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Conservancy shares protected area expertise: Training key to achieving COP-7 commitments

November 7, 2006

The Nature Conservancy frequently invests in cutting-edge tools and technology to achieve the greatest conservation results. But it is the organization’s investment in its people—partners and staff—that is helping to advance the global movement to create and strengthen protected areas.

During the seventh meeting of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 2004 (COP-7), governments of 188 nations pledged to create a comprehensive global network of effectively managed protected lands and waters that conserve the full array of life on Earth by 2012. To capitalize on this opportunity, the Conservancy has developed a cohesive, organization-wide Global Protected Areas Strategy that helps countries implement their commitments to protected areas. One of the Conservancy’s most powerful activities in this effort is to provide countries with the training they need for every stage of the protected area creation process, from conservation planning to sustainable financing.

“By bringing together government officials and protected area specialists for workshops and trainings, we can share knowledge and experience that they can bring back and implement in their own countries,” said Steve Watkins, director of the Conservancy’s Global Protected Areas Strategy. “This approach not only builds the skills and capacity of the people who manage protected areas systems, but also builds a sense of community and empowerment, which helps to sustain the momentum of governments’ commitments to protected areas.”

Conservancy staff and partners have held workshops around the world to bolster countries’ abilities to plan, implement and monitor effective systems of protected areas. In China, the Conservancy recently teamed up with several government agencies, including the State Forest Administration, to conduct the first national training on effective management of protected areas. An assessment of management effectiveness is one of several requirements under the COP-7 commitments. 

This past July, the Conservancy held similar workshops and training sessions for participants from nine Latin American countries in Quito, Ecuador. The Conservancy’s focus in South America is to strengthen the management effectiveness of existing protected areas by increasing the capacity of key system-wide institutions such as national parks systems and Ministries of Environment. 

In December, the Conservancy will kick off the first in a series of protected area workshops for the countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Six government officials from each OECS country are expected to attend. 

“The power of bringing protected areas managers from neighboring countries together to these training events is that it helps to strengthen protected areas conservation by building relationships and cooperation across a larger region,” said Rob Weary, Caribbean conservation finance and policy advisor.

For More Information:

• How We Work: The Convention on Biological Diversity
  

  The Convention on Biological Diversity, established in 1992, is the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Similar to the Kyoto treaty on climate change, the Convention on Biological Diversity guides the actions that nations take in conserving their natural resources.

• Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
  Read more about The Nature Conservancy's work to save the last great places on Earth.