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Aspirational Statement

The 1st Asia Parks Congress aims to connect protected area practitioners with a wide range of stakeholders for addressing issues and opportunities in parks and protected areas throughout Asia and the world, building ties and helping to set policy and practice in the world’s largest and fastest growing region. The Congress will address the challenges facing this dynamic region through learning, sharing of experience and close collaboration. Held one year before the 6th IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia, the Asia Parks Congress will serve as a valuable lead-in to the Sydney gathering by providing lessons learned and ways forward.

1. Theme

The Asia Parks Congress theme is “Parks Connect”, illustrating the flexible yet unifying concept of the connections at many different levels which link nature with people, people with people, and protected areas with pressing world challenges, including disaster risk reduction, climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development and livelihoods.

2. Objectives

The Asia Parks Congress will:

• Share best practices in protected areas in Asia, and values of PAs for establishing a cooperative structure among various stakeholders.
• Contribute to protected areas management and planning worldwide through sharing experiences of Asia.
• Establish the future agenda for PAs in Asia and promote actions toward achieving the CBD Aichi Targets and the objectives of the PoWPA (Programme of Work on Protected Areas).
• Build regional capacity to meet current challenges facingdeal with problems of protected areas.
• Provide regional perspectives and input to relevant regional and global events including the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014.

3. Congress organizers

• Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan
• IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

4. Venue

Sendai International Center (Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan)

Address: Aobayama, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan

Tel:+81(22)265-2450

5. Congress Dates

Five days between Wednesday, 13 and Sunday, 17 November 2013

6. Countries to be invited in the congress

Countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia will be invited to the Congress, along with conservation practitioners, NGO representatives and other stakeholders. Though the Congress will focus on Asia specific presentations, participants from other regions are also welcome.

7. Participant numbers

The Congress expects a total of approximately 500 participants, including 300 from the host country Japan.

8. Participation fee

The Congress is free, though participants must pay for their won travel, accommodation and meals.

9. Language

English. Simultaneous interpretation in Japanese will be provided for the opening ceremony and keynote addresses.

10. Congress goals and outcomes

• Strengthening partnerships which aim at: contributing to realizing the Aichi Targets and the PoWPA; supporting the creation of a Pan Asia Protected Areas Network; promotion of trans-boundary protected areas and sister parks; and sharing information on the current status of protected areas and their management and governance.
• Establishment of an Asian Charter for Protected Areas which acts as catalyst for cooperation, improvement of protected area governance, and integration of conservation and development.
• Presentation of the Protected Planet Asia report ? the first regional report in the Protected Planet series, which takes stock of protected areas and their status, including progress toward the CBD Aichi Targets, analysis of PA laws and policies, an evaluation of management effectiveness and a review of well-managed PAs.
• Position statements on areas of critical relevance to protected areas in Asia, which will include: protected areas as buffers to natural disaster, achieving effective protected area governance, reconciling development challenges and protected areas as drivers for sustainable tourism.