The Biodiversity and Protected Area Management (BIOPAMA) programme participated in the protected area event of the decade, the IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) 2014, taking place in Sydney, Australia, 12-19 November 2014. By putting forward its resources and capacity, and with the support of the European Union and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat, who initiated and funded this programme, BIOPAMA achieved important results at this global event.

In the lead up to the World Parks Congress, the BIOPAMA programme supported a number of planning meetings and regional fora that enabled stakeholders to provide technical inputs into the design of congress streams as well as prepare key regional messages.

Since BIOPAMA was launched in 2012, the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 has represented one of the most important opportunities to showcase BIOPAMA as a major initiative contributing to achieving better management of protected areas in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries and worldwide. It was also an excellent opportunity for networking with ACP experts and institutions participating in the event.

With more than 6,000 participants from 160 countries, Head of States and governments, protected area managers, indigenous peoples and conservation leaders, participants were regularly exposed to BIOPAMA and the programme’s efforts to support and promote effective management of protected areas as a sustainable solution for the long term conservation of biodiversity. The congress was also attended by high level representatives from The World Bank, GEF, UNDP and FAO.

Through financial and technical contributions, BIOPAMA and its donors, the European Union and the ACP Secretariat, were recognized as silver partners of the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014. BIOPAMA was also acknowledged as a major contributor to the agenda of the Congress, and through the significant support to the capacity development cross-cutting theme at the Congress, considered to be one of the primary legacies of the overall Congress. The Promise of Sydney – the main outcome of the WPC – includes 12 innovative approaches to transformative change, one of which is a set of capacity development recommendations. BIOPAMA will work to support implementation of these recommendations, as well as several of the other innovative approaches including Achieving Conservation Goals, Responding to Climate Change, and Reconciling Development Challenges.

This report summarizes in a few numbers, words, and images, the breadth of activities and work that resulted in a strong BIOPAMA presence and visibility of the European Union and the ACP Secretariat at the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014. Read the report here