World Parks Congress

Establishing protected areas and promoting better wildlife management in and around them is a key part of addressing the bushmeat crisis. The 2003 IUCN 5th World Congress on Protected Areas, or World Parks Congress (WPC), taking place in Durban, South Africa from 8-17 September, will spotlight the urgent need for new protected areas (PAs) as well as better management of existing ones. 2,500 delegates, including park management professionals, government officials, scientists, and indigenous group leaders, are expected to attend the Congress, which is held once every 10 years. Congress outputs will include recommendations to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other international conservation processes.

BCTF’s Ecosystem Conservation members are well represented at WPC, participating as organizers and presenters throughout the congress. For example:

African Wildlife Foundation participants will be promoting their ‘Heartland’ approach, where parks are part of a larger wilderness landscape that includes critical migratory corridors that border on private land, allowing wildlife to roam and providing economic opportunities for local people.

Conservation International is leading the Building Comprehensive Protected Areas Stream, one of seven major themes, where their Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) and several major partners will present a global "gap analysis" documenting where PAs are needed in order to provide for adequate biodiversity conservation. This is the first study using species to identify major gaps in the coverage of PAs worldwide.

Wildlife Conservation Society’s Conservation Finance Program is leading the Sustainable Finance Stream, and Elizabeth Bennett of WCS (and the BCTF Steering Committee) is leading parallel sessions on bushmeat hunting and trade, titled: Collapse from the inside: threats to biodiversity and ecological integrity of protected areas from unsustainable hunting for subsistence and trade.

World Wildlife Fund’s participants will be encouraging follow-through on existing commitments by governments, the private sector, and 2002 WSSD agreements. They will also be promoting WWF’s PA priorities, including: broad-scale conservation; managing PAs effectively and for multiple benefits; local participation; global environmental change; new approaches such as private reserves and corporate involvement; greater responsibility for PA management and enforcement by governments and business.