NEWLY PUBLISHED "PARKS FOR BIODIVERSITY"
A GUIDE TO PROTECT NATURAL SAFE HAVENS
Gland, 13 December 1999 (IUCN) - In Africa parks cover an area four times the size of Spain. World-wide, parks, designed to be natural safe havens, cover an area as large as Antarctica. Though their size looks impressive, low funding from cash-strapped governments and the demand for land for economic development means that many protected areas are 'paper parks', unable to protect nature.
Funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Development, the newly published book "Parks for Biodiversity" looks at what will be required if protected areas are to be successful in the next century. Written for both policy makers and field practitioners, the publication reviews the current status of protected areas in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. It analyses how parks contribute to development in each region and what action is needed by governments and international donors to secure their future. It looks especially at how parks can contribute to rural development by providing concrete benefits to local communities through the sustainable harvesting of wildlife and other natural resources.
"The conservation of biodiversity in protected areas will only succeed in developing countries if it is part of an overall development strategy of poverty alleviation", says Professor J. Pinheiro, former European Commissioner for Development, in the Foreword to "Parks for Biodiversity".
To help plan its development assistance to protected areas, the European Commission asked The World Conservation Union - IUCN to provide policy guidance and expertise to guide the Commission's support to protected areas. The work was carried out by IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), which is a network of some 1,300 protected area professionals around the world. WCPA prepared "Parks for Biodiversity" by drawing on best practice from the project experience of its members, donors and partners.
For further information contact David Sheppard, Head, Programme on Protected Areas; IUCN-The World Conservation Union, 28 Rue Mauverney, CH - 1196, Switzerland; Tel: ++41 22 999 0162; Fax: ++41 22 999 0015; Email: das@hq.iucn.org.
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