The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med) organized on 10 -11 March, at the Historical-Botanical Garden "La Concepcion" in Málaga, a regional training workshop on the IUCN Green List global initiative with the participation of three Mediterranean regional groups representing Spain, France and Italy.

The IUCN Green List seeks to recognize and reward good governance and effective and equitable management of protected areas, as well as examine and report on progress in national systems of protected areas and the implementation of the Aichi commitments (Target 11). To do this, IUCN, with the active participation of several partner countries, is carrying out various actions to develop, evaluate, and finally present a new model of global quality standards for the management and effective and equitable governance of protected areas. This standard is known as the IUCN Green List of Protected Areas.

The Malaga workshop helped clarify the procedure and criteria used for the Green list and define the framework of joint collaboration between the three Mediterranean Regional groups. The Spanish institutions that support the process are the National Parks Autonomous Agency (OAPN in its Spanish acronym), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the Regional Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Andalusia, and Europarcs-Spain.

From the Italian side, the project is supported by the Ministry of Environment, along with the Italian IUCN National Committee and IUCN experts from the Species Survival Commission. In France, the French IUCN National Committee is coordinating the initiative with several French ministries and institutions. The IUCN North Africa programme coordinator also attended to explore ways of effective regional collaboration.

The meeting coordinated by the IUCN Global Protected Areas Programme and IUCN-Med was financially supported by the National Parks Autonomous Agency of Spain (OAPN).

Several countries including Australia, China, Colombia, South Korea, France, Georgia, Italy, Kenya, and Micronesia, are currently participating in the pilot phase of the Green List to define and enhance this standards model through the creation of national and regional working groups. The Green List will subsequently be applied to several pilot national parks in these countries during 2014 and it will be officially presented at the next IUCN World Parks Congress to be held in Sydney (Australia) in November 2014.

For further information Carla Danelutti

Photo: UICN-Med. Participants of Italy, France and Spain during the workshop about the Green List in Malaga. Inaugurated by Luis Montoya Hellgren, Coordinator of the Environmental Areas and Sustainability of the Ayuntamiento de Málaga.