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What is the World Parks Congress?

The World Parks Congress is international congress about protected area such as national parks, organized every decade by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and WCPA (World Commission on Protected Area) after 1962. In the congress, long-term agenda for following decade is adopted.

History

1st congress

July 1962, in Seattle, USA, involving 300 participants from 72 countries

2nd congress

November 1972, in Yellowstone, USA, involving 400 participants from 56 countries

3rd congress

October 1982, in Bali, Indonesia, involving 450 participants from 79 countries discussed sustainable development and the role of protected areas.

4th congress

February 1992, in Caracas, Venezuela, involving 1,200 participants from 120 countries. Adopted the goal that protected areas would cover 10% of land surface.

5th congress

November 2003, in Durban, South Africa, involving 3,000 participants from 154 countries. Adopted the message for CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), reflected it on PoWPA (Program of Work on Protected Areas).

6th congress

(1) Date
November 12 - 19, 2014
(2) Venue
Sydney, Australia
(3) Number of participants
6,000
(4) Theme
a) The central theme
Parks, People, Planet - Inspiring Solutions
b) Eight streams
1. Reaching Conservation Goals
2. Responding Climate Change
3. Improving Health and Well-Being
4. Supporting Human Life
5. Reconciling Development Challenges
6. Enhancing Diversity & Quality of Governance
7. Respecting Indigenous & Traditional Knowledge and Culture
8. Inspiring a New Generation
c) Four cross-cutting themes
1. Marine
2. World Heritage
3. Capacity Development
4. New Social Compact
(5) Program
Wednesday 12: Opening Ceremony
Thursday 13: Opening Plenary
Friday 14: 3x Parallel Plenaries, Stream Sessions
Saturday 15: Stream Sessions
Sunday 16: Public Festival
Monday 17: Stream Sessions
Tuesday 18: Stream Sessions, 3x Parallel Plenaries
Wednesday 19: Closing Plenary, Closing Ceremony
(6) Outcome of congress
Outcomes of the World Parks Congress were summarized as the Promise of Sydney. The Promise of Sydney consists of the four pillars - Vision, the goal about needed changes over following decade, a set of Innovative Approaches summarized through each streams to achieve the change, Solutions that represent the examples to achieve the goal, and Promises that governments and NGOs made to achieve the goal.

Related Information

IUCN World Parks Congress Sydney 2014 http://worldparkscongress.org
Results of World Parks Congress(WPC) 2014 and establishment of Asia Protected Areas Partnership(APAP) http://www.env.go.jp/en/headline/2127.html