Kinshasa, May 29th, 2021 (CPA).- The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) call on the countries of the world to respect the quality of areas protected, reports the new report from the World Conservation Monitoring Center. According to this report, protected and conserved areas play a crucial role in the fight against biodiversity loss the international community has made significant progress in meeting the global target of coverage of protected and conserved areas, but commitments regarding quality of these areas is far from being respected.
The post-2020 global biodiversity framework is due to be endorsed at the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (CBD COP15) to be held in Kunming, China in October and is expected to include the drive to increase coverage and effectiveness of protected and conserved areas. The “Protected Planet” report concludes that the challenge will be to improve the quality of existing and future areas in order to achieve positive changes for people and nature, as biodiversity continues to decline, even within many protected areas. The IUCN Green List standard is the only global measure of global quality change.
“Great strides have been made in recent years to strengthen the global network of protected and conserved areas. However, it is not enough to designate and count more protected and conserved areas. They need to be managed effectively and governed equitably so that they can deliver many benefits locally and globally, and ensure a better future for people and the planet,”said the Director of UNEP-WCMC, Neville Ash. ACP/Fng/nig
