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Task force accomplishments 2003-2004
[Click here for more recent and planned Task force activities]
The IUCN/WCPA Task Force on Cities and Protected Areas, authorized in February 2004, is concerned with the many links between human settlements and larger environments, focusing on the special role of protected areas. Its terms of reference are posted on this Web site, as are lists of its members and steering group. The task force came out of discussions that started in 2000 among several people long active in IUCN who were concerned about the absence of the urban dimension on the global conservation agenda. They found that others active in IUCN had been thinking along the same lines, and the circle gradually widened. Accomplishments of the task force and its informal precursor during 2003 and 2004 included: September 2003: The informal group held a three-day workshop, The Urban Imperative, at the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. The workshop was well attended and became an opportunity to discuss plans and recruit members for the proposed task force. In addition, the informal group secured approval of a World Parks Congress Recommendation that IUCN take cities seriously. December 2003: Several members of the informal group participated in a small invitational conference organized by UNESCO and Columbia University in New York to discuss the concept of urban biosphere reserves. February 2004: The steering committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas approved the task force and its terms of reference. March 2004: The task force held its first event, a four-day workshop in Malibu, California, to plan its overall program, as well as a theme on cities and conservation in the world’s five Mediterranean-type regions. Twenty-seven people from eight countries participated. The workshop resulted in The Malibu Declaration and program ideas. April 2004: Several task force members participated in MEDECOS-10 in Rhodes, Greece, a conference of the International Society of Mediterranean Ecologists. Useful contacts were made and ISOMED endorsed The Malibu Declaration. May 2004: In Bangkok, Thailand, Task Force Leader Ted Trzyna participated in a preparatory meeting for IUCN's quadrennial World Conservation Congress, to be held in Bangkok later in the year. This was an opportunity to discuss links between the task force and other IUCN activities. June 2004: Ted Trzyna discussed project ideas with IUCN staff and representatives of IUCN member organizations at a meeting of IUCN Mediterranean region members held in Naples, Italy. The meeting, sponsored by IUCN’s Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, noted The Malibu Declaration. November 2004: At the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, the task force organized three formal events in cooperation with IUCN's Commission on Ecosystem Management. These were on links between coastal cities and large ecosystems; cities and conservation in Mediterranean-type regions; and the importance of the urban connection for the conservation movement. Eighteen task force members attended the Congress and several informal meetings were held to discuss a draft task force strategy. In addition, the Congress passed two motions resulting from the task force's work: Resolution CGR3.RES049 calls for reviewing the 2005-2008 IUCN Programme in terms of connections between cities and larger environments. Recommendation CGR3.REC022 calls for action to protect Mediterranean-type ecosystems in the face of rampant urbanization, citing The Malibu Declaration. Other activities: -- Web site. A task force Web site was launched that includes program information, workshop papers, and links to other resources. It is continually updated and linked to the IUCN Web site. -- Informal exchanges. Several productive international visits and exchanges resulted from task force work. For example: John Davidson hosted a visit to the UK by a young South African leader interested in learning about the Groundwork environmental partnership program. Pedro Menezes of Brazil has continued his research on urban protected areas by visiting sites in Australia and Asia. Ted Trzyna spent a week exploring project ideas in Morocco as the guest of task force member Bachir Raissouni, and spoke at the dedication of a new municipal nature park in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. |
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