Cycling Silk moves on to Cyberspace

Cycling Silk was a 10-month, 10-country, 10,000-kilometer biking expedition along the Silk Road between Europe and Asia completed by Melissa Yule and Kate Harris. Their goal was to explore borderland wildernesses along the way, using bikes as vehicles for adventure, research, and environmental advocacy.

Click to show their route through Trans-Boundary Conservation Areas

Nik Lopoukhine sends an update about this incredible project "Cycling Silk" which the IUCN-WCPA Mountains and Connectivity Conservation group has promoted since its inception in 2006. The project was sponsored by The Wild Foundation and IUCN-WCPA, among other groups. It was the inspiration of two young women who wanted to find a way to effectively promote the value of trans-boundary protected areas and wildlife conservation.

A new video trailer now shows the immensity and beauty of that trip.

Please share this extraordinary story with your friends and contacts. We have been told that a book about this project and also longer videos are in the planning stage for this project. Congratulations again to Kate and Melissa!

Stay tuned for more information on their book and future movies that will keep promoting trans-boundary conservation for years to come...

Australia's Corridors Plan Released

On November 4, 2012 the Australian Government announced the creation of a new National Wildlife Corridors Plan—a bold vision for reconnecting the Australian landscape through a network of wildlife corridors across Australia.

Australia's Environment Minister Tony Burke announced the national wildlife corridors plan to improve resilience for the environment by connecting protected areas. "You can look at a map of reserved areas and sometimes it looks like someone has dipped a toothbrush in paint and splattered different unconnected dots across the land. Corridors are about connecting those dots; it's a way of improving resilience and ensuring that we are protecting nature in a way that preserves it for generations to come.", Mr Burke said.

Here is the text of the announcement. Here is a copy of the plan (1.4mb pdf).

Dr. Graeme Worboys offers a concise evaluation of this plan:

1. Australia should be very proud!

2. This is a world first. Nowhere else on Earth is there a whole of continent wildlife corridor response to climate change and the decline in biodiversity…a continental network.

3. It is global leadership in helping to prevent species loss. The Convention on Biological Diversity in 2010 calls for “well connected systems of protected areas” …..Australia’s response is an inspiration for the world.

4. It is a strategic response to climate change. Corridors at a whole-of-continent scale help species move southwards as Australia heats up and the corridors help retain carbon in the landscape.

5. It establishes National Wildlife Corridors. Corridors of national significance for their role in biodiversity conservation will be recognise.

6. It complements Australia’s National Reserve System. It helps retain natural corridor connections between our national parks including our 25 natural World Heritage properties…this is a responsible investment in a climate change world.

7. It is community based. The corridors plan respects property rights and landownership….it promotes a collaborative approach to corridors that involves landowners, businesses, communities and governments at all levels…it is empowering individuals and local communities to respond to climate change.

8. It empowers people and communities. The plan facilitates wildlife conservation across Australia’s landscapes and provides opportunities for it to be an individual’s business or a community response.

9. It respects heritage values. Many corridors are traditional songlines, areas of cultural and spiritual importance, or ecological pathways such as rivers or flyways.

10. Corridors may be different scales. The plan recognises local corridors in cities and in towns, landscape scale corridors and whole of continent scale corridors such as the Great Eastern Ranges and the Trans Australia Eco link.

Motion 073 passes by overwhelming majority

Great news of success today from Dr. Olivier Chassot at the World Conservation Congress in Jeju. Copies of the Motion that passed are posted here: English version | Spanish version | French version

September 11, 2012

Dear Friends,
I am very pleased to report that the IUCN Assembly has just approved our Motion 073, Enhancing connectivity conservation through international networking of best practice management, by an overwhelming majority, including 100% of the States, which is unprecedented so far at this congress.

I attach the motion for your information and its further distribution and would like to express my sincere thanks to all the organizations that supported our motion and allowed it to be adopted by the Member’s Assembly.

All the best,
Olivier Chassot

ICCN launched at World Conservation Congress

The official launch of the International Connectivity Conservation Network (ICCN) took place at 1300-1500 on September 7th at the World Conservation Congress at Jeju, South Korea. The launch event (Session code: 1124) was held at the Protected Planet Pavilion, a central part of the Congress. Here are some photos from this event. Congratulations to our ICCN Team!

Launch of the International Connectivity Conservation Network - ICCN
In this event, we launched the International Connectivity Conservation Network (ICCN), a World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) voluntary network of individuals and organizations working on individual terrestrial and marine large-scale connectivity conservation projects and initiatives around the world. It works on a voluntary basis and primarily aims to provide information, share knowledge and offer assessment in order to foster the preservation, protection and promotion of connectivity conservation in the face of climate change’s challenges to conservation and sustainable development. The ICCN seeks to benefit its members by providing current information on connectivity conservation management and highlighting and sharing best practices based on its member’s actions in the field of connectivity conservation on a large-scale.

The ICCN is led by a team of experts that will communicate and gain knowledge on a wide range of connectivity conservation issues, and derives its mandate from the WCPA. It applies its common knowledge in order to facilitate the work of individuals and organizations involved in connectivity conservation, and provides feedback to the network on progress made in the field. The ICCN also works in close collaboration with the WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group, which shares common objectives.

The ICCN aims to organize, where and when possible, yearly meetings in different continents, seizing existing opportunities provided in global conferences with thematic affinity, such as IUCN, Society for Conservation Biology, Association for Tropical Biology conferences, or Conferences of the Parties. From time to time, it may host IUCN WCPA specialist connectivity conservation conferences.

The ICCN objectives are:
1. Developing a support and exchange network of connectivity conservation managers, researchers, other professionals and communities dealing with the management of connectivity areas at a large scale.
2. Promoting a greater awareness of values of connectivity conservation across landscapes among the international community of governments, environmental NGOs, donors and the general public, especially on the light of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
3. Establishing WCPA Connectivity Conservation Focal Points to develop an agreed plan to help facilitate large-scale connectivity conservation in key Biogeographic Realms of Earth.
4. Helping IUCN play a strong role in the connectivity conservation agenda around the world.
5. Supporting countries in the implementation of Target 11 of the CBD 2010-2020 Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.
6. Facilitating the training of students, managers, other professionals and community members in connectivity conservation through e-information, workshops, seminars and academic programs.

The ICCN is facilitated by the Deputy Vice-Chair for Connectivity Conservation, as part of the WCPA Mountains and Connectivity Conservation (M&CC) Team. The ICCN is supported by an Executive Team and Regional Focal Points. Meetings and scientific events will be facilitated by the ICCN Executive Team and will be guided by the IUCN Quadrennial Programme and the more detailed M&CC Strategic four year plan. The ICCN will be part of the larger IUCN One-Programme response with particular focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives. Once confirmed by IUCN, these actions will then form part of the IUCN M&CC four year strategy, and would be part of the IUCN One-Programme approach.

Organizations and individuals may be members of the ICCN. Membership is open to large-scale connectivity conservation managers, researchers, other professionals and community group representatives working on connectivity conservation initiatives. WCPA membership is not a pre-requisite for membership of the ICCN. Members of existing networks, such as the WCPA, WCPA Regional Nodes and other IUCN specialist groups who have an interest in connectivity conservation are encouraged to also join the ICCN.

Organizer: WCPA Mountains and Connectivity Conservation (M&CC) Team.
Contacts: Olivier Chassot
Partners: Tropical Science Center / Mesoamerican Society for Conservation and Biology