

21 May 2010 | News story

The Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) share a Strategic Direction on Governance, Communities, Equity and Livelihood Rights in Relation to Protected Areas which deals with social issues pertaining to Protected Areas.

Members of the Strategic Direction took on the responsibility of contributing to the PoWPA review process and elaborating ways to resolve areas of underperformance in the implementation of the PoWPA, notably Element 2.

At the CEESP Steering Committee in Bangkok, Thailand (27-28 November 2009), it was agreed to hold a workshop to share experiences between three constituencies in the CEESP-WCPA cluster of IUCN Commissions, namely the Protected Areas Equity and Livelihoods (PAEL) taskforce, the Theme on Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, Equity and Protected Areas (TILCEPA), and the focal point on Protected Areas Management Evaluation (PAME) in the WCPA.

This meeting was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand (18 19 February 2010) with the following objectives:

  1. Review the current situation regarding social assessment in PA Management Evaluation and reporting;
  2. Review the progress of PAEL's Social Assessment in Protected Areas (SAPA) work;
  3. Identify synergies and mutually reinforcing lessons between PAME and SAPA;
  4. Discuss other potential opportunities to incorporate social assessments within conservation initiatives;
  5. Set out a strategy and communication plan to help CBD Parties and stakeholders understand how social policy in the PoWPA can be more effectively achieved in the new CBD work plan;
  6. Harmonise the work of TILCEPA and PAEL in their joint mandates under CEESP and WCPA.