IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Co-Chairs: Melinda Janki and Rodrigo Agostinho

Membership is currently about a dozen members.

The Specialist Group on Protected Areas was re-formed with a new mandate following the CEL Steering Committee in May 2007 in Sao Paolo.

The SGPA has provided advice to the IUCN Regional Office in Bangkok on comparative connectivity issues with Liliana Maslarova providing advice on Eastern Europe.

The co-chairs also delivered papers to the Latin American Parks Congress. Rodrigo Agostinho spoke about issues relating to protected areas in Brazil. Melinda Janki delivered a paper on governance and protected areas – using as an example of good governance the protected area which has been established by the WaiWai community over their lands in southern Guyana.