Photo: LAC Protected Areas Celebration Team

At the closing of the event, the Executive Committee of the Congress received a proposal requesting the declaration of 17 October as the Day of the Protected Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, which will be celebrated for the first time this year.

The idea was to generate a celebration in order to recognise the importance of protected areas for the well-being of people and sustainable development in the region. The concept of protected areas is not limited to those formally recognised for its conservation but includes everyone who appreciates that space for its natural and cultural value. The pride and effort to care for and enjoy the natural and cultural diversity of the protected and conserved areas of Latin America and the Caribbean deserves to be celebrated.

This support was recently ratified by the III Latin-American and Caribbean Congress of Protected Areas Monitoring Committee and by:

• Peru (National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State);
• Argentina (Administration of National Parks);
• Colombia (National Natural Parks of Colombia);
• Cuba (National System of Protected Areas of Cuba);
• Mexico (National Commission of Protected Natural Areas);
• IAPA- Amazon Vision Project;
• IUCN SUR and ORMACC (International Union for Conservation of Nature, Regional Office for South America and Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean);
• IUCN WCPA (IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas); 
• IUCN CEC (Commission on Education and Communication);
• UN Environment, Latin America;
• “Um Dia no Parque” (One Day in the Park, #UnidosCuidamos Initiative, Brazil); and
• REDPARQUES (Technical Cooperation Network made up of National Systems of Protected Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, based on FAO).

Moreover, this will allow us not only to assess the importance of protected areas and other measures of effective conservation, but also to follow up on the agreements and commitments of Congress through the Lima Declaration. 

We propose to convene people, non-profit and for-profit organisations, as well as governments (national and sub-national) to organise, articulate, and support actions for the evaluation of the protected and conserved areas, joining a simultaneous celebration every 17 October.

For this, a platform was created where they can find various supporting materials: the Celebration Guide - How to Celebrate?; The importance of APyC for well-being; Recommendations for safe and inclusive Celebrations, face-to-face and virtual options (in consideration of the pandemic), and more! Also, the registration form for the Celebrations.

Let's celebrate the week of October 12-18 and participate in the simultaneous event of October 17, 2020! https://www.celebracionareasprotegidas.org/celebra with an access to the Celebration Guide (available in English here) and Registration Form (coming soon in English)!

¡Celebremos junt@s! Let’s celebrate together. Vamos comemorar junt@s! 
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