CENESTA Participation in the 6th IUCN World Parks Congress

The 6th IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC), a once in a decade event was held in Sydney, Australia, from 12 to 19th of November 2014 http://worldparkscongress.org/. Over 6000 participants from over 170 countries attended to the congress to represent governments; NGOs, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, academics, research institutions, international organisations and private sector. The theme of the congress was “Parks, people, planet: inspiring solutions” through eight streams and four cross cutting themes to develop a joint promise for sustainable future of our planet through conservation of nature, its unique cultures and support human livelihoods in the world’s marine and terrestrial protected areas.

http://worldparkscongress.org/about/promise_of_sydney_innovative_approaches.html
Drynet partner, CENESTA was present in the 6th WPC and played an active role within the stream six of the congress: “Enhancing Diversity and Quality of Governance”, organised by the IUCN, UNDP GEF SGP, GIZ, CBD Secretariat and the ICCA Consortium through a number of panel discussions and workshops during the event. The Governance stream focused on recognition of ICCAs (Indigenous & Local Commutates Conserved Areas & Territories), the distinctive features between management and governance, and the importance of the diversity, quality and vitality of governance of protected and conserved territories and areas. http://worldparkscongress.org/drupal/sites/default/files/documents/news/Innovative%20Approaches%20-%20Stream%206.pdf

Drynet partner, CENESTA contributed in various sessions and workshops such as:

• Presenting a multi stakeholder presentation (ICCA Consortium, CENESTA/ Drynet, UNINOMAD (CBO) and Department of the Environment) as one of the Iran’s innovative programme of conservation along other 5 selected countries by the IUCN (Australia, France, Madagascar, and the Philippines) was the special highlight in the Congress;

• Opening the World Leaders’ Dialogue on: “Food for Thought: Feeding Nine Billion Within Our Planetary Boundaries; with a traditional greeting and statement read by Reza Salehi, from UNINOMAD/ Abolhassani Tribal Confederacy, and Ghanimat Azhdari from Qashqai Tribal confederacy, on behalf of Indigenous Nomadic Tribes and dryland communities of Iran. They called on the Congress to support and recognition the rights of Indigenous peoples & local communities to govern their ancestral lands and territories through their customary management and governance systems and traditional adaptation strategies to achieve sustainable livelihoods, SLM and food sovereignty. Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary, was among the Panellists of this dialogue. She reported that in the last 40 years, more than one third of the world’s population has increased its daily calorie intake by 200 calories per day and food productivity has doubled four times. Reporting on the statistics of global water and food waste, she emphasized the importance of increasing productivity and restoring degraded land, and said rehabilitating five million hectares of land will be sufficient to feed the world in 2050. http://worldparkscongress.org/programme/wld_food_for_thought.html

• Participation and intervention in a number of workshops, side events and sessions of various streams of the congress, addressing on climate change issues, land degradation, biodiversity loss, food security & food sovereignty;

• Distribution the latest publication of the Drynet network in relevant workshops, side events and Exhibition area and communication with interested organisations and peoples on Drynet Mandate and mission on conservation of nature and its bio-cultural diversity in drylands.

Promise of Sydney

The main outcome of the 6th IUCN WPC called “The Promise of Sydney,” that includes the agenda for safeguarding the earth’s natural assets over the coming decade, based on four pillars: a core vision reflecting high-level aspirations and recommendations; twelve innovative approaches for transformative change, representing the outcomes of the eight streams and four cross-cutting themes of the Congress. http://worldparkscongress.org/about/promise_of_sydney.html