Local governments call for recognition in nature conservation

The role of local governments in nature conservation was highlighted at the Congress of Protected Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The role of local governments in nature conservation was highlighted in the set of conclusions and statements leading up to the Declaration of Lima at the closing ceremony of the Third edition of the Congress of Protected Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAPLAC) in October 2019.

Local governments in the region were recognized for its increasing effort in the creation and effective management of protected and conserved areas in order to mitigate biodiversity loss, restore native ecosystems and promote the well-being of people, the conservation of nature and the future of next generations.

The Declaration of Lima was read in public to more than 2,700 participants – more than 50 percent female – from more than 30 countries. As part of the Declaration of Lima, Fernando Enciso Herrera, representative of the Colombian Federation of Municipalities (Federación Colombiana de Municipios – Fedemunicipios), read out the declaration prepared by local governments at the Congress.

The local governments called on governments on all levels to increase efforts for nature conservation and to:

• Promote multi-level governance and cooperation for more integrated actions in the management of protected and conserved areas at the local level;
• Adjust regulatory and institutional frameworks that promote the creation and management of protected and conserved areas by local governments;
• Involve local governments in the definition and implementation of plans and programs for national protected area systems.

Enciso Herrera was part of a local government delegation invited to the Third edition of the CAPLAC by the regional IKI project “Protected areas and other area-based conservation measures at the level of local governments”. The local governments delegation with participants from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru also participated in a two-day technical exchange visit held in Northern Peru.

The Declaration of Lima was prepared by the organizers’ Technical Committee at the Congress. The final document will be delivered as a contribution of Latin American and Caribbean countries to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress and will serve as an input to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Since 2016, the regional IKI project is cooperating with the Brazilian, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian ministries of environment to increase the number of local governments that manage effectively and equitably protected areas and other area-based conservation measures. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, along with its partners ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and IUCN, implement the project.