A political future for protected areas

Abstract

The World Parks Congress has been organized by IUCN every decade since . The first two Congresses were held in the USA (Seattle, ; Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, ), with the next three in developing countries (Bali, Indonesia, ; Caracas, Venezuela, ; Durban, South Africa, ). (Full disclosure: I was Deputy Secretary-General at Bali and Secretary-General at Caracas). Sydney, Australia, hosted the sixth Congress on – November , welcoming over , participants from countries. The purpose of the Congresses, broadly speaking, is to review progress in protected areas over the previous decade, assess the current state of protected areas, and chart a course for the coming decade.