Bringing together around 40 international participants including experts from all over the world and political leaders, the event welcomed participants to the IUCN III Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Protected Areas, and explored four main questions:
- What could be the respective contribution of Protected Areas and Other Effective Conservation Measures to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework?
- Which aspects of these contributions may help pursue the second objective of the CBD, namely sustainable use of biodiversity?
- How could these aspects be translated into targets for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework?
- Considering the current progress in fulfilling Aichi target 11, which targets and indicators should be incorporated in the new biodiversity framework?
The objective of this workshop was to facilitate knowledge exchange and synergies, emerging from the various sessions held during the Congress, which related to the post-2020 framework, and to summarize multiple findings into actionable outputs.
More specifically, it explored how the conservation-related initiatives presented at the Congress could have positive impacts on other important sectors, especially the post-2020 biodiversity framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a regional, national and sub-national perspective.
The workshop started with the presentation of recommendations from the main conferences relating to post-2020 and Aichi target 11.
Those recommendations were highlighted by Dr Alberto Gallardo, expert in ecology and project management, on behalf of the Project.
The second session of the side-event was the occasion of delving into the four topical questions. Participants presented their ideas in written form and contributed interactively, with a view of developing concrete solutions for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
A panel of representatives then presented their own national and field experience. Speakers included:
- Pamela Castillo, Vice-Minister of Environment – Costa Rica
- Hernando Zambrano, Directorate of Forestry, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services – Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development – Colombia
- Fernando Camacho, Director General of Institutional Development and Promotion – National Commission of Natural Protected Areas – Mexico
- Sébastien Chatelus, Ecosystem and Biodiversity Unit – European Commission
- Michel Schlaifer, Technical Advisor of – EUROCLIMA+ Programme, Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Component
- Moderator: Mr. Alberto Gallardo, University Iberoamericana – Mexico
Five topics were identified as particularly important to ensure effective and efficient management of natural protected areas in Latin America and Caribbean:
- Increasing the size of protected areas in the region
- Developing monitoring schemes
- Creating synergies between environmental agencies, including on the Climate change sector
- Ensuring the safety of protected areas monitoring staff
- Promoting international cooperation
The results of this workshop will be summed up in an upcoming 4 pages document giving an account of all the common elements identified during the event.
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