Task force current and planned activities 2008

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Task force planning. The task force leadership has decided to take an incremental and exploratory – rather than strategic – approach to planning its activities. Specific work plans are being implemented, or are under development

IUCN Cities and Conservation initiative. The 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress (Bangkok, 2004) adopted a broad-ranging resolution, "Cities and Conservation." The task force, along with IUCN member organizations, is discussing means of carrying out the mandate of this resolution, which relates to many issues not covered by the mandate of the World Commission on Protected Areas. Wherever these discussions lead, we intend to keep a strong connection to WCPA and retain the task force's working groups on urban protected areas and urban biosphere reserves, as well as the theme on Mediterranean-type regions.        

Working Group on Urban Biosphere Reserves. This working group was set up in early 2008 under the chairmanship of Peter Frost of the Countryside Council for Wales, United Kingdom.

Working Group on Urban Protected Areas. This working group, set up in July 2006, now has two co-chairs as of early 2008: Deputy Task Force Leader Pedro da Cunha e Menezes, a Brazilian diplomat (currently posted in Lisbon, Portugal), and former manager of Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro; and Brett Myrdal, Manager of Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. The working group is focusing initially on producing a volume on urban protected areas in the Best Practice Guidelines Series of the World Commission on Protected Areas. It continues to facilitate exchanges of urban protected area personnel among several countries. 

4th IUCN World Conservation Congress. IUCN's quadrennial Congress will be held this year in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. (For details, go to www.iucn.org/congress.) The task force is cosponsoring a workshop at the Congress, "Climate Change as an Opportunity for Conservationists to Build New Alliances." Links between cities and conservation will be one of three workshop themes. In addition, the task force will hold an informal get-together for its members (to be announced).

Technical and policy advice. Task force members continue to  provide advice in specific metropolitan areas. Such advice is usually given informally and without publicity. 

Web site. The task force Web site is updated regularly and receives several hundred thousand page-views each year.  

Circular e-mails. Periodic e-mails to task force members provide news about resources and events related to task force goals, and reports on members' activities. Others are included in the mailing list, among them key IUCN leaders.

Task force membership. New members are appointed to the task force selectively, based primarily on recommendations of other task force members, as well as IUCN leaders and member organizations.