In 2023, the Celebration of the Protected and Conserved Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean also publishes its ANNUAL REPORT to demonstrate the impact of the strategic and collaborative work of valuation and contribution to the effective conservation of various actors, levels and countries in the region.
Since the Third Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Protected Areas (III CAPLAC by its acronym in Spanish) held in Lima in 2019., the Celebration of Protected and Conserved Areas and their people is based on the ARTICULATION of collaborative work and territorial anchoring based on ALLIANCES.
Promotes matching actions to GENERATE FAVORABLE MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS at a local, national and regional scale, based on the needs and interests of people and their communities, companies with socio-environmental responsibility, organizations and governments, interested and involved with the areas for the well-being of Latin America and the Caribbean.
"La Celebration" was recognized as one of the 500 best Green Awards initiatives and was partnered with Fundación Bosques Nativos Argentinos as a member organization of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In 2023, the profile of ambassadors was strengthened, a high-impact hybrid event was developed together with IUCN in Honduras, and the initiative was consolidated as a multi-actor and multi-level meeting and dialogue platform. All of the above, put on the map interest from the perspective of governments, youth, indigenous peoples, project managers, multilateral organizations and communities.
"La Celebración" also received recognition for the 500 best Green Awards initiatives and was associated with the Argentine Native Forests Foundation as a member organization of IUCN.
The objectives and thematic framework of the initiative were validated by the organizers and representatives of the III CAPLAC through formal meetings and minutes of the Organizing Committee and Monitoring Committee.
In 2023, these objectives were adapted, and components and indicators were incorporated to strengthen the evaluation and communicate more clearly the impact of the annual collaborative work strategy.
As a result, this last report shares the details of the work performed and the metrics or qualitative aspects that demonstrate the scope of what was planned.
Some achievements:
6,600 visits to our website, 4 newsletters, 130 posts with more than 10,000 organic interactions on social networks.
Outreach in 21 countries through celebrations or virtual participation.
148 protected and conserved areas (PCAs)celebrated.
Ambassadors: 104 people nominated, 25 selected and trained, and 18 certified. They've been vital to reach and strengthen local leadership since 2020.9,672 people mobilized in the region around 178 celebrations or activities organized in areas with a systemic approach and thematic link with the IIICAPLAC.
Key concepts about protected areas, other effective area-based conservation measure (OEMCs), guidelines when visiting parks and natural reserves were strengthened and disseminated, with articulation options through the Guide to Celebrate, the website, the Map of Celebrated Areas and the Agile trainings on categories of NPAs, Governance, Leadership, Communication and more.
Although key groups in conservation continue to be successfully attracted, new audiences have been added: 2,400 new visitors to the website, an increase of 120 average net followers in Facebook & Instagram, and 50% new users in YouTube.
Some achievements:
6,600 visits to our website, 4 newsletters, 130 posts with more than 10,000 organic interactions on social networks.
Outreach in 21 countries through celebrations or virtual participation.
148 protected and conserved areas (PCAs)celebrated.
Ambassadors: 104 people nominated, 25 selected and trained, and 18 certified. They've been vital to reach and strengthen local leadership since 2020.9,672 people mobilized in the region around 178 celebrations or activities organized in areas with a systemic approach and thematic link with the IIICAPLAC.
Key concepts about protected areas, other effective area-based conservation measure (OEMCs), guidelines when visiting parks and natural reserves were strengthened and disseminated, with articulation options through the Guide to Celebrate, the website, the Map of Celebrated Areas and the Agile trainings on categories of NPAs, Governance, Leadership, Communication and more.
Although key groups in conservation continue to be successfully attracted, new audiences have been added: 2,400 new visitors to the website, an increase of 120 average net followers in Facebook & Instagram, and 50% new users in YouTube.
English-Portuguese-Spanish translation was available in all these media but especially during the transmission of the LAC Protected and Conserved Areas Day event, from Honduras.
HYBRID EVENT on October 17 THE PROTECTED AND CONSERVED AREAS OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN DAY
Through a strategic alliance with the IUCN Regional Office and Honduras national office, and in coordination with its partners, a hybrid event was developed from Lake Yojoa, Honduras. During the Celebration Day, the following local environmental authorities participated: Eng. Luis Soliz (Minister of the Institute of Forest Conservation, ICF), Malcolm Stufken (Minister of the Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment, SERNA) and the opening speech of Ursula Parrilla, the Director of the IUCN Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (ORMACC). The successful event had 1,150 broadcast views (as of Feb 24).
According to Andrew Rhodes, the Global Vice President of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas , "During the event (...) we had an extraordinary tour of the PCAs agenda celebrating both the existence and importance of strengthening these instruments, as well as learning to listen to voices With a plural agenda of 9 sessions, environmental authorities and managers, local communities and indigenous peoples were integrated with the special participation of Ramiro Batzin, the IUCN Regional Councilor, youth and women through the WCPA Youth Network or IberoMABYouth Network, the academy represented by Claudio Maretti and Krhistel Argueta
from the National University of Forestry Sciences (UNCACIFOR) of Honduras.
The human rights approach, the importance of local knowledge, management effectiveness and financial sustainability were transversal axes of the Green List and the delivery of recognition to the The Expert Assessment Group for the Green List (EAGL) with the participation of Thierry Lefebvre, the presentation of contributions from management based on local knowledge from the Caribbean together with BIOPAMA and examples of implementation of Financial Security for the effective management of Protected Areas - Financing Project for Permanence (PFP by its acronym in Spanish) by WWF.
In conclusion, this annual initiative, with its epicenter on October 17 of each year, has achieved outstanding results in terms of visibility of actors and thematic positioning, participation and commitment at different levels for the effective conservation of protected and conserved areas in the region.
Diverse participation, innovation in projects and collaboration between various actors highlight the positive impact of the initiative. The above is mainly attributed to the following aspects:
Strengthening and strategic role of ambassadors who enrich The Celebration and generate invaluable synergies on a local and regional scale, along with campaigns and communications with permanent translation.
Strategic alliances with regional reference organizations and actors, in coordination with the leadership of young people, which promoted almost a third (30.2%) of the celebrations at the regional level.
Strengthening planning, budget allocation, administrative strengthening - prompt formalization as a member organization of IUCN through the Argentine Native Forests Foundation.
Despite having reached only 39% of the planned financing, the decisions to invest it in the priority lines of action have ensured the achievement of the goals, thanks to the effort and determination of the management team, ambassadors, and collaborators.
The differential value of holding the Celebration Day event in person/hybrid is evident. This provided the opportunity to involve and generate synergies between local actors such as authorities, officials, youth, rangers and indigenous communities, carefully positioning their roles, needs and alliances.
The generation of environmental awareness through integration spaces, governance commitments, collective prioritization of the effectiveness of conservation management together with effective participation, collaborative conservation, and the focus on rights by the protagonists was key. This consolidates the initiative as a testimonial meeting platform of the growing commitment towards the conservation of protected and conserved areas in articulation with the commitments of the III CAPLAC (Lima - Peru, 2019), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, climate challenges, the Escazú Agreement, among others.
It is expected that these achievements based on the stakeholders, their integration and common goals, will serve as a basis for the sustainability of the initiative and effective and fair conservation efforts in the region.
