Malaga, 30 March 2009 (IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation). Under the title of “International cooperation in managing protected areas” and with the aim of facilitating the sharing of knowledge, experiences and ideas within the scope of this collaboration for the preservation of Protected Natural Areas, this seminar was held to reunite international experts in this field. The event was organised by CEIDA - Centre for Continuing Education and the Dissemination of Environmental Information of Galicia – and sponsored by the General Management for the Conservation of Nature of the Ministry for Environment and Sustainable Development of the Regional Government of Galicia, in collaboration with the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, Europarc and Ibader-USC.

During the seminar, experiences of cooperation in America for conservation were presented, focusing on the areas of la Gran Sabana and the Brazilian and Argentinean part of the Iguazú National Park; and from this perspective, cooperation initiatives in the Iberian protected areas of the Andalucía-Morocco Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve, Montseny Natural Park (Cataluña) and the Cévennes National Park (France,) as well as La Amistad National Park (Costa Rica) and the Tajo-Tejo Internacional Transnational Park were also investigated. Likewise, cooperation initiatives in Galician cross-border protected areas were dealt with, the main focus being on the Baixa Limia-Serra do XurésNaturalPark, the PenedaGerêsNational Park and the Río Eo and Terras de Burón Biosphere Reserve.

Andrés Alcántara from the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature chaired the round table on “The Andalucía-Morocco Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve”.

The event ended with the signing of a Declaration of Intent for a joint collaboration between the protected areas which will be directed by CEIDA and IUCN. In signing the declaration, the signatories, Mr Jose Benito Reza, Director General for the Conservation of Nature from the Regional Government of Galicia; Mr Jose Antonio Amoeiro, Director of the Baixa Limia-Serra do Xures Natural Park; Mr Legido Domingos, Director of Protected Areas in the North of Portugal; Mr Jorge Pegoraro, Manager of Iguazú National Park (Brazil); Mr Daniel Crosta, Governor of Iguazú National Park (R. Argentina); Mr Carlos Valdés, Director of CEIDA and Mr Andrés Alcántara of IUCN-Med, expressed the will to cooperate in environmental, social and cultural aspects given the existing similarities and links between these areas which share common languages and traditions, as well as a set of good practices leading to proactive policies in these fields.