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| Type | Commission |
|---|---|
| Industry | Nature conservation |
| Headquarters | Gland, Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Madhu Rao (chair) |
| Products | IUCN Protected Areas Programme |
| Services | Protected area planning, policy advice, and investment |
| Total equity | 2,500 members, 140 countries |
| Parent | IUCN |
| Divisions | America, Africa, Asia, and Europe |
| Website | WCPA website |
The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is one of six commissions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [1]
In 1948, the IUCN established a Committee on National Parks. Two decades later the IUCN had been asked by the international community to take responsibility for preparing a world list of national parks in keeping with its role as a network to share the world’s knowledge on nature conservation, and in 1960, the IUCN raised the status of the Committee to that of a permanent Commission, with the creation of the Commission on National Parks. In 1996, the World Commission on Protected Areas took on its current name with the approval of the IUCN congress. [2]
WCPA is a network of volunteers. Secretariat support is provided by staff of the IUCN Programme on Protected Areas, with whom WCPA implements a shared strategic plan and work plan. The Commission has a Steering Committee, and the Chair is elected every four years at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The World Conservation Congress is set for June 11 to 19, 2019, in Marseilles, France. [3]
The WCPA Steering Committee is the principal governing body of WCPA. The Steering Committee is appointed by the WCPA Chair and approved by the IUCN Council. The Steering Committee is composed of the Chair, the Deputy Chair, Regional Vice‐Chairs, and Thematic Vice‐Chairs. WCPA Steering Committee meetings occur once a year and include reporting on IUCN Global Protected Areas Programme (GPAP) and WCPA activities, discussion and decisions on important upcoming events and initiatives, review of the GPAP Intersessional Programme, and discussion and decisions on WCPA directions and priorities for the upcoming year.
Regional Vice Chairs for 13 terrestrial regions, [4] include:
Thematic Vice Chairs include those for:
The Steering Committee also includes two seats for publications:
The WCPA Executive Committee is the principal governing body of WCPA making decisions between Steering Committee Meetings. It is composed of the WCPA Chair, the WCPA Deputy Chair, Regional and Thematic Vice-Chairs, the Director of IUCN Global Protected Areas Program [5] and others co-opted at the request of the Chair.
To carry out its objectives, the WCPA has a number of Specialist Groups, Task Forces, Initiatives, and Thematic Groups which report to the WCPA Executive Committee. [6]
Specialist Groups are established to bring together Commission Members who can provide ongoing specialist expertise and leadership in topics that are Commission and Programme Priorities. Current Specialist Groups include:
Task Forces are established to accomplish a specific time-bound task, e.g. the preparation of a WCPA Best Practice Guideline publication or the preparation of a particular policy. Current Task Forces include:
Thematic Groups and Initiatives contribute to the WCPA mandate by providing cross-cutting support to the Steering Committee, Specialist Groups, Task Forces, and Initiatives. Current thematic groups include:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".
Claudio Sillero-Zubiri is an Argentine-born British zoologist. He is a Professor of Conservation Biology at Oxford University's WildCRU, the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, and Bill Travers Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall. He is the Chair of the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group, and Chief Scientist of the Born Free Foundation. He is internationally recognized for his work with carnivore conservation, and in particular the endangered Ethiopian wolf.
Wendy Foden is a conservation biologist, best known for her work on climate change impacts on biodiversity.
The Amphibian Ark is a joint effort of three principal partners: the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), and the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG).
The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)'s High Seas Task Force spans decades. It was officially established in 2003 following the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress where marine experts formulated a 10-Year High Seas MPA Strategy. The 10 year Strategy built upon the results of a joint IUCN, WCPA and WWF expert's workshop on high seas MPAs in January 2003: Towards a Strategy for High Seas MPAs.
