Protected areas celebrate Earth Optimism

Article 28 Avr, 2017

Protected areas celebrate Earth Optimism

Earth Optimism, an unprecedented gathering of thought leaders, scientists, environmentalists, artists, civic leaders and international media, is a global initiative that celebrates a change in focus from problem to solution, from a sense of loss to one of hope, in the dialogue about conservation and sustainability.

Photo: ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ��/Marie Fischborn

The initiative cumulated to a series of 27 parallel sister events was held all around the world, from Hawaii to Hong Kong, to celebrate reasons for optimism in conservation on the occasion of Earth Day (22 April), and brought together a wide variety of practitioners, academics and policy makers to shape a more positive narrative about the prospect of the natural world.

The Conservation Optimism Summit in London (20-22 April), held at the beautiful Dulwich College was part of this series.�� The ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Global Protected Areas Programme was right at the centre with its two flagship initiatives that focus on encouraging, identifying and celebrating protected area success: PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet, and the ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Green List of Protect and Conserved Areas.��

PANORAMA learning and exchange process / ©GIZ, ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ��

The PANORAMA session, organised jointly with , kicked off with an introduction of the initiative and its partnership model, and was enriched by the perspective of (represented by Ariane Steins-Meier, Europe Director for Rare) as a new member of the PANORAMA partnership.��

José Ambrocio, a Municipal Councillor from the Philippines, shared his project which is promoted as a solution through PANORAMA, setting up sustainable fisheries in villages of his region. Farinoz Daneshpay of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) introduced an innovative solution of collecting old fishing nets and re-purposing them into raw material for carpets in Cameroon.

“The building blocks on the PANORAMA platform are a great way to dissect solutions and make them applicable to other contexts around the world” (workshop participant)

The ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas animated an interactive session on what the ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Green List is, why it’s needed and how it works. Videos from green listed areas in Australia and China illustrated protected area professionals emphasising the importance of the ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Green List.

��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ��/Marie Fischborn

“The Green List’s positive vision and recognition for accomplished standards are new in conservation, and much needed” (workshop participant)

The ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Green List is fully aligned with, and part of the growing #earthoptimism movement by being a global mechanism for recognising area-based conservation successes, and sharing these learnings and experiences with a growing community of protected and conserved areas to empower and inspire improvements in management effectiveness and inclusive governance.��

Other ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� programmes and commission members also contributed to the summit, including a lively session that explored an expansion to the ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Red List of Threatened Species to be a positive vision for species conservation.

��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� GPAP looks forward to continuing to spread optimism about the future of conservation in protected areas and beyond, through the ��ϲʿ��ֳ�ֱ�� Green List and PANORAMA.