The Expert Assessment Group for the Green List (EAGL) in the Republic of South Korea had their Green List evaluation and process training in Seoul on 24 and 25 October, 2019. IUCN’s Global Protected Areas Programme and Assurance Services International (ASI) conducted the training jointly. Korea National Park Service (KNPS) is the IUCN Green List Implementing Partner in South Korea coordinating the EAGL, and hosted the training.

The EAGL is composed of nine national experts selected by IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), following a public call for interest. Members have a diversity of expertise and wealth of experience, including from terrestrial and marine ecology, protected area management, environmental policy, environmental management and sciences, landscape architecture, and conservation planning.

On the first day, the EAGL was trained on the IUCN Green List programme, including the IUCN Green List Standard, User Manual and COMPASS platform (internal data management system).

On the second day, the EAGL reviewed the full IUCN Green List standard and decided that the global indicators are well suited for the Korean context, so no adaptation was necessary. Protected area staff representing the three pilot phase sites also attended the second day to meet EAGL members and learn about the process of implementation at the site level.

As the Implementing Partner, KNPS will next facilitate for sites to implement the standard (including translating all relevant material into Korean), and coordinate the EAGL evaluations.

The IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas is the first global standard of best practice for area-based conservation. It is a programme of certification for protected and conserved areas – national parks, natural World Heritage sites, community conserved areas, nature reserves and so on – that are effectively managed and fairly governed. By giving recognition to well-managed and well-governed protected and conserved areas, the IUCN Green List aims to increase the number of natural areas delivering long-lasting conservation results for people and nature.

EAGLs are the expert bodies set up within a jurisdiction (e.g. a country, or region within a country). The primary tasks of the EAGLs are to ensure that the Indicators and Means of Verification of the IUCN Green List Standard are adapted (where necessary) to properly reflect the intent of the IUCN Green List Standard in their jurisdiction, and to effectively evaluate protected and conserved areas against the Standard.

For more information about the IUCN Green List: www.iucn.org/greenlist | greenlist@iucn.org