About

Governance is the interactions among structures, processes and traditions that determine how power and responsibility are exercised, how decisions are taken, and how citizens or other stakeholders have their say. Fundamentally, it is about power, relationships and accountability: who has influence, who decides, and how decision-makers are held accountable. Governance is central to the conservation of protected areas throughout the world and is fundamental to ensuring effective and long-term management of protected areas.

One outcome of good governance is shared benefits. Indigenous people, local communities, and other members of civil society are involved in the establishment and management of pas, and derive benefits from them. Thus, pa authorities and staff need to engage with all groups in society, especially children and young people, indigenous peoples, local communities and minority ethnic groups.

The types and institutions of governance of pas, including government-managed, co-managed, private, charitable and community-based structures, are constantly evolving and the quality and consistency of governance vary greatly throughout the world. Therefore, there are strong demands for the better reflection of values, effective mechanisms to incorporate local voices and traditions, checks and balances in decentralized structures, better performance and greater accountability, and removing the abuses which occur even in the best of institutions.

Protected areas also play a critical role in sustaining the natural resource base and thus in supporting the livelihoods of local people. Importantly, they protect vital ecosystem services, including clean water, and are essential for poverty alleviation and for sustainable development. However, in many parts of the world protected areas as viewed as a barrier to the activities and aspirations of local communities. Many poor people also live in and around protected areas, which serve as a vital source of food and fiber. In many cases local communities have been excluded from decision making regarding protected areas, or worse, forcibly removed.  As a result such areas are rarely designed with an objective of contributing to sustainable development or to the livelihoods of local communities. These issues need to be addressed in relation to the future of the world’s protected areas.

Objective:

• To promote effective systems of protected area governance around the world;
• To increase the effective involvement of local communities and indigenous peoples in protected areas; and
• To demonstrate and communicate the contribution that protected areas can make to poverty alleviation and sustainable development

Targets:

• By 2008, develop fifteen (15) demonstration models in different regions that show how protected areas can contribute to poverty alleviation. These will be associated with a series of roundtable dialogues on protected areas and poverty;
• By 2008, ensure that principles of good governance in protected areas (legitimacy and voice, performance, accountability, fairness, and direction) are widely communicated and increasingly applied in protected areas;
• By 2008, make available participatory governance evaluation tools and promote their use for the implementation of the CBD, the World Heritage Convention and Ramsar Convention, as well as in protected areas;
• By 2008, ensure that different protected area governance types are incorporated within the World Database on Protected Areas; and
• By 2008, promote regional agreements and governance structures to support trans-boundary protected areas and the management of trans-boundary resources, for example in river basins.
• By 2013, ensure that protected areas are established and managed in full compliance with the rights of indigenous peoples, including mobile indigenous peoples, and local communities;

Priorities

Governance as a priority:

The governance of protected areas must be strengthened in the future. WCPA will contribute to this by analyzing the range of governance models of protected areas and then distilling and widely communicating this experience.

Indigenous peoples and local communities as a priority:

Particular attention will be given to the role of indigenous and local people in protected areas and the equitable sharing of benefits. The value of community-conserved protected areas in meeting CBD PoW targets will be a focus. The IUCN guidelines on co-management and community managed protected areas will be promoted and applied. The Commission on Environmental Law will be invited to join the already close working relationship between WCPA and CEESP, through TILCEPA, in relation to tenure and other legal aspects.

Promoting the socio-economic contribution of PAs as a priority:

The continued perception that PAs are only a conservation tool needs to be broken. WCPA will accomplish this through a systematic presentation of the full economic values of protected areas that includes ecosystem services such as source of fibre, water, and other human needs. As well, the importance of protected areas to local and national economies such as through tourism will be better profiled. These values are integral to national, regional and local sustainable development strategies.