WCC 2016 Res 035 - Progress Report

IUCN ECARO received funding from German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) to implement the project on development of a training module on initial stages of transboundary conservation process. The project was implemented throughout 2018 and finalized in 2019. It has been implemented in partnership with IUCN ELC and with support of the WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group. A training module was developed that consists of 8 lessons and builds primarily on the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidelines Transboundary Conservation: A systematic and integrated approach. The main aims of the module are: a) Strengthening national and local authorities, protected area managers, and enabling stakeholders to be able to assess the feasibility of establishing a Transboundary Conservation Area; b) Enabling conservation practitioners to develop strategies to address critical issues for success in the process of establishing a Transboundary Conservation Area and agreeing on joint management objectives and approaches, and to develop a clear, result-oriented and time-defined road map; and c) Ensuring an interactive approach, including cases and scenarios where relevant. The online training is now available.

UNEP WCMC has also developed an automated methodology in Google Earth Engine that uses the latest WDPA to identify a list of spatially adjacent protected areas that are within a pre-defined buffer distance either side of the a country border. This list is essentially a pairing of PAs that are within a particular distance of each other across a country border. It will be possible to conduct some analyses based on the use of this method.