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Professor David Farrier and Dr Michael Adams. |
UOW academics appointed to world commission on protected areas
Two UOW academics were appointed this week to a commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the largest conservation organisation in the world.
Dr Michael Adams from Woolyungah Indigenous Centre and Professor David Farrier from the Institute of Conservation Biology and Law, attended a workshop in Germany in July to help IUCN produce a major new publication the international Guidelines for Protected Areas Legislation.
They prepared a case study on Indigenous co-management at Booderee National Park Jervis Bay, and an overview of Indigenous co-management arrangements in Australia. Following the workshop, both academics were invited to join the World Commission on Protected Areas.
Dr Adams said the workshop was an excellent example of the benefits of working collaboratively.
“We had lawyers, researchers and park managers from 15 nations contributing to the development of the Guidelines. When published, the Guidelines, which will be translated into several languages, will be the global standard for developing protected areas law,” he said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature defines protected areas as areas of land or sea dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.
This includes national parks, nature refuges and other conservation tenures. In Australia, co-management of national parks with Aboriginal people is long established and expanding, with Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Kakadu and Booderee all well-known examples.
The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas is one of six Commissions of individual experts and is the world's leading global network of protected area specialists.
IUCN has members from more than 160 countries including 77 States, 114 government agencies, and 800-plus Non Government Organisations (NGOs). Its 1000 staff members in offices around the world are working on over 500 projects.
Professor Farrier and Dr Adams will contribute expertise to a range of IUCN projects, including the Cultural and Spiritual Values Specialist Group and the Private Protected Areas Specialist Group. Professor Farrier is also a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law.