Kenton Miller Award Programme

It is with great pleasure that IUCN welcomes Dr Kathy MacKinnon as the new Chair of the World Commission on Protected Areas and Julia Miranda Londoño as the new Deputy Chair, recognising the significant contribution that the former Chair Ernesto Enkerlin Hoeflich made during his tenure.  Kathy is no stranger to the WCPA, having been closely involved with biodiversity conservation and protected areas for over forty years.  In a recent interview, Kathy enthusiastically explains her views on the role of protected areas for safeguarding biodiversity, as well as the future priorities of the WCPA in rolling out the Promise of Sydney. 

As Kathy puts it, “Protected areas are the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation and central to IUCN’s mission of promoting ecological sustainability. These are some of the most spectacular places on Earth but many also provide multiple social and economic benefits that underpin human lives and livelihoods.  I’ve been lucky to visit many protected areas around the world and am always impressed by their diversity, wildlife and floral richness and the dedication and hard work of their staff. Many are truly inspiring and innovative examples of how to best reconcile conservation and the needs of local communities.”

The future of WCPA

“This is a very exciting time for WCPA. We have a clear mandate and road map from the World Parks Congress 2014 in Sydney which emphasized the relevance of protected areas for human welfare and well-being as well as biodiversity conservation.  We have a strong Commission and a rich work programme working closely with GPAP. I am lucky to be supported by a wonderful Deputy Chair Julia Miranda Londoño from Colombia and a strong and committed Steering Committee. As Chair, I see my role as expanding the WCPA network for greater geographical representation, supporting strong Specialist Groups and Task Forces to deliver expertise at regional and local levels and promoting  protected areas as nature-based solutions to many environmental and development challenges.

Working towards achieving the Aichi Targets and beyond

There is still much to be done to achieve both the quantity and quality of protected areas. WCPA has established a new Specialist Group to advise on the Governance of Protected and Conserved Areas, and a new Task Force to examine Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures, to recognise how conservation areas under different governance and management regimes can contribute to biodiversity targets. Developing professional capacity to strengthen protected area planning and management must be a key focus over the next few years.  We also need to think beyond 2020 on where and how we will ensure effective and sustainable biodiversity conservation for the future.

Mainstreaming

The Sydney Congress highlighted the role that protected areas can play in helping people to cope with climate change and other global challenges: the linkages between protected areas and food and water security, livelihoods and human health. We need to do much more to promote understanding of these values to encourage national, regional and local governments to integrate protected areas into spatial planning and development strategies. It is encouraging, for instance, that 10 countries, including Colombia,   have committed to expanding protected areas as part of their national commitments under the UNFCCC agenda, emphasizing the role that ecosystem-based approaches can play in mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Inspiring a new generation   

We live in troubling times, both politically and environmentally, and need to build a broader constituency for conservation. As part of the legacy of Sydney, the WCPA has established a joint task force with the Commission on Education and Communication on Inspiring a New Generation. This will have a strong emphasis on reaching out to young people but will also target urban communities, new immigrants and disadvantaged groups to strengthen the linkages between people and nature. Building  new partnerships with relevant economic and development sector will also be  critical for delivering the multiple recommendations embedded in the Promise of Sydney and highlighting the important role that protected areas can play in a more sustainable future.

Note:

Cláudio Maretti has been appointed as the new Regional Vice Chair for WCPA in South America (replacing Julia). He is President of the Brazilian agency responsible for Federal protected areas, the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade. 

Links:

• IUCN Global Protected Areas Programme