The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment is actively participating, until 19 November, in the World Parks Congress held in Sydney (Australia), through the National Parks Autonomous Body, the Directorate General for Environmental Quality and Assessment and the Natural Environment, and the Biodiversity Foundation. This Spanish delegation will coordinate several parallel events related to marine protected areas, the fight against climate change, the Natura 2000 Network or the Network of National Parks, among others.
The objectives of these actions coincide with those of the motto of the Congress: “Parks, people and the planet: inspiring solutions”, which seeks to increase cooperation and collaboration with other international administrations, strengthen the image and international recognition of the National Parks Network, establish international cooperation mechanisms with other equivalent networks and share knowledge and innovation in the field of protected areas.
These conferences will also serve to publicize the advances in the conservation of the marine environment in Spain, while at the same time allowing the acquisition of good practices that can be applied in the improvement of the management of the marine environment in Spain. One of the presentations will also be dedicated to analysing the Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative as an integration of this in the management and in the area of corporate social responsibility.
WORKSHOPS ORGANIZED BY THE SPANISH DELEGATION
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment will participate in a number of side events. Tomorrow, November 14, the workshop “On the right path of the conservation of Marine Protected Areas” will be held, in which the
they will share the progress in marine conservation in Spain. Among them, the discovery of 50 new species in the last 5 years or the upcoming increase to 8% of marine protected areas stands out, thanks to the LIFE+ INDEMARES project coordinated by the Ministry through the Biodiversity Foundation.
On Saturday, November 15, the conference “A century of experiences of the Network of National Parks of Spain and the networks of protected areas of Latin America. Genetic rescue and the challenges of climate change”, promoted by the Autonomous National Parks Agency, which will address global change and the need to take measures to reduce the loss of biodiversity.
On 17 November, the second of the events, “Ecological networks in Mediterranean countries”, will be held, coordinated by the Directorate-General for Environmental Quality and Assessment and the Natural Environment. The meeting will promote the need for networks of effective protected areas, well connected to each other and integrated into the landscape and seascape. It will also present and discuss the foundations, status and benefits of the Natura 2000 Network in the Mediterranean countries of the EU, and show the role that this network can play in fulfilling the CBD Work Programme on Protected Areas, while enhancing synergies with other similar conservation initiatives around the world.
SIDE EVENT PRESENTATIONS AND DIGITAL POSTERS
On the other hand, presentations will be made at other side events at the Congress on the “National Park Network Global Change Monitoring Network”, “Beyond Aichi – Protected Areas and Conservation, A Vision
from Spain” and “The assessment of Millennium Ecosystems in Spain”. As in previous editions, Spain has supported the participation of Latin American countries in this forum. This will make it possible to consolidate the relationships that the Network
of National Parks has with Latin America and that has been reflected for years through various collaboration agreements.
