At an online ceremony hosted by the International Union for the Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the prestigious Kenton R. Miller Award for Innovation in National Parks and Protected Area Sustainability was presented to Nizar Youssef Hani of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve in Lebanon and Pedro Estêvão Muagura of the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.

Read more

Following August's Kenton Miller Award ceremony, the start of the new month offers more Vital Sites events for you to look forward to on 2 September 2020:

- The Launch of IUCN Guidelines for Connectivity Conservation

- Collaborative Management of Protected Areas in Eastern and Southern Africa

Read more about upcoming Vital Sites events here.

Nizar Youssef Hani's efforts at transforming the Shouf Biosphere Reserve (which covers 550 km², over 5% of Lebanon) into a globally significant model for integrated ecological, social and economic development have brought him to the forefront of conservation in the Middle East and North Africa.

After being involved in the management and development of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve for twenty years, Mr Hani rose to become its manager in charge, and has overseen the realisation of a vision of the reserve as a model for restoration of nature, community development, resilience to climate change, sustainable economic development and the facilitation of peaceful reconciliation.

Watch here

Pedro Estêvão Muagura’s combined efforts to address the loss of rainforest in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique and improve the livelihoods of local farmers, following the devastating impacts of civil war on biodiversity, have been pioneering in their approach and impact. 

Mr Muagura came up with the idea of growing coffee on deforested mountainsides. He proposed that the coffee could be shade-grown, beneath replanted native trees, giving local people an income while also restoring the forest. He worked closely with the community to understand their needs, and to demonstrate that the benefits of restoration would outweigh the short-term gains of slash and burn agriculture.

Watch here

IUCN is deeply saddened by the loss of Mexican conservationist Paco Valverde, who dedicated his life to protect the vaquita – the world’s smallest porpoise and most threatened marine mammal. Paco was regarded as an ocean hero who inspired his community to care for the marine environment on which their livelihood depends. Our thoughts go to his family, who have accompanied him in these conservation efforts.

Read more

We welcome the Nakai-Nam Theun National Park, one of the last remaining wildernesses in Southeast Asia, onto the IUCN Green List.

The Nakai-Nam Theun National Park is an area of pristine forest spanning over 4,000 kilometers across Khammouane and Bolikhamxay provinces in central Lao PDR. Identified as one of the key biodiversity areas within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, the Nakai-Nam Theun features a unique climatic pattern and ecosystem rich in species.

Due to its location in the Annamite Mountains, the area features some of the latest mammals discovered by science, including the endangered Saola, Large-Antlered Muntjac, and the Annamite Striped Rabbit. 31 villages are located within the protected area, representing 7,000 people from nine different ethnic groups, each with their own distinctive languages, including the Saek language which is known only to the area.

Read more

In Foreste Casentinesi National Park, the annual census of Red Deer, based on the vocal rutting monitoring, has become a very important event involving more than 600 volunteers from all over Italy and abroad, across three days and nights. This includes wildlife managers, scientists, rangers, students, hunters, environmentalists, and members of the public.

The original goal of monitoring the Red Deer population is now accompanied by other important objectives: removal of barriers between people from very different cultural and social backgrounds through nature conservation, opportunities for eco-tourism, offering a rich social experience, and creating a strong public bond with the National Park.

Read more

Hablar del uso de sus recursos naturales, es hablar desde las culturas prehispánicas, quienes lograron armonizar el aprovechamiento de los recursos marinos y terrestres con sus necesidades. En la actualidad, directa o indirectamente, la comunidad loretana vive del Parque Nacional. Los usuarios, conscientes de ello, impulsaron su creación en 1996. La modificación del segundo Programa de Manejo en 2019, fue a través de un amplio proceso de participación activa de los diferentes sectores: pescadores, prestadores de servicios turísticos, instituciones de gobierno, académicos, organizaciones de la sociedad civil y público en general.

Para saber más

A total of six million Euros in emergency relief funding, to address biodiversity conservation needs brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, is being made available by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the European Commission, and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). These European Union funds will be distributed through two complementary programmes managed by IUCN. They aim to alleviate the impacts of the pandemic on the management of protected areas and on threatened species.

Read more

In the light of the recent “Guidelines for Conserving Connectivity through Ecological Networks and Corridors" report, co-author Jodi Hilty says that while the concept of an ecological corridor is easy to grasp, efforts to date to conserve corridors between protected areas have come up short.

Connected, protected and conserved areas are stronger, and corridors are a major component in successfully fighting fragmentation and strengthening biodiversity. These physical links are one of the most important ways to ensure species are able to move between protected areas and maintain genetic strength.

Read more

Around the world, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and deepened existing patterns of social inequality and vulnerability. In particular, indigenous peoples face disproportionate and severe impacts, reflecting long-standing disparities in health services, economic access and political power, all while climate change impacts and environmental degradation continue.

