IUCN has long believed in the transformative power of gender equality towards the achievement of effective and inclusive climate action. This International Women’s Day, we celebrate the women leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, resilience and safety building towards a more sustainable future for people and planet.

Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director General made an official visit to Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO) to meet government officials, IUCN Members and private sector leaders in Malawi, South Africa and Kenya. The DG also attended the inauguration of the Malawi National Forestry 2021/2022 tree planting season and participated in the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly – Caroline Nyamamu, ESARO Regional Communication and Constituency Manager reports

On 25 March 2022, the IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas Team, together with WCPA, CEESP, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity and ICCA Consortium organised a side event at the CBD meetings of the SBSTTA, SBI and OEWG in Geneva.

This Side Event was created as a forum to exchange on the much-discussed new draft target, “30 x 30” replacing the old Aichi Target 11, and will now potentially call for 30% of global land and waters to be conserved. It is, however, not just about the focus on spatial coverage. To be successful in conserving biodiversity, these areas must focus on quality, i.e. they must be equitably governed, effectively managed and achieving conservation outcomes.

The Queensland government has purchased two properties in the state's far north to convert into protected areas managed by Traditional Owners.

Totalling over 131,900 hectares, the former Bramwell and Richardson cattle stations found 630km northwest of Cairns will return to First Nations ownership under the Cape York Peninsula Tenure Resolution Program.

The program returns ownership and management of identified lands on Cape York Peninsula to local Aboriginal Traditional Owners, and ensures the region's iconic natural and cultural values are protected."

"Through the Cape York Peninsula Tenure Resolution Program, we will negotiate for which areas of the land will be made jointly managed national park and which areas become Aboriginal freehold land," said the state's Environment Minister, Meaghan Scanlon.

The Vital Sites Pavilion at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille highlighted how fair and effective protected and conserved areas are a foundation for addressing biodiversity and development challenges, and are essential for human health and well-being.

With a new dedicated playlist on YouTube, updated regularly, you can now relive your favourite pavilion events in high-definition. All our sessions from Days 1 to 3 are now up, with Day 4 soon to follow!

Dr. Ronald G. Petocz passed away on 21 February 2022, at the age of 81. A valued member of the IUCN WCPA, Dr Petocz supported protected areas throughout Asia, and his passing is mourned by the conservation community.

As an international expert on protected areas and long-time member of WCPA and several SSC Specialist Groups, Ron Petocz has had a major impact on the many countries where he has contributed to the more effective management of areas, including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam.

Mountains are incredibly biodiverse ecosystems providing services for a large number of people across the globe, far beyond mountain ranges boundaries. They are examples of long-term human-nature interactions, and of resilience and adaptation under extreme conditions, which can quickly vary over steep gradients

In this multimedia story, we explore how scientific evidence can support a better understanding of mountain systems and trigger improved management towards future sustainability across the globe and in particular in countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions included in the BIOPAMA programme.

Terra Peninsular's PANORAMA Solution is to be found in the San Quintin Bay of Northwest Mexico, which is one of the most important wetland zones of the Pacific coast of the North American continent. It is one of the best preserved wetland zones, not only in Mexico, but also of the Pacific coast of the US and Canada.

César Guerrero, Executive Director of Terra Peninsular, San Quintín Bay, México is joined in this conversation by Cécile Fattebert of the IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas team.

This project implemented by local NGO Centre de Culture Populaire Ypiranga de Pastinha Martinique – CCPYPM was presented at the WCC BEST pavilion in Marseille. More details (in French), including a recorded presentation held online on September 6th by president Claire Joseph, can be found on this link.

We are pleased to announce a series of open Calls for Proposals for the latest BIOPAMA Action Component grants.

The BIOPAMA Action Component provides funding opportunities to address protected and conserved areas, sustainable use of biodiversity, natural resources priorities for actions on the ground in African, Caribbean and the Pacific countries.

Currently open Calls for Proposals include:

• Medium Grants – Western and Central Africa
• Medium Grants – Pacific
• Small Technical Grants – Eastern and Southern Africa

Additional Calls for Proposals will open soon, including a Small Technical Grant for the Caribbean.

The Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) provides a systematic procedure to check IUCN projects for potential adverse environmental and social impacts to assure that negative impacts are avoided or minimised to the extent possible while positive impacts are stimulated.

In March 2022, we hosted two Information Sessions on the IUCN ESMS, in relation to the BIOPAMA Action Component's open Calls for Proposals. You can catch up with them here.

The University Diploma in Protected Area Management has been around for 19 editions over the course of 12 years. It remains a partnership with Senghor University. In total, over 400 African students were trained. They are professionals who are now better equipped to manage the protected areas where they work. The reason why our MOOCs exist today is because we wanted to make this type of training available to as many people as possible. This has been made possible by the MAVA Foundation, French Development Agency, GEF, and now the European Union, among others. Students of this edition met in person late-March in Burkina Faso. There are currently 19 students from seven different countries.

