
• HCV 5: Sites and resources fundamental for satisfying the basic necessities of local communities or indigenous peoples (for livelihoods, health, nutrition, water, etc...), identified through engagement with these communities or indigenous peoples.
• HCV 6: Sites, resources, habitats and landscapes of global or national cultural, archaeological or historical significance, and/or of critical cultural, ecological, economic or religious/sacred importance for the traditional cultures of local communities or indigenous peoples, identified through engagement with these local communities or indigenous peoples..

See also

• Biodiversity hotspots
• Crisis ecoregion
• Conservation movement
• Ecoregions
• High conservation value forest
• High-Biodiversity Wilderness Areas
• List of types of formally designated forests

External links

• High Conservation Value Resource Network
• A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity Importance: High Conservation Value Areas (HCVA)
  The High Conservation Value Resource Network
• World Wildlife Fund: High Conservation Value Areas