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Steering Committee meeting takes another step towards world congresses
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 Surrounded by mountains and lush forests, Costa Rica’s capital San Jose provided the ideal location for final World Commission on Protected Area’s (WCPA) Steering Committee meeting before the World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea in September. Hosted by Eduard Mueller, the Vice Chair for the Central American and Hispanic Caribbean Region, the May 7th to May 10th event focused on the upcoming Jeju Congress and the next World Parks Congress (WPC), due to be held in 2014.
The WCPA further clarified its role in the World Parks Congress, agreeing that it needs to be inspirational, as well as progressive, by celebrating gains made since the previous Congress and highlighting a number of important new protected area initiatives. A majority of the new Global Protected Areas staff brought on board since the beginning of the year also attended and contributed to the WPC discussions, which recognized that as most events will have a protected area focus, the WCPA will be responsible for guiding the Congress’ impact and success. On the last day of the meeting, Honorable Rene Castro, Costa Rica’s Minister for Environment and Energy, addressed the Steering Committee on the challenges of providing electricity for country’s citizens. Grethel Aquilar, Director of the IUCN ORMA (Mesoamerica) Office, also hosted Committee members, assuring them that the meeting was a “one programme” event where partnership and synergies were assured as IUCN and the WCPA step forward towards the upcoming Congresses.
Costa Rica’s progressive and often groundbreaking conservation initiatives have garnered worldwide attention. Members of the Committee experienced the results of these efforts firsthand with a field trip to Poas Volcano National Park, where they interacted with the Costa Rican Forest Service, which contributes to a leading global programme on payment for ecosystems services. An after meeting field trip to Monteverde Cloud Forest and the sustainable ecotourism and farm community project Rancho Margot further highlighted the country’s world leading conservation efforts, with sightings of famous local birds such as the Quetzal and Toucan, and numerous orchid and other rainforest and cloudforest species.
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Legal challenges for transboundary conservation
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 Political will and good governance, as well as the need for more effective laws are among the main issues for transboundary conservation, as identified through a survey conducted by the IUCN WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group (TBC SG). The survey identified globally relevant challenges regarding transboundary legal and institutional issues. Respondents, which included members of the TBC SG as well as of the Law and PAs Task Force, also pointed out the need to consider legal, institutional and cultural differences between the countries as well as socio-economic issues, sustainability and problems related to political unrest, short-term donor interests and corruption. The results will be used as a basis for Legal Concept Paper development, leading to the establishment of a Transboundary Legal Resource Centre.
> Read a full summary of the survey results
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NEREUS – towards more marine protected areas in the Mediterranean
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 IUCN’s Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med) is working to better protect one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. One of their major projects is NEREUS: funded by MAVA and Total Foundations, it has as objective the gathering, synthesis and communication of knowledge on the marine environment in the Mediterranean Sea, with the goal of identifying conservation priority sites. NEREUS’s ultimate ambitious aim is the establishment of a representative network of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean to help protect its unique marine life, including high levels of endemism. The project builds on existing expertise concerning the marine environment, its conservation and management. At the International Conference on Marine and Coastal Ecosystems (MarCoastEcos 2012), held recently in Albania, plannings for the Mediterranean MPA network geared up.
> More information
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New Advisory Council for the International Academy for Nature Conservation
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 In mid-April, the first meeting of the newly established Advisory Council of the International Academy for Nature Conservation took place on the Isle of Vilm in Germany. The international Advisory Council consists of 13 members drawn from universities and scientific institutions, national and international NGOs, development cooperation agencies, conservation authorities as well as from the German Parliament. Trevor Sandwith (Director of IUCN’s Global Protected Area Programme) has been elected as Chair for the first year, with Christel Schroeder (EURONATUR) serving as Deputy Chair. The other nominated members are Regine Auster (Haus der Natur Potsdam), Undine Kurth (Member of the German Parliament), Dr. Carsten Neßhöver (Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research), Prof. Dr. Konrad Ott (Greifswald University), Dr. Andrej Sovinc (IUCN WCPA Europe), Dr. Carsten Loose (German Advisory Council on Global Change - WBGU), Prof. Dr. Sabine Hofmeister (Lüneburg University), Marina Kosmus (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - GIZ), Hans-Joachim Schreiber (Ministry of the Environment of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Christoph Heinrich (WWF Germany) and David Cooper (CBD-Secretariat). The Advisory Council will provide advice to the Academy on its further strategic direction and in the identification of key issues for workshops and seminars. At its first meeting, it discussed ways in which the work of the Academy could be advanced through collaboration and networking among institutions that are involved in capacity development for nature conservation.
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IUCN helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice.
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