Protected areas and other area-based conservation measures at the level of local governments

State of implementation/results

• Project completed.
• The topic of equitable management of protected areas was presented in several papers at the Brazilian Seminar on Protected Areas and Social Inclusion (SAPIS). The results of a study and various case studies from Brazil were discussed. Due to the innovative character and the great demand on the topic, many people from Latin America participated (11/2021).
• In Colombia, the project successfully supported three important processes to strengthen local governments and achieved the following impacts: For the first time, two areas (Parque Municipal Natural Andakí and Reserva la Ilusión) were included in the UNEP-WCMC global list (www.protectedplanet.net/…) as the first OECMs (other effective area based conservation measures) from Latin America (10/2021). The previous year saw the world's first application of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Green List Standard (www.iucn.org/…) in an urban context, as well as the implementation of the SAGE (Site-level assessment of governance and equity) tool for the assessment of governance and equity (parksjournal.com/…) in an OECM.
• At the third Brazilian Forum on Environmental Management, with about 100 participants from different municipalities and federal states, the results of the study on the practices of local private nature reserves (www.youtube.com/…), as well as the programme "Forms of cooperation between municipalities" (www.youtube.com/…) were presented (10/2021).
• The fifth international regional conference (28 (www.youtube.com/…), 29 (www.youtube.com/…) and 30 (www.youtube.com/…;feature=youtu.be) September) was held with representatives of the four ministries of environment and local governments to present the activities, results and impacts of the project. The live broadcast reached a large professional audience (about 3,000 people). Local governments from the region followed and commented on the conference.
• The project shared experiences of local governments from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia on effective and equitable management of protected areas and OECM at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille. Gabriel Quijandría represented the project on-site, and the event was broadcasted via the internet, thus reaching a worldwide audience of experts (09/2021).
• For the first time, a register of nature conservation initiatives outside of officially recognised protected areas was compiled with the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (app.minam.gob.pe/…). Of the 58 area-based initiatives, 27 are managed by local governments, their role is strengthened and their contribution to biodiversity conservation is recognised.
• The Local Protected Areas Network established by ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), with members from six countries and 50 local governments, continues to be strengthened through technical seminars and newsletters (e.g. Connectivity of Protected Areas and Green Spaces (www.youtube.com/…;list=PLzkQ_zHnu9UoJx9sws1Y2ELkcy3_Euz_5&index=6) or Engagement of Private Actors in Protected Areas (www.youtube.com/…)).
• IUCN publishes best practices "Solutions" on the PANORAMA platform (e.g. Connectivity of Protected Areas (panorama.solutions/…) and Protection of the San Pablo Watershed (panorama.solutions/…)).
• The IUCN internet portal was redesigned, 15 guidelines (apclocales.org/…) and the regional conference materials (apclocales.org/…) were added to the library.
• Examples of successful management of local protected areas were documented and published by ICLEI (americadosul.iclei.org/…).
• The web series "Voces Locales" presents the experiences of environmental managers from the project countries.
• A statement by local governments in October 2019 at the Third Latin American Protected Areas Congress in Lima emphasised the increased importance of local governments for biodiversity conservation (www.international-climate-initiative.com/…).

Latest Update:
03/2025