Second session of the Parks for the Planet Forum addresses conservation and biodiversity in transboundary regions
Border areas often play host to a unique variety of issues: they see high levels of competition for ownership of natural resources and often hold powerful historic and cultural associations for people living near them. They also often boast exceptional opportunities for biodiversity and conservation, as a result of access to the areas being tightly restricted. The Salzburg Global Seminar session The Next Frontier: Transboundary Cooperation for Biodiversity and Peace, taking place November 9 to 13 at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria, will convene over 30 experts, from 22 different countries and a variety of professional backgrounds, to address questions on collaboration for conservation, inclusive economic development, and peace-building in transboundary areas.
The Next Frontier: Transboundary Cooperation for Biodiversity and Peace is the second session in the 10-year leadership and action program Parks for the Planet, launched by Salzburg Global Seminar and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) in 2015. Building on the program’s successful launch in 2015, the 2016 session will focus on transboundary conservation for biodiversity, economic development and human security as its key themes.
"Conflict transformation underpins our history and vision for the future here at Salzburg Global Seminar," says Clare Shine, Vice president of Salzburg Global Seminar, "we see innovation in transboundary cooperation as a critical opportunity for cross-sectoral progress in the ultimate pursuit of peace and reconciliation in an uncertain time."
Session participants will collaborate in highly interactive large and smaller groups to identify the most promising approaches, catalyze collaborations, pilot projects, and deliver practical tools that deliver benefits for the aims of inclusive and sustainable development, regional economic growth, and cohesion and peace-building. In order to pursue these goals in such a dynamic and broad group, participants will be asked to focus on questions such as:
• Which best/worst practices, tools and approaches can be identified in transboundary conservation programs?
• What is the specific role and position of indigenous and local populations in transboundary conservation?
• Who are the actors that we need to bring to the table to support inclusive development and regional cohesion?
Addressing these questions, and more, will concretely advance implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular Goals 13, 14, 15 and 16 which commit all countries and stakeholders to collaborate on nature conservation, climate change, peace-building and sustainable societies. The pursuit of these goals is an integral part of the Parks for the Planet program, and is becoming more important globally against a backdrop of rising regional tensions, environmental degradation and economic precarity.
Well-designed and well-funded transboundary cooperation initiatives will become a critical 21st Century tool to support inclusive and sustainable regional development, and the 10-year Parks for the Planet Forum is becoming an important hub of creative thinking needed for this kind of development.
Salzburg Global's Session - The Next Frontier: Transboundary Cooperation for Biodiversity and Peace is the second meeting of our 10-year Parks for the Planet forum. This session is being hosted in partnership with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), MAVA Foundation, Arcus Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation, German cooperation (Deutsche Zusammenarbeit), Huffington Foundation, Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Foundation, and others. More information on the session can be found here: <font color="#0066cc"><a href="/news/latest-news">http://www.salzburgglobal.org/go/571.</a> <br></font>