Durban, Sudáfrica, 11 de setiembre de 2003 (IUCN) - Dos científicos mesoamericanos, Dr. Enrique Beltrán C. y el Dr. Gerardo Budowski, recibieron ayer un reconocimiento, cada uno, por su trayectoria en el área de la conservación y promoción de las áreas protegidas y los recursos naturales, durante el V Congreso Mundial de Áreas Protegidas de la UICN que se lleva a cabo en Durban, Sudáfrica. El Dr. Enrique Lahmann, Director Regional de UICN en Mesoamérica, expresó que es un orgullo inmenso para los Mesoamericanos el reconocimiento otorgado a estos dos científicos, quienes destacó como pioneros en la región en la creación y manejo de áreas protegidas. (...)

Noticia completa // UICN en Mesoamérica

The second Mediterranean event organized during the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) drew on the different action plans implemented in the region. Representatives from Parks for Life in Europe, IUCN North Africa and Middle East programme, Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance, the Mediterranean Action Plan of the Barcelona Convention, Medwet, and Euro Parc explained their initiatives to promote the protection of natural areas and improve livelihoods. At the national and local levels, institutions such as the Diputacion de Barcelona, the French National Committee, Junta de Andalucia, Ministry of Environment of Italy and the Ministère de l'Aménagement du Territoire, de l'Urbanisme, de l'Habitat et l'Environnement in Morocco presented an overview of the different policies put forward to preserve their natural environment and wildlife.

Full Story // IUCN Office for Mediterranean Cooperation

A strong message that is being fed into the World Parks Congress by the IUCN Shark Specialist Group is that marine protected areas (MPAs) may provide the only hope for some threatened shark species. If certain species such as the sawfishes do not receive immediate protection, they may soon be extinct. Yet MPAs are just one vital aspect of a suite of measure needed to protect ocean species. Sharks are commercially valuable and their numbers are plummeting due to overfishing either directly or indirectly through bycatch. Overfishing is fuelled by the growing demand for shark fin soup in Asia. Of particular concern are the deepwater species such as gulper sharks. Coastal species such as some guitarfish, rays and catsharks, are also seriously threatened - as inshore dwellers, they have narrow ranges which are subject to intensive fishing.

Full News Release // IUCN-SSG Shark Specialist Group // IUCN-SSC Species Survival Commission // IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Whilst delegates to the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress gather in Durban, South Africa, others have convened in Cancun, Mexico for the Fifth Ministerial Conference to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that started yesterday and will go on until the 14th. Although the agendas of the two meetings are different, they do converge on a number of points. It has been evident for some time that trade policy and environmental policy can no longer ignore each other's existence. Conceptually, each is an integral element of sustainable development; which, ostensibly, is a stated goal of both as enshrined in Agenda 21 and the Preamble of the Marrakech Agreement that established the WTO. Find out more about the WTO conference in the latest special reports from Trade Bridges BioRes, produced by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in collaboration with IUCN's Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy.

Bridges Trade BioRes Special Issue: High Level Roundtable on Trade and Environment // Bridges Trade BioRes Special Issue: 18th Global Biodiversity Forum // IUCN Coverage of the GBF // More information :http://www.ictsd.org/biores/index.htm