Conservationists pledge to expand world's nature reserves

Nature conservation areas around the world are to be significantly expanded over the next decade. The pledge is part of the final declaration at the conclusion of the World Parks Congress in Sydney where several thousand conservationists from 170 countries have discussed the future of the planet's national parks and maritime protected areas at a week-long gathering.

The document also outlines a number of pathways designed to ease future negotiations and commitments to save protected areas. It explicitly acknowledges the vital role of indigenous communities in this process. However, critics say the "Promise of Sydney" lacks a roadmap spelling out specific steps that could help start implementing the pledges.

The planet's protected areas are key in addressing other pressing concerns as well, said Julia Marton Lèvefre, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which hosted the event. "Protected areas are by far the best investment the world can make to address some of today’s biggest development challenges," she said.

China, Brazil, Russia to expand conservation areas

Representatives of the Chinese and Brazilian governments have declared they are committed to expanding the total area of protected forests in their respective countries by a million square kilometers, an area the size of Egypt. Russia has pledged to set up or expand 39 federal protected areas.

The US and the pacific island nation Kiribati promised to jointly conserve a maritime area of 1.7 million square kilometers around the islands. A dozen other countries have declared their intention to set up nature reserves, many of them in ocean or coastal areas. The United Nations Development Program has announced at the conference it wants to help raise $100 million to improve the management of existing protection areas.

Specific goals and deadlines missing?

But, the Sydney declaration does not explicitly spell out demands for political action or concrete steps to achieve the conservation goals. And, questions remain if this declaration is enough to strengthen the protected areas system worldwide, said Armando Valdés Velásquez, a program manager at Alianza Andes Tropicales, a Peru-based conservation NGO.

"I would have liked the final statement to contain more concrete steps and deadlines regarding what specific conservation goals we should reach, and when. It'd have helped us and other organizations to set our planning on a path towards those goals and clearly measure whether or not we will have achieved them."

Unlike the UN climate or biodiversity conferences, the World Parks Congress in Sydney has not been attended by country delegations in a political capacity. Nor are the congress and its outcome part of a formal process of international political deliberation. But with a wide range of participants comprising park rangers, NGO workers, experts and activists but also heads of small states as well as business representatives, it couldn't really deliver any such thing anyway, said Rod Taylor, director for forests at WWF International.

Final document guiding future debates

"Anything that's trying to get 5,000 people to agree on one statement is going to be a little bland," he said. The meeting should rather be seen as a brainstorming session and forum for debate that formulates new ideas which will inform international decisionmaking on biodiversity conservation and beyond, he added. "The UN climate change conference is coming up in a few weeks, and the promise of Sydney we got today makes quite clear that protected areas are vital for responding to climate change as well."

In countless presentations, discussions and workshops throughout the preceding week, participants had fleshed out a number of themes which they say are vital in discussing the future of the Earth's protected areas. These include the importance of indigenous knowledge and practices in maintaining nature reserves, and the need to reach out to new audiences - especially young people.

They also highlighted the close connections between protected areas on the one hand and other global concerns including climate change, human health and development challenges. They are all reflected in the final document which lists a number of approaches designed to guide and inspire upcoming debates.

Inspiration more important than formal outcomes

For those attending the congress - many from far away and often remote places - the gathering was first and foremost an exchange of ideas. Rather than the final document it was the sessions leading up to it that provided input and sustenance that many are taking home and to their work in the field.

"I have been really inspired by the first hand experience and ideas of many of the people here who are from different parts of the world and who have worked in conservation for years," said Karla Ramirez, a young conservationist from Peru. The sentiment is echoed by more senior NGO workers such as Dominique Duval Diop who heads up a maritime conservation network in Senegal. "There were so many positive examples, case studies and projects presented. It was a good thing to hear about this uplifting work."

The Sydney congress also highlighted a number of new trends in global biodiversity conservation, including the role of business, finance and technology. Dedicated stalls and presentations looked at the connections between biodiversity and business or explored new options for financing large protected areas.

A number of science organizations and tech companies including Nasa or Google showcased interactive maps and tools providing conservationists with easy access to satellite and remote sensing data for their work.