About the event:
The IUCN World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress 2027, to be held in Panama City from 4-10 September 2027, is a landmark event for global conservation. Taking place at a critical juncture - with climate change, biodiversity loss and sociopolitical fragmentation intensifying - the World Protected and Conserved Areas (PCA) Congress will take stock of the final years of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Frameworks's 2030 targets and contribute towards sharing area-based conservation priorities for the decades ahead.
Expected to draw over 7,000+ delegates from 160 countries, the World PCA Congress will convene a diverse audience, including CBD Parties, IUCN Members and Commissions, protected and conserved area managers and stewards, government ministers, sectoral development experts, business leaders and municipal officials. And, the agenda is ambitious.
Key outputs include reviewing the global status of PCAs, sharing best practices, addressing challenges, mobilising financial commitments and developing legacy initiatives with a focus on the Mesoamerica region. The World PCA Congress will also advance progress on the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, while reaffirming the foundational role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in conservation.
Ultimately, the IUCN World PCA Congress aims to reshape political and financial commitments to PCAs, catalysing the action needed to address the planet's interconnected environmental crises.
This webinar’s core objective is to raise awareness of the IUCN World PCA Congress among IUCN constituents and explain how to get involved and help position the World PCA Congress as one of the world's most important opportunities to shape the PCA post-2030 agenda. There will be live interpretation in English, French and Spanish and a second session is available in the afternoon at 4pm CEST, should that timing be more convenient: Setting the Global Decade Agenda for Area-based Conservation: IUCN World Protected and Conserved Area Congress 2027 - Afternoon session
Speakers include:
- Madhu Rao, Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas
- Trevor Sandwith, Director, IUCN Centre for Conservation Action
- Marc Magaud, World PCA Congress Director
- Goska Bonnaveira, Head of IUCN Global Communications Unit
- Iain Stewart, Director, Membership, Commissions and Communications, IUCN