WCC 2020 Res 002 - Progress Report

1.) Involving IPLCs in APAC outcomes and actions.

2.) The APAC was the first Africa-wide protected areas meeting and was organised by IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the African Wildlife Foundation and the government of Rwanda. Prior to the Congress itself, IUCN WCPA and IUCN CEESP supported two preparatory meetings: the ICCA Consortium’s Africa regional assembly and a two-day pre-meeting organised by ICCA Consortium and IMPACT Kenya.

3.) AWF co-convened the inaugural African Protected Areas Congress including the pre APAC congress for IPLCs. The overarching objective of the Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) was to position Africa protected and conserved areas within the broader goals of economic development and community well- being and to increase the understanding of vital role parks play in conserving biodiversity and delivering the ecosystem services that underpin human welfare and livelihoods.

4.) The Congress had 2,500 people attending. Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ voices were well represented during the week and some powerful collective statements and declarations were issued and got good media coverage. The indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ opening statement, delivered by Milka Chepkorir (Sengwer woman leader from Kenya), was a very clear call for reforms in how conservation is done in Africa and the final Kigali Call to Action issued from the Congress as a whole made reference to indigenous peoples, FPIC and local communities throughout.

5.) IUCN WCPA co-convened the indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ forum at the Asia Parks Congress. The pre-meeting was very well attended, with 247 indigenous and community participants in total from 9 countries (nearly 200 were Sabahan or Malaysian). Discussions went late night and covered a wide array of situations and experiences. On the second day, summaries were prepared to combine the experiences and stories shared into a Declaration. The participants concluded the Api Api Declaration for not only the whole of the Asia Parks Congress but also specifically addressing the World Parks Congress that will take place over the next 5 years. The Api-Api Declaration (named for the pre-colonial name for the area in which Kota Kinabalu is built) was formally read to the Asia Parks Congress, is part of the proceedings and fed into a section of the overall Kinabalu Declaration (the main IUCN Congress declaration). The declaration was notable for its reflections on emerging climate and NbS markets and certification, and made clear recommendations about the on-going legacy issues of parks in the region, as well as on-going expansion without consent. Key messages from the Api Api Declaration were also fed into the Kinabalu Declaration from the whole Congress, also appended here.