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World Conservation Congress Session 790 URBAN DIMENSIONS OF NATURE CONSERVATION: ROLES FOR IUCN

1900 Introductory remarks: Ted Trzyna and Dongwon Shin 1905 Ted Trzyna: Urban dimensions of conservation: Why IUCN must take them much more seriously – and options for doing so Discussion 1930 Glen Hyman: The Urban Protected Areas Best Practice Guidelines Project

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World Conservation Congress Session 790 URBAN DIMENSIONS OF NATURE CONSERVATION: ROLES FOR IUCN

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  1. 1900 Introductory remarks:Ted Trzyna and Dongwon Shin 1905 Ted Trzyna: Urban dimensions of conservation: Why IUCN must take them much more seriously – and options for doing so Discussion 1930 Glen Hyman: The Urban Protected Areas Best Practice Guidelines Project Comments: Fook Yee WongBrief remarks: Kobie Brand, Shahid S. Khan, Mary-Lou Dixon Discussion 2000 Bong-Ho Han: Ecological urban management of a buffer zone by ecosystem service function: The example of Bukhansan National Park and Seoul, Korea Junghoon Ki: Mudeungsan Provincial Park: Role of buffer zones and proposals for national park status Discussion Rapporteur: Mike Paparian World Conservation Congress Session 790URBAN DIMENSIONS OF NATURE CONSERVATION: ROLES FOR IUCN

  2. URBAN DIMENSIONS OF CONSERVATION: Why IUCN must take them much more seriously — and options for doing so TED TRZYNA President, InterEnvironment Institute Chair, Urban Specialist Group IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas IUCN Commission Chair Emeritus (Environmental Strategy and Planning, 1990-96)

  3. OUR MESSAGE • Conservationists must take urban people and urban places much more seriously. Unless we do so, we will struggle for relevance over the coming decades.

  4. What is not our message This initiative is notmainly about: • Cities as governments • Conventional urban parks • Urban “greening” defined as promoting solar energy, recycling, etc. (although these are all important)

  5. Simply put: • Conservation needs urban people • Urban people need conservation

  6. Conservation needs urban people • Conservation organizations depend on urban people for political and financial support • But urban people have less and less contact with nature • People will value nature only if they know it • They get to know nature by experiencing it • The wildest, most remote places on earth will not be protected unless urban people know and care about nature where they live

  7. Urban people need conservation • People need nature for their wellbeing • There are “natural solutions” to the challenges posed by climate change in urban areas • Urban farming depends on healthy natural environments

  8. Other reasons • Urban sprawl is a major threat to biodiversity • Urban areas are often rich in biodiversity

  9. More reasons • Urban protected areas are important components of urban ecological design • Urban ports, airports, and gardens are entry points for invasive exotic species

  10. Still more reasons • Cities can have major negative impacts on surrounding ecosystems • But concentration of people in cities is energy efficient and can alleviate pressure on wild and rural areas

  11. The IUCN Urban Initiative • Started 2002 • The Urban Imperative: workshop and book • IUCN Resolution • Participation in meetings and projects • Recommendations to IUCN President Ashok Khosla • IUCN Council action, February 2012

  12. Bridge-building is needed • The mainstream conservation movement has a cultural bias toward remote, wilder places • Those engaged with the built environment tend to have a bias against the mainstream conservation movement

  13. Who’s involved (1) Some IUCN leaders involved from the start: • Adrian Phillips, former IUCN Programme Director and Commission Chair • Jeff McNeely, former IUCN Chief Scientist • George Rabb, former Commission Chair • Ted Trzyna, former Commission Chair

  14. Who’s involved (2) • George Davis, South African National Biodiversity Institute • Pedro da Cunha e Menezes, Brazilian diplomat currently attached to Ministry of Environment, Brazil • Judy Ling Wong, Black Environmental Network, UK • Fook Yee Wong, Friends of Country Parks, Hong Kong

  15. Australia Brazil Canada China Croatia France Germany Guyana Hong Kong Hungary India Israel Italy Kenya Korea, Rep. of Mexico Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Philippines Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Taiwan UK USA Virgin Islands of the U.S. SPREP UNESCO The World Bank Urban Specialist Group members

  16. What IUCN can do (1) First, keep in mind that we should: • Build on existing activities of Members, Commissions, and the Secretariat • Take IUCN’s general two-track approach: Influence policy-making and demonstrate and exchange experience on the ground

  17. What IUCN can do (2) We can: • Contribute expertise on linking cities and nature to intergovernmental processes • Promote broader awareness globally of the inter-connectedness of cities and nature

  18. What IUCN can do (3) We can: • Build alliances between conservationists and those concerned with the whole range of issues facing cities • Design and test better methods of connecting urban people, urban places, and nature

  19. What IUCN can do (4) We can: • Include urban dimensions in projects that traditionally have focused on rural areas • Make progress on the ground in several pilot urban areas

  20. What IUCN can do (6) We can: • Encourage urban zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens and natural history museums to include exhibits and outreach on nature in the local environment • Link them to urban protected areas

  21. What IUCN can do (5) To support this, we can: • Recruit as IUCN Members, or connect with, organizations concerned with urban dimensions of conservation • Extend the “urban” background of the membership of IUCN’s six Commissions

  22. Criteria for an IUCN structure First, keep in mind that this should: • Be led by people who understand how IUCN works • Draw on people with the skills needed to work with those concerned with the built environment

  23. Criteria for an IUCN structure The challenge is not to incorporate urban expertise in IUCN, but to connect to it

  24. Best options for IUCN structure A combination of: • Forming an IUCN Urban Coalition • Strengthening the Urban Specialist Group • Designating an urban advocate on IUCN Council • Including urban dimensions in IUCN projects

  25. An IUCN Urban Coalition A “self-organizing” coalition of: • IUCN member organizations • Units of Commissions • Units of the Secretariat (regional and thematic) • Other organizations to be invited

  26. Less desirable options (Reasons are given in the online paper) • Establishing a Secretariat unit on urban affairs • Relying on umbrella organizations • Setting up an intercommission task force • Forming a separate NGO with other partners • Creating a new Commission • Creating a group similar to IUCN’s high-level Science Advisory Board

  27. Next steps • Action by the newly elected IUCN Council • An IUCN Urban Coalition • An IUCN urban strategy • Continue to strengthen the WCPA Urban Specialist Group

  28. Contact • www.Trzyna.info InterEnvironment Institute Member IUCN Celebrating 40 years of involvement in IUCN, 1972-2012 P.O. Box 99 Claremont, California 91711, US www.InterEnvironment.org

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