Governance is a critical factor in protected and conserved area effectiveness, equity and sustainability. Set against the background of the draft CBD post-2020 global targets, in particular the discussions around 30 x 30, an understanding of equitable governance has never been so important. But what is governance? And what does it look like in practice? This collection includes 20 Solutions from the PANORAMA platform. From community conserved areas and territories of life to Green List sites and World Heritage examples, they come from protected areas and other area-based conservation initiatives around the world, with diverse values, contexts and governance approaches.

We are collecting examples of best practices and case studies to document and promote in a dedicated ‘Tech4Nature – Solutions in Focus’ publication. This publication is meant to inspire and present a portfolio of successful examples of how technology can help conserve nature.

An IUCN Green List project, funded by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea, about ‘Promoting Fair and Effective Conservation of Protected and Conserved Areas globally based on experience in Asia’ has achieved successful completion with many new countries and protected areas committing to the IUCN Green List in Asia, and support to key global IUCN Green List strategies and outputs within its project duration from 2019 until the end of 2021.

The Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund (BCAF) has launched its Readiness Support call for proposals to all entrepreneurs and project developers involved in blue carbon work. Readiness Support will help project developers to get coastal blue carbon restoration projects ready for implementation and introduce them to future private sector finance – growing the global portfolio of credible and investment-ready blue carbon projects.

Right now, the global thinking around financing ocean conservation is massively changing. Are we on the right path? And what does the future look like?

In this season finale of the podcast, we speak to leading environmental figures about the road ahead for coastal and marine Nature-based Solutions for climate, biodiversity and sustainable development.

IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak, Green Climate Fund Executive Director Yannick Glemarec, Luxembourg’s Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry joined IUCN’s newest podcast.

Linking Tourism & Conservation recently addressed all providers of the 52 LT&C Examples to bring their examples of tourism supporting protected areas on the PANORAMA platform. It only can make their practical examples more widely and globally known and hopefully inspire others to replicate or learn from their solutions.

Greg Bakunzi from Rwanda was the first to follow that recommendation. He worked with Cécile Fattebert from IUCN, documenting his example in a PANORAMA solutions format. This interview asks both of them about their cooperation experience briefly.

IUCN is collaborating with different partners to build sustainable tourism products to support the post-COVID-19 recovery and improve the resilience and benefits of community tourism activities in the context of fair and effective management of these PCAs.

In Vietnam, the project is focused on two protected areas in North Vietnam: the IUCN Green List Candidate site Cuc Phuong National Park and the IUCN Green List site Van Long Wetland Natural Reserve. As tourism returns to Vietnam, the project aims to introduce community tourism as a way to make the industry more sustainable and beneficial for all people and nature.

IUCN has put in place a new organisational structure following key decisions at the 2021 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille. This includes the creation of a new Centre for Society and Governance, which places people at the heart of nature conservation efforts. The Centre will support implementation of the Nature 2030 IUCN Programme with respect to environmental law and the inclusive governance and management of natural resources and heritage.

Recognition of OECMs offers a significant opportunity to recognise de facto effective long-term conservation that is taking place outside currently designated protected areas, under a range of governance and management regimes, implemented by a diverse set of actors. Some of these actors include indigenous peoples and local communities, the private sector and government agencies. OECMs can contribute to ecologically representative and well-connected conservation systems, integrated within wider landscapes and seascapes, and in doing so, generate a range of positive conservation outcomes

The IUCN (Protected and Conserved Areas Team), SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group and EcoHealth Alliance invite input to support zoonotic and wildlife disease prevention, detection, response, and recovery as part of protected and conserved area management.

Human activities are causing widespread biodiversity loss and climate change. “The future we want” represented by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may soon be out of reach. To achieve a sustainable future, we need system-wide, “transformative change”—now. The IPBES Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services identifies necessary systemic changes in global social, political and economic systems. CPCIL is pleased to join with CoSphere – the Community of Small Planet Heroes (Ecologically Regenerating Economies) for this webinar to explore the potential for parks and protected areas to leverage transformative change for global sustainability.

The Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) is used widely throughout the LAC region for assessing PAME; and representatives of protected area agencies from Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Saint Lucia, Guyana, Belize, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have confirmed interest in connecting with each other to share their experiences and learn from each other.

The BIOPAMA Caribbean team is inviting you to participate in an inaugural event to establish the LAC METT implementation support network. Simultaneous interpretation to French and Spanish will be available.

En el marco del Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biológica (CDB), las áreas conservadas se implementarán como Otras Medidas Efectivas de Conservación Basadas en Áreas (OMEC), siguiendo la decisión del CDB y la orientación de la UICN.

Este seminario web analiza las oportunidades y los desafíos en la implementación del marco de OMEC y la necesidad de hablar un lenguaje común sobre lo que significan y cómo se implementan, haciendo un énfasis en América Latina y el Caribe.

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.

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