The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas welcomes the publication of this volume of papers and presentations from the Governance Workshop Stream at the Vth World Parks Congress, held in Durban, South Africa in 2003. The range and scope of papers included here clearly demonstrates the importance of the theme of governance to parks and protected areas and the innovative approaches being taken by communities, non-governmental organizations, private landowners, and government departments and agencies to work together in new ways to protect and conserve biodiversity and share the environmental, social and economic benefits of such areas.

The idea of good governance has moved from relative obscurity to widespread use in recent years and is now an essential part of the global conservation agenda. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development Implementation Plan, for example, calls good governance “essential for sustainable development.” A landmark report World Resources 2002-2004, pinpointed good environmental governance as the key to fostering better environmental decisions and meeting the needs of people and ecosystems with equity and balance. The Durban Accord and Action Plan and the Message to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted at the World Parks Congress all speak to the idea of good governance. The Congress outputs recognize the legitimacy of diverse protected area governance approaches and the need to empower indigenous and local communities living around protected areas to participate in their management. The WPC outputs also called for principles of good governance like the rule of law and participative decision-making to be respected.

Partly as a result of the World Parks Congress, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity decided at its 7th meeting in 2004 to include an element on governance, participation, equity and benefit sharing in the global program of work on protected areas. Through this action, the Parties recognized that achieving the goal of establishing comprehensive, ecologically representative and effectively managed systems of protected areas will require that the protected area community address social, economic and institutional issues as well as biological factors.

I would like to express my appreciation to all the authors who contributed papers and participated in the Governance Workshop Stream at the World Parks Congress, to Jim Johnston and Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend who organized and led the Stream, to Diane Pansky who served as editor, and to Parks Canada who funded work leading up to the Congress and the preparation of this CD.

Nik Lopoukhine
Chair, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas

Acknowledgements

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend for taking me on as an intern in the summer of 2003 and allowing me to assist in preparations for the Governance Stream of the Vth World Parks Congress and to serve as lead rapporteur for the stream while in Durban. Grazia has never ceased to amaze me with her energy, commitment, and the richness of her spirit, and I will always remember that internship summer as a particularly vibrant, blue-sky moment. I am also thankful for the many wonderful people I met at the World Parks Congress, many of whose papers and presentations are found in this volume; your stories and the strength of your convictions are an ongoing source of inspiration. Finally, thanks to Jim Johnston for entrusting me with this project and being a steady hand at the helm throughout. Your patience, encouragement and sound guidance have been appreciated more than you could know.

Thanks to the Doris Duke Foundation and IUCN TILCEPA for funding my participation in the World Parks Congress, to Parks Canada for funding my work on this volume, and to Community Conservation Inc. in Gays Mills, Wisconsin, for generous support at a critical stage in this project.

Diane Pansky
Editor

Citation: Pansky, Diane (ed.). 2005. Governance Stream of the Vth World Parks Congress.
Ottawa, Canada: Parks Canada and IUCN/WCPA.
ISBN: R62-375/2003E-MRC
0-662-40433-5
Photos: Jim Thorsell, Earthlore Communications archives, authors
Design and Production: Earthlore Communications, Ottawa, Canada

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