The third webinar in the 2024 Vital Sites series will explore strategies to enhance the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving biodiversity. As countries strive to meet the ambitious '30x30' target outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, understanding and improving the effectiveness of these areas is more critical than ever.
This webinar will present insights from leading conservation experts, showcasing innovative approaches and tools that have been proven to bolster the ecological integrity, resilience, and overall success of protected areas for conservation. Specifically, we will be highlighting ongoing work by the IUCN WCPA and protected area systems in Latin America and beyond to create a framework that links assessment tools such as METT and the IUCN Green List to ongoing adaptive management of protected and additional conserved areas. This integrated approach enables effectiveness assessments to not only document progress towards our targets, but also to actually improve the on-the-ground management of protected areas and the protected area systems to which they belong. The integration of advanced technologies will also be discussed, showcasing how real-time data collection and analysis are transforming the way protected areas are managed and monitored.
Participants will gain valuable knowledge on:
- Key factors that determine the effectiveness of protected areas.
- The role of adaptive management in responding to emerging challenges such as climate change, habitat fragmentation, and human-wildlife conflict.
- A case study from Chile, demonstrating how adaptive management can lead to significant improvements in conservation outcomes.
Vital Sites Webinar Series
As the world prepares for the upcoming World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Abu Dhabi in October 2025, the IUCN and IUCN WCPA are committed to providing technical guidance and support to advance ambitious global biodiversity conservation efforts. In the immediate term, our focus is on the upcoming CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia from October 21st to November 1st, 2024. Engaging with these critical milestones, IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas (PCA) Team and IUCN WCPA are jointly reviving the Vital Sites webinar series, which aims to foster dialogue, share expertise, and catalyse action in advance of some of the most important global gatherings of the conservation community.
In preparation for CBD COP16, IUCN WCPA and the IUCN PCA Team will host a mini-series of webinars aimed at accelerating progress toward the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework both nationally and internationally. By highlighting topics of strategic importance to CBD parties, these sessions offer a platform for exchanging knowledge, showcasing best practices, and exploring innovative strategies to ensure the successful implementation of protected and conserved areas for biodiversity conservation efforts around the world.