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download this issue paper as a pdf (2048 KB)
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The number of transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) has doubled since 1990 and many others are set to launch within the next few years. Currently there are over 169 TBPAs worldwide on every continent and in many marine areas. The idea of managing protected areas that straddle international borders is not necessarily new yet the rapid pace of adoption of this new paradigm, coupled with the lack of resources available for practitioners create great challenges.
Each TBPA has a unique set of circumstances that resulted in a need for cooperation across borders. Due to differences in culture, legal systems, natural resource availability, land tenure and because of unique socio-political and historical contexts there can be no "cookbook" approach to transboundary conservation. There is thus a need for a vast storehouse of transboundary knowledge that is organized in such a way as to guide TBPA practitioners and the many other potential audiences for this type of information including the private sector, academia, donor agencies and the general public. This storehouse of knowledge should be centrally located, responsive to the needs of the emerging TBPA community and continually updated.
Participants in the IUCN Parks for Peace Programme, the World Summit on Sustainability in Johannesburg, South Africa, the EuroParc Transboundary Programme, the IUCN/ITTO Transboundary Protected Areas Workshop in Ratchathani, Thailand and in the InWent sponsored transboundary workshops in east and southern Africa have called for the development of new tools for transboundary practitioners and for the creation of a global network that can help to coordinate the many projects around the world and to share information about best practices. We have listened to your concerns and are pleased to announce the launch of the Global Transboundary Protected Areas Network.
Resources
- The backbone of the Global TBPA Network is a set of Internet resources located on this website: http://www.tbpa.net. The following types of information can be found here:
- a comprehensive database of TBPA publications including; conference and workshop proceedings, book chapters and IUCN publications, etc. Go to Documents section
- a database of known TBPAs worldwide in list, database and map form for download including selected GIS resources (under construction).
- a global communication and dialogue system that will allow managers to communicate with other managers, and all other audiences to communicate with one another. Please send an email to Charles Besançon to join the tbpa listserv.
Partners
IUCN, the World Conservation Union, is uniquely situated to play an important role in the development of a global transboundary network as it exists to "influence, encourage and assist" conservation around the world. Other important partners (some of whom have already contributed directly through either financial or intellectual support) to the establishment of this global network include, but are certainly not limited to the World Bank through its Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), InWent, Peace Parks Foundation, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the Italian Government, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Conservation International, EuroParc Federation, WWF, African Wildlife Foundation and Fauna and Flora International. We encourage organizations and individuals to become involved as a global network is only as strong as its members.
This paper was written by Charles Besançon for IUCN.
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