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Overview
"Conservation for the People, with
the People"
From the 25th to the 27th of October
2004, more than 150 representatives of communities
with rights or interests in protected areas met
with officials from government and conservation
agencies in the Blyde River Canyon, South Africa.
The workshop aimed to identify how to proceed
collectively on people and parks issues in South
Africa, particularly in terms of obligations under
the Convention on Biological Diversity, the outcomes
of the World Parks Congress, and the new Protected
Areas Act. Convened by the SA Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), in response to a call
from communities for an annual forum of conservation
stakeholders and communities affected by protected
areas, the workshop was organized by IUCN-SA,
working closely with GTZ Transform, South African
National Parks and other agencies.
Ahead of the World
Parks Congress in 2003, a smaller gathering of
communities met in Cape Vidal, KwaZulu-Natal,
and prepared a statement to the international
community. This meeting provided an important
opportunity for historically displaced communities
living near parks to share experiences with others
and to articulate a common appeal for the South
African government to act on critical issues affecting
these communities. DEAT was urged to convene an
annual forum of communities and conservation agencies
to assess progress around issues such as land
restitution, and whether benefits do extend beyond
the boundaries of protected areas.
The World Parks
Congress and the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) urged all governments to mainstream protected
areas in sustainable development, and highlighted
the dual role of protected areas in conservation
and poverty alleviation. South Africa has recently
passed new legislation for protected areas, representing
an important shift in the approach to conservation
in line with international trends. Although the
Protected Areas Act affects all South Africans,
as it deals with our land and heritage, those
particularly affected include communities with
rights or interests in protected areas, or communities
using land that may get conservation status.
Many community members were eager
to attend the 2004 People and Parks workshop because
it offered the opportunity for them to find solutions
through the experience of others. An important
focus of the workshop was ensuring that the outcomes
and targets set out by the CBD Protected Areas
Work Programme and the World Parks Congress are
achieved by facilitating the participatory implementation
of the Protected Areas Act.
Discussions at the workshop focused
on addressing priorities at the centre of the
relationships between "people and parks."
Action plans were developed for each priority
which, if implemented, would enable South Africa
to make progress towards its domestic and international
obligations. These action plans were presented
to government and conservation agencies at the
workshop in the hope that progress can be made
through a more unified, structured approach to
people and parks issues.
Together the workshop participants
agreed on a theme for the workshop that reflected
the attitude of the participants and the content
of the action plans. That theme is "Conservation
for the People with the People."
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