Ian Richard Swingland is a British conservationist, convicted in 2017 of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation. He founded DICE at the University of Kent in 1989, recognised as one of the first interdisciplinary research and postgraduate training institutes in the world concentrating on biodiversity, communities and sustainable development. While at DICE he served as director and was elected to the first chair in Conservation Biology in the United Kingdom.
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the largest assembly of data on the world's terrestrial and marine protected areas, containing more than 260,000 protected areas as of August 2020, with records covering 245 countries and territories throughout the world. The WDPA is a joint venture between the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Commission on Protected Areas.
Monte Alén National Park is located near the center of Equatorial Guinea. It was established in 1990. With an area of 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi), it is the country's largest national park. The goliath frog (Conraua goliath), one of the prominent amphibians found in the park, is the biggest frog in the world; hunting it is prohibited.
The Alpine Convention is an international territorial treaty for the sustainable development of the Alps. The objective of the treaty is to protect the natural environment of the Alps while promoting its development. This Framework Convention involves the European Union and eight states. Opened to signature in 1991 and consisting of a Framework Convention, various implementation protocols and declarations, it entered into force in 1995, contributing to reinforce the recognition of special qualities and specific characteristics of the Alps, going beyond national boundaries and seeking international action.
A strict nature reserve or wilderness area is the highest category of protected area recognised by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), a body which is part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These category I areas are the most stringently protected natural landscapes.
Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara is an Italian marine conservation ecologist who has bridged the worlds of marine science, conservation and policy.
Lake Tissongo is a lake of western Cameroon. It is situated within the Douala Edéa Wildlife Reserve of Littoral Province, and is connected to the south bank of the Sanaga River by a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) tidal channel. The lake drains into the river about 40 kilometres downstream of Edéa. The area is biologically rich. The villagers of five villages in the reserve in the area earn their livelihoods from hunting bushmeat, and a 1990 survey found some 50 firearms in the area around Lake Tissongo.
Erich Hoyt is a whale and dolphin (cetacean) researcher, conservationist, lecturer and author of 26 books and more than 700 reports, articles and papers. His book Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, has been widely reviewed as the "definitive reference of the current extent of cetacean ecosystems-based management" and as "a unique and essential book for anybody interested in the conservation and protection of cetaceans. [This] definitive source on MPAs marine protected areas for cetaceans…will influence the design and management of this important and rapidly developing conservation tool." Choice listed the book as an "Outstanding Academic Title’ for the year 2012. Since 2013, as Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and IUCN SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force co-chair with Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Hoyt has focussed on the creation and development of the new conservation tool of Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs. In 2016, following a MAVA Foundation pilot project to identify IMMAs in the Mediterranean, the Task Force's GOBI collaboration funded by the German Climate Initiative (IKI) began a six-year project to identify and implement IMMAs across most of the southern hemisphere. The IMMA tool has been received and widely endorsed by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), various commissions within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Whaling Commission, as well as national governments and scientists.
Inger Andersen is a Danish economist and environmentalist. In February 2019, she was appointed as the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Penelope Figgis is an Australian environmentalist, activist, and political scientist. Since 2005 she has been the Vice Chair for Oceania of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.
Rajeev Raghavan is a fisheries scientist and aquatic conservation biologist known for his work on the freshwater fishes of the Indian subcontinent. Rajeev is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, India, and the South Asia Chair of the IUCN’s Freshwater Fish Specialist Group.
Luigi Boitani is a professor of zoology at the Sapienza University of Rome, whose research interests include ecology, the protection of large mammals, and the management of protected areas. Boitani is president of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe.
Bibhab Kumar Talukdar is an Indian conservation biologist. He is the founder of Aaranyak, a leading wildlife non-governmental organization based in Guwahati, India. It is a Scientific, Industrial Research and frontline environmental organization in India.
Kathy MacKinnon was a zoologist committed to conservation who worked with many governmental organisations and NGOs. She was the lead biodiversity specialist at the World Bank for 16 years and chaired the World Commission on Protected Areas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature from 2015 until 2021.
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