Transboundary collaboration and connectivity conservation are essential for achieving the KMGBF, especially Goal A and Target 3 - Conserve 30% of Land, Waters and Seas. Ecological connectivity is key to maintaining and enhancing the functionality of protected areas, protected area networks, landscapes and seascapes; protecting biodiversity, and increasing resilience to climate change. Transboundary cooperation, international collaboration and co-management of specific crossborder sites are crucial for the conservation and sustainable use of biological and cultural heritages and can play an important role in dialogue and peace processes among local communities and between countries.
In this webinar the WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group and the Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group will present key guidelines, tools and concrete examples from the field–valuable insights for protected area managers and decision-makers to enhance crossborder cooperation and connectivity conservation. Overall, the webinar will demonstrate the interconnections between these two related concepts, the differences, the commonalities and the real-world applications.
THE SPEAKERS
Stefania Petrosillo is Expert on Protected Areas and international cooperation. Currently is consultant for the European Commission in the framework of biodiversity initiatives with non-EU Countries (B4Life facility). Based in Brussels (BE), she is the Chair of TBCSG.
Kevan Zunckel is an independent ecological and environmental management consultant, past Chair of the IUCN WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group and now Senior Advisor, based in South Africa.
Gary Tabor is CEO of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Professor of Practice at Cornell University, and Chair of CCSG. He is based in Bozeman, MT and Ithaca, NY (USA).
Jodi Hilty is President and Chief Scientist at the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and Deputy Chair of CCSG. She is based in Canmore, AB (Canada)
Gabriel Oppler is International Policy & Partnerships Specialist at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and supports the CCSG Secretariat. He is based in Missoula, MT (USA)
Marie-Andrée Tougas-Tellier is the Manager of the Quebec Ecological Corridors Initiative at the Nature Conservancy of Canada. She is based in Montreal, QC (Canada)
Bakari Mtili is a PhD student at Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, and an Assistant Lecturer at the College of African Wildlife Management. He is a Movement Ecologist and Wildlife Connectivity Expert consulting with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. He is based in Moshi-Kilimanjaro (Tanzania).
Shirin Karyyeva is Biodiversity and Protected Areas Expert of Turkmenistan, the Focal Point for CBD/SBSTTA and a Focal Point for the IUCN-WCPA for Central Asia. She managed the CEPF/Center for Large Landscape Conservation Project in Koytendag in 2021-2025.
Paul Bewsher is a practicing geographer, with more than 30 years of consulting and field experience through various consultancies across Southern and Eastern Africa, undertaking numerous projects with experienced ecologist and wildlife managers, both from the public and community, as well as, and private sector.
