The director of the Department of Studies and Projects of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Germán Alonso, participated today within the framework of the IUCN World Conservation Union Congress in the “Workshop on International Perspectives in Territorial Management and Private Land Conservation: World Forum”, organized by the Biodiversity Foundation with the collaboration of the Fundació Territori i Paisatge, the Territorial Custódia Network, and the Quebec-Labrador Foundation / Atlantic Center for the Environment. Representatives from countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, South America and Europe participated in the workshop.

The Biodiversity Foundation has presented the Land Stewardship Platform, a space created in 2007 by this institution for the dissemination and promotion of the conservation of the territory in Spain. Within the framework of the Platform, the Inventory of Land Stewardship Initiatives has been drawn up, which has allowed us to know that to date in our country there are a total of 85 land stewardship entities working in 706 agreements, which occupy an area of almost 180,000 hectares.

Germán Alonso has announced the launch of the www.custodia-territorio.es website by the Biodiversity Foundation. This portal collects information on land stewardship and aims to host a discussion forum whose objective is to facilitate and support relations between the different land stewardship entities and/or interested persons, to promote common projects between networks and entities and to serve as a place for the exchange of experiences and knowledge.

Aware of the exciting moment in the IUCN programme of work, in which the management categories of protected areas are being revised, and concepts such as the participation of new actors in the governance of natural areas are being incorporated, the organisers considered that the IUCN Congress provided an ideal framework for progress on issues related to private protected areas and protected areas. the private conservation of the territory.

In Spain, the Biodiversity Foundation has the important challenge of supporting the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs in the application and development of land stewardship issues, recently incorporated into our legal system.

Tomorrow, within the framework of the “Workshop on International Perspectives in Territorial Management and Private Land Conservation: World Forum”, the Biodiversity Foundation, the Fundació Territori i Paisatge, the Xarxa de Custódia del Territori, and the Quebec-Labrador Foundation / Atlantic Center for the Environment will visit a farm in Abrera (Barcelona) where SEO/BirdLife and Projecte Rius carry out a stewardship agreement.