Read more

Protected area practitioners and stakeholders of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) are now equipped with the skills to produce basic maps of protected and conserved areas following an online, virtually-delivered training on the upgraded tools and features of the Pacific Islands Protected Area Portal (PIPAP) and the application of related geographic information systems (GIS). The virtual training utilised free, open-source GIS software and involved hands-on capture of spatial data in the field.

Read more

Réservoirs exceptionnels de biodiversité marine, les écosystèmes coralliens sont aujourd’hui gravement menacés par les pressions anthropiques (pêche, tourisme, pollution) ainsi que par les conséquences du réchauffement climatique.

En savoir plus

It’s almost time for a new MOOC session to start. Registrations are open, and you can enrol for free through mooc-conservation.org. The session starts 14 September and run until December 2020. Six MOOCs will be available: Protected area Management; Ecological Monitoring; Species Conservation; Law Enforcement; Valorisation of Protected area Resources & Sustainable Tourism; and New technologies applied to protected areas. Make sure you complete these before the launch of two brand new MOOCs in 2021!

Learn more about our MOOCs at mooc-conservation.org

Research shows that contact with nature has significant personal and societal health and well-being benefits. Our connections with nature also influence the way we behave.
During these times of physical distancing and self-isolation, connecting and experiencing nature may not be easy. The #NatureForAll Discovery Zone aims to bring resources together to make it easier for everyone to connect with nature. The website offers live events, virtual learning materials, and a space for conversation.

Experience the Discovery Zone here!

The Protected Area Benefits Assessment Tool Plus (PA-BAT+) - a users’ guide to identifying ecosystem services from protected areas, in collaboration with local communities and Indigenous People, has just been published by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.

The guide draws on over a decade of practical experience in applying the tool; the ‘+’ here indicating the level of technical guidance provided for using the PA-BAT in a participatory process amongst a wide range of rights-holders and stakeholders The tool looks at legal resource use in ways that do not undermine conservation, and which can provide subsistence/non-economic and economic benefits.

Read more

The IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas Programme and the World Commission on Protected Areas are pleased to present the IUCN WCPA Technical Note Series.

Offered to provide summaries of expert publications and concepts, the series has been rolled out with three initial Technical Notes:

- Privately protected areas: international reporting and their relationship with OECMs

- Protected Areas Benefits Assessment Tool + (PA-BAT+)

- Guidelines for conserving connectivity through ecological networks and corridors

Read more

Congress newsletter special edition: Call for content

The IUCN Congress team are planning a newsletter this October with a focus on Protected Areas.

If you would like to contribute a blog for the IUCN Congress newsletter, by sharing your work or discussing protected areas, we want to hear from you, to highlight the issues and give a voice to our Members while promoting the Congress.

Suggested topics include land use, protected areas, marine protected areas, parks, livelihoods, governance, health and environmental health related to protected areas. Please send your contributions to ruchir.sharma@iucn.org

IUCN and France have postponed the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 to 7-15 January 2021. Registration for the IUCN World Conservation Congress is now open here.

To receive IUCN Congress updates, subscribe here.

This event builds upon the report "Closing the Gap: Financing and Resourcing of Protected and Conserved areas", focusing on collaborative management of protected areas in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The agenda features:
- Real-life examples encompassing different models of collaborative management in place across the region
- Multi-actors perspectives (Governments, NGOs, and donors) on their engagement in collaborative management
- Cross-country sharing of experiences

Register here

The IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group (CCSG) is pleased to present the new Guidelines for Conserving Connectivity through Ecological Corridors and Networks during a 90 minute webinar on Wednesday, 2 September.

Published in July 2020, the Guidelines are based on the best available science and practice for maintaining, enhancing and restoring ecological connectivity among and between protected areas, other effective areas based conservation measures (OECMs) and other intact ecosystems.

Session speakers will include lead authors Stephen Woodley, Gary Tabor, Jodi Hilty, and Annika Keeley.

Register here

La Conferencia tiene por objetivo compartir los resultados e impactos logrados por el proyecto para fortalecer los gobiernos locales en la conservación de la biodiversidad por medio de áreas protegidas y otras medidas efectivas de conservación locales en Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú y generar un diálogo sobre cómo garantizar las medidas para su sostenibilidad.

Para saber más

En Latinoamérica y el Caribe celebraremos a las áreas protegidas -o de valor para el bienestar- durante la semana del 17 de octubre del 2020.

Invitamos a personas, organizaciones públicas o privadas, y  gobiernos a explorar, organizarse, inscribirse y celebrar a ese lugar natural, sitio sagrado, o a ese querido parque nacional. 

Unámonos al momento de celebración simultánea el 17 de octubre de 2020, el Día de las Áreas Protegidas de Latinoamérica y el Caribe #DíaÁreasProtegidasLAC

Para saber más

Since its establishment in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. IUCN’s new legacy gift options will help ensure IUCN keeps playing this essential role for years to come.

Read more