Completed

Evaluating the effectiveness of Korea’s protected areas
During 2008 and 2009, IUCN and WCPA experts worked in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and Korean National Park Service (KNPS) in the Republic of Korea (ROK), to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the country’s protected area system. This joint team, working closely with senior academics, policy makers and other stakeholders in Korea, undertook an evaluation of the status of the system as a whole, and of 39 individual national parks and other protected areas in Korea. Following extensive field visits and stakeholder workshops during 2008, the final report was completed by the international team, in cooperation with the KNPS internal evaluation team, in 2009. The report highlights ROK’s strengths in managing its national protected areas system and also pinpoints areas where improvements can be made. The MoE and KNPS have adopted the internationally accepted IUCN MEE Framework in actively responding to the evaluation. The result will be significant improvements to the conservation of Korea’s rich biodiversity.

Current

Enhancing the quality of protected area data
Working in partnership with the ROK, MoE and KNPS, the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) project is designed to enhance the quality of the WDPA; the largest assembly of data on the world’s terrestrial and marine protected areas. The accessibility of quality information about the state of protected areas is essential as it develops a foundation to protect and preserve biodiversity. With the implementation of a new review process developed in partnership between the UN’s Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the quality of data on the WDPA will be further enhanced. Not only is this project piloting ways to improve data quality, it is also making the data more accessible to the public through a significantly improved web based interface. The project began with an inception workshop held in Bangkok in July 2009 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

Upcoming

Climate Change Training Programme
IUCN/WCPA Asia together with Jeju Province in Korea are working in close collaboration to establish a Climate Change Training Programme (CCTP). As protected areas are important instruments for climate change and biodiversity loss, the CCTP will integrate protected areas management and biodiversity into climate change policy and practice. The initiative will establish a much needed training facility to build regional capacity on coping with climate change impacts on biodiversity. The CCTP will demonstrate how protected areas can help mitigate the impact of climate change and contribute significantly to ecosystem based adaptation strategies whilst continuing to deliver broader benefits to people’s livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Two preparatory workshops were held in 2009 to develop the program. In early 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between IUCN and Jeju Special Self Governing Province pledging to collaborate on the CCTP Initiative. The CCTP plans to commence full operations later in 2010.