Webinars

Tuesday, June 9, 8 am US EDT/5 am US PDT/Noon UTC/1 pm BST/2 pm CEST/5 pm MVT/5:30 pm IST. Presented by: Helen Klimmek and Heather Bingham of UNEP-WCMC; Aishath Amal and Muhusina Abdul Rahman of the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, Maldives; Uthpala Karunadipathi of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka; and Jamie Small, Holly Baigent, Beth Flavell, and Hannah Lawson of JNCC. Description: The Protected Planet Initiative plays a central role in tracking global progress towards Target 3 of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas (WDPCA) provides the official global indicator of progress towards the 30% coverage target… but how is the effectiveness of these areas tracked? This session spotlights the Global Database on Protected Area Management Effectiveness (GD-PAME), which is hosted on protectedplanet.net alongside the WDPCA. The webinar will begin with a presentation from UNEP-WCMC summarizing the origins and evolution of the database and its role in collating data from diverse assessment tools and approaches. Then speakers from the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, Maldives; Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka; and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), UK, will share firsthand their experiences of assessing the effectiveness of marine protected areas, including the process of reporting their findings to the global database. The webinar will conclude with a live Q&A session.

Wednesday, July 15, Noon US EDT/9am US PDT/10 am CST/4 pm UTC/5 pm BST/6 pm CEST. Presented by: Sarah Hameed, Jessica MacCarthy, and Leticia de Bonilla of the Marine Conservation Institute; Ratana Chuenpagdee of Memorial University of Newfoundland; Rodolphe Devillers of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD); and Maylin Mora Arias and Yareth Ledezma of Cahuita National Park. Description: The Blue Park Standard sets a global benchmark for what effective marine protection requires: strategic design, equitable governance, strong protection, evidence-based management, compliance, and capacity. The reality is that most marine protected areas (MPAs) fall short of that bar. Blue Parks is a global initiative working to improve conservation quality alongside quantity, building a representative, connected network of protection that revitalizes ecosystems and recovers wildlife. The Blue Park Awards uses the Standard to encourage decision-makers to raise the bar, while celebrating and elevating successful conservation efforts worldwide. Join Marine Conservation Institute, members of the Blue Parks Science Council, and awarded Blue Park managers for an in-depth discussion of how this initiative is driving meaningful progress toward strategically protecting at least 30% of the ocean.