Under the Lomé Convention, the European Union supports the ACP (Africa , Caribbean, Pacific States)in their efforts to achieve "the protection and enhancement of the environment and natural resources, the halting of the deterioration of land and forests, the restoration of ecological balances, the preservation of natural resources and their rational eqloitation." Since 1977 the European Union has provided over 150 million Euro to support ACP countries in their efforts to establish and manage protected areas. In addition, Member States of the European Union support protected areas through their own aid budgets.

To help plan its development assistance to protected areas in ACP countries, the European Commission asked IUCN, the World Conservation Union, to provide policy guidance for support to protected areas, by drawing on best practice from the project experience of donors and partners in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The work was carried out by IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas, which is a networlz of some 1300 protected area professionals around the world.

IUCN presented the European Commission with the three regional strategies, a set of case studies and associated